DALLAS (FWAA) With their 33-30 win over Virginia Tech in Landover, Md., the Boise State Broncos (1-0) are the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week for games of the weekend of Sept. 4.
Junior quarterback Kellen Moore hit Austin Pettis with a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 remaining to provide the winning points. Pettis' earlier touchdown catch after his blocked punt helped the Broncos run out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead.
In front of a crowd of 86,587 at FedExField, the Broncos extended their winning streak to 15 games, which includes a win over TCU in last season's Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
"We know how much was at stake for us, so it was kind of like a bowl game, but we've still got 11, 12 games to go," Pettis said after the game. "There's a lot we need to work on, too, because there was a lot of mistakes we made. We can't afford any slip-ups, especially after setting ourselves up like this."
Other Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of Sept. 4 included:
East Carolina (1-0): In head coach Ruffin McNeill's debut, the Pirates won a 51-49 thriller over Tulsa in Greenville, N.C. when Dominique Davis connected with Justin Jones for a 33-yard touchdown pass on the game's final play.
Jacksonville State (1-0): In Oxford, Miss., the Gamecocks stunned Ole Miss, 49-48, in overtime after rallying from a 31-10 deficit with 21 fourth-quarter points. Cody Blanchard hit Calvin Middleton with the winning two-point conversion pass on the second possession of overtime to complete the upset.
The Football Writers Association of America has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season. This is the seventh season that the award has been sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
Members of the FWAA All-America Committee decide the weekly honor. Each remaining Monday during the 2010 college football regular season, the FWAA will name the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week.
Founded in 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has hosted six games that have decided the college football national championship, including three Bowl Championship Series title games. This season, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will host the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 10, 2011 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will be played on Jan. 1, 2011 in Glendale and the Insight Bowl will be played on Dec. 28, 2010 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, go to footballwriters.com or fiestabowl.org.