A revamped Louisiana Tech with a new coach, meanwhile, will get another chance at home to knock off one of the Western Athletic Conference elites, having narrowly lost to No. 17 Hawaii on Sept. 8.

"That's always been a hard place to go and play," said Boise State coach Chris Petersen about playing in Ruston, La. "That will be a big challenge. We haven't been away from home too much."

Only once so far this year, a 24-10 loss at Washington of the Pacific-10 Conference. But the Broncos have won their five home games to compile a 5-1 overall record, 2-0 WAC.

The Broncos now play four of their next six games on the road, starting at Louisiana Tech (2-4, 1-2 WAC).

"It's going to be a tremendous challenge for us," said first-year Bulldogs coach Derek Dooley. "I've always felt that when you're a good team, you're good at everything, and that typifies Boise State."

Both teams are coming off narrow though impressive home wins last weekend. The Broncos beat Nevada in a four-overtime thriller, 69-67, and Louisiana Tech scored the last two touchdowns in the fourth quarter for a 22-21 victory against New Mexico State. "There were a number of times in the game where we could have laid down and we didn't," said Dooley, who is trying to turn around a program that went 3-10 last year. "We'll see how it turns out this week, and it's not going to be easy against these guys."

Boise State dropped out of The Associated Press Top 25 after losing to Washington, but is now close to getting back in, and beating the Bulldogs might be enough.

But the Bulldogs have already seen tough competition, losing 45-44 in overtime to Hawaii and then 42-12 at No. 10 California.

The Bulldogs score an average of 18.7 points per game, but will likely need more against the Broncos, who average 42.5 a game.

The Bulldogs also give up 272 yards in passing a game, a defensive stat that Broncos quarterback Taylor Tharp, a senior, could inflate even more.

"I'm kind of eager to get back on the road," said Tharp, who threw three costly interceptions and lost a fumble against Washington. "I think a lot of people think we're not a very good road team. As the season goes on I just feel a little better going into the games."