RUSTON, La. — No. 5 Boise State cashed in on special teams in the first half Friday, but got swindled in the second half.

The Broncos, aided by an inexperienced Louisiana Tech punter, started first-half drives inside Louisiana Tech territory, including at the 3-yard line. They began their first drive at the 50.

Boise State scored 24 points on those four drives, proving that giving the Bronco offense a short field is playing with fire.

"Special teams shifts a lot of momentum and it helped out both teams," Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson said.

Wilson, who has yet to return a punt for a score this season after doing it three times in 2008, came close to getting into the end zone in the first quarter when he returned a punt 59 yards down to the Bulldogs' 3. Two plays later, Doug Martin's 1-yard touchdown run made it 13-7 in favor of Boise State.

"He made plays when we needed him to," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said of Wilson, who also had an interception.

Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman made 3-of-5 field goals in the game, missing from 44 yards just before halftime and from 31 yards with 11:30 to go with Boise State holding a 30-28 lead.

Both of Brotzman's misses came from the left hashmark, a place he's struggled from dating back to last season. If the Broncos face a fourth down on the left side in the future, sending out Brotzman may not always be an option.

"Maybe go for it, I don't know, we'll see," Petersen said.

The Broncos also were on the losing end of a big special teams play late in the third quarter when kicker Matt Nelson kicked a soft bouncer that he recovered after a Bulldogs touchdown. The drive ended with Ross Jenkins' 5-yard touchdown pass to Dennis Morris with 14:07 to go to cut the lead to two points.

"They got us a couple times and we got them once — the only thing I can say is that we'll learn from it," Petersen said.

Avery gets going late

After a first half where he ran eight times for 21 yards, junior running back Jeremy Avery turned it up in the second half, finishing with 146 yards on 25 carries and scored a 44-yard touchdown.

It was the second 100-yard game for Avery this season and the sixth of his career.

"We want to be a team that can run the ball and run it well in all situations, and we were able to do that late in the game," quarterback Kellen Moore said.

A drop in the polls?

Though they won by 10 points, the Broncos' lack of a big win Friday may be enough for some to drop them in the polls — Petersen said "no" when asked if he'd be surprised if Boise State falls Sunday. Many believe the Broncos need to rout their opponents each week to stay high in the polls.

"That's how it always is when we play — it's never good enough," Petersen said. "It's good enough for us. We won."

News and notes

Austin Pettis' 12-yard touchdown catch gives him one in every game this season. ... Jeron Johnson had 12 tackles to lead the Broncos, while Byron Hout and Billy Winn had sacks. ... Moore's 354 passing yards where his most since Nov. 22, 2008 at Nevada (414 yards).