Sports

Tiny kicker gives Boise a big boot

BRONCO PICKUP:Michael Frisina is hoisted on teammates’ shoulders after the 5-foot-5 kicker’s field goal (above) gave Boise State the win in yesterday’s Las Vegas Bowl.

BRONCO PICKUP:Michael Frisina is hoisted on teammates’ shoulders after the 5-foot-5 kicker’s field goal (above) gave Boise State the win in yesterday’s Las Vegas Bowl.

LAS VEGAS — The last two times Boise State played in the Las Vegas Bowl, there were other places the Broncos wanted to be. Not so yesterday, when the smallest player on the team came up big in a 28-26 victory over Washington.

After two straight blowouts in the Las Vegas Bowl, the Broncos had to work for a win sealed by a 27-yard field goal by 5-foot-5 Michael Frisina with 1:16 left. It left them feeling good about a season when, unlike the last two years, there hardly was any talk about Boise State being in a BCS game.

“The most satisfying thing about this season was each week you’d see us get just a little bit better,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. “They have a chip on their shoulder.”

The win capped another strong year for the No. 20 Broncos (11-2), who had to overcome a 205-yard rushing game by Bishop Sankey against their normally stingy defense. Sankey also had 74 yards receiving, giving him 279 of Washington’s 447 yards from scrimmage.

But it was Frisina who came up with the biggest game of his career in his final game.

“It’s every kicker’s dream to win a big game with a field goal,” Frisina said. “For this one to come on the last game of my career, you couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Washington (7-6) had taken the lead for the first time on a 38-yard field goal with 4:09 left when Boise State got a big return by freshman Shane Williams-Rhodes to the Washington 42. Joe Southwick guided the team to the 12 before Frisina hit the winning kick.

“To their credit they found a way to win the game in the end,” said Washington coach Steve Sarkisian. “Our inability to finish is pretty blaring.”

Sankey, who was third on the depth list when fall practice began, rushed 30 times and caught six passes in the biggest game of his career. He scored one touchdown and was the MVP of the game, despite being on the losing side.

“There’s a lot of mixed emotions going on,” Sankey said. “The MVP doesn’t mean so much when you come out a loser.”

Frisina was only 12-for-17 on field goals coming into the game, but kicked three of them, including a 34-yarder to open the scoring that was his first field goal over 30 yards for the year.

Southwick, meanwhile, had another efficient game, completing 26 of 38 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns for a Boise State team that struggled offensively through much of the season before improving over its last three games.

La.-Lafayette 43, E. Carolina 34

Terrance Broadway passed for 316 yards and ran for 108, helping Louisiana-Lafayette repeat as winners of the New Orleans Bowl against East Carolina.

Alonzo Harris rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns for the Ragin’ Cajuns (9-4), who squandered a three-touchdown lead before moving back in front for good on Broadway’s 14-yard scoring pass to Javone Lawson late in the third quarter.

Shane Carden passed for 278 yards and two touchdowns for East Carolina (8-5) but was intercepted in Cajuns territory in the fourth quarter.