Boise State edges Virginia Tech, 33-30, in wild finish

Reporting from Landover, Md.

It took Boise State years to get this chance and the Broncos weren’t going to blow it minutes.

Kellen Moore hit Austin Pettis with a 13-yard pass with 1:09 left Monday night to lift Boise State to a 33-30 win over Virginia Tech before a crowd of 86,587 at FedEx Field.

Boise State, which started the season ranked No. 5 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, was hoping to make Labor Day night the launching point for an improbable national title run.

And that run is still alive.

No. 10 Virginia Tech had title plans of its own and rallied from a 17-point deficit to take a lead into the final two minutes.

But Boise State found a way to win.

Virginia Tech got the ball back with 1:02 but ran out of downs when Tyrod Taylor’s intended pass for Jarrett Boykin fell incomplete.

Virginia Tech took its first lead in the game, 21-20, on Ryan Williams’ one-yard run with 6:34 left in the third-quarter.

Boise State responded with D.J. Harper taking a third-and-one carry 71 yards for a score and a 26-21 lead (the extra point was blocked).

That was followed by a huge sequence in the game.

Virginia Tech faced fourth and 10 from the Boise State 33 and summoned kicker Chris Hazley, who missed a 51-yard field-goal attempt.

Boise State was called for running into the kicker, though, making it fourth and five from the 28.

Hokies’ Coach Frank Beamer decided to go for it from there, and Taylor hit Boykin in the left flat. He spun away from defender Brandyn Thompson and ran in for the touchdown.

Boise State, though, would have the last anwer.

It looked like a possible rout early after Boise State jumped to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.

A Virginia Tech fumble on its first possession led to an early Boise State field goal.

Boise State made it 10-0 on an eight-yard scoring pass from Moore to Pettis, whose blocked punt had set his team up in prime position on Virginia Tech 12.

Boise State went up 17-0 with 1:11 left in the quarter when Tommy Gallarda made a sensational one-handed catch for a two-yard touchdown.

Virginia Tech, a team known for its excellent special teams play under Beamer, missed a field goal, had a punt blocked and booted one kickoff out of bounds.

The Hokies, though, finally found their footing in the second quarter, cutting their deficit to 17-7 on Williams’ one-yard run.

Boise State added a field goal to make it 20-7 and got a break when the Hokies’ Hazley missed a 34-yard field-goal attempt. But the momentum turned when Boise State’s D.J. Martin fumble gave Virginia Tech the ball at the Broncos’ 34. Five plays later, Taylor hit Williams on a 12-yard scoring pass with 57 seconds left in the half.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com