BOISE, Idaho — Boise State has not often trailed this season, and going down 7-0 early at home irked the Broncos.

So on fourth-and-goal from the 1 in the first quarter, the Broncos kept their offense on the field and tied the game with quarterback Jared Zabransky's dash around the right side.

"That was a huge momentum swing for us," said Zabransky after No. 20 Boise State went to overwhelm Louisiana Tech, 55-14, yesterday.

The Broncos (6-0, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference) fumbled away the opening kickoff to trail early, but roared back with 31 straight points before halftime.

It was Louisiana Tech's third road game against a ranked team, and it went about the same as the first two. They opened the season with a 49-10 loss to No. 22 Nebraska, and a week ago lost 51-0 to No. 15 Clemson.

"(Boise State) is very similar, right up there," said Louisiana Tech coach Jack Bicknell. "I'm like an expert on Top-25 teams."

"I feel bad for Louisiana Tech in terms of the schedule they had to play," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. "You can only take so many shots before it starts to wear you down."

But yesterday's game was the opening of conference play for the Bulldogs (1-4, 0-1 WAC), and they considered it the real start of their season.

It could hardly have started better.

The Broncos' Quinton Jones fumbled the opening kickoff and Louisiana Tech's Justin Johnson recovered at the Boise State 14.

Patrick Jackson then carried the ball four times in a row, the last for a touchdown from a yard out for Louisiana Tech's first lead against a ranked team this season.

But it didn't last long.

"You've got to take advantage when they give you gifts," said Bulldogs quarterback Zac Champion, who completed 14-of-29 pass attempts for 135 yards and an interception Marty Tadman returned 98 yards for a score late in the third quarter.

The second longest interception return in school history gave Boise State a 48-7 lead.

"That's longer than I've run in a long time," Tadman said. "I got tired about 60 yards into it."

Zabransky completed 11 of 18 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns, and ran nine times for 54 yards and two touchdowns.