Editor's note: Brian Edwards is No. 2 on VI in guaranteed plays (22-13, 63%, +794) for college football. Don't miss out on another winner tonight that's a pay-if-it-wins-only selection.

During the VI Handicapping Seminar at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas back in August, James Manos and I both felt like this game might be Boise State’s toughest test, at least in WAC play. That’s because this is a difficult travel spot for the Broncos.

Chris Petersen’s team is playing its third road game in four weeks. BSU played at Tulsa on Oct. 14 and went all the way to Hawaii on Oct. 24. The Broncos were back at home on the smurf turf last week, capturing a 45-7 victory over San Jose St. as 36 ½-point favorites. And now they venture from Boise to the Deep South of Ruston, LA. (To be clear, I don't necessarily look at this game as nearly as formidable a task for Boise as I did in August, but we'll get to that due to a rash of La. Tech injuries.)

Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened Boise State (8-0 straight up, 6-1 against the spread) as a 21-point favorite with a total of 53. As of early this afternoon, most betting shops had the Broncos favored by 21 with a total of 52. For bettors smelling an upset, the Las Vegas Hilton is offering a plus-1100 return for La. Tech to win outright (risk $100 to win $1,100).

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Boise St. has been dominant all year, starting with its 19-8 win over Oregon as a three-point home favorite in Week 1. Since then, the Broncos have won six of their seven games by 17 points or more. They have covered the spread in every game except one, a 28-21 win at Tulsa as 9 ½-point road favorites.

Sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore has been nothing short of sensational, completing 67.1 percent of his passes for 1,905 yards with an incredible 24/2 touchdown-interception ratio. Moore has a pair of speedy wideouts in Austin Pettis and Titus Young, both of whom have 41 catches apiece.

Pettis has accounted for 553 receiving yards and nine touchdown grabs, while Young has 495 receiving yards and seven TD catches. Moore also has the benefit of a big-time running back in Jeremy Avery, who has been a more-than-capable replacement for the departed Ian Johnson. Avery has 636 rushing yards on 112 carries, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

Dating back to Dan Hawkins’ tenure, BSU has always had a dynamic offense. But the difference between the ’09 Broncos and former squads is clearly the play of their defense. Although this unit gave up 34 points to Fresno St., it has otherwise been outstanding. In fact, the other scoring outputs allowed by Boise St. have been as follows: 8, 0, 14, 16, 21, 9 and 7.

Louisiana Tech (3-5 SU, 3-4 ATS) has been a major disappointment in Derek Dooley’s third year on campus. The Bulldogs started out 2008 by beating Mississippi St. at home, but this year began with a 37-14 loss at Auburn. They also went down at Navy the following week by a 32-14 count.

I backed La. Tech for a winner in its 27-6 home win over Hawaii in a Wednesday game back on Sept. 30. Since then, however, the Bulldogs have lost three of their four games, including last week’s 35-34 loss at Idaho. They blew a pair of 14-point leads and a 13-point cushion in the defeat to the Vandals.

On the opening play of the final stanza, La. Tech went in front 34-21 on a one-yard TD run by Myke Compton. However, Matt Nelson’s PAT was off the mark and that would come back to haunt the Bulldogs because Idaho answered with 14 straight points to garner the outright victory. Nevertheless, La. Tech backers cashed tickets catching 2 ½ points.

The biggest concern for Dooley has to be the health of his two most dynamic playmakers, RB Daniel Porter and WR Phillip Livas. Both players are listed as “questionable.” Porter left last week’s game with a concussion, while Livas is nursing an ankle sprain.

Porter has a team-high 640 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 5.2 YPC. Livas, who is also a special-teams ace in the return game, has 19 receptions for 205 yards. Also, starting MLB Adrien Cole is listed as “doubtful” after suffering a concussion at Idaho, while OLB Brian White (ankle) is “questionable.”

During Petersen’s four-year tenure, BSU owns a 10-8 spread record as a road favorite. La. Tech is in its first home underdog spot of the year, but we should note that the Bulldogs are 5-0 ATS as home ‘dogs on Dooley’s watch since 2007.

When these teams squared off on the blue carpet in ’08, Boise St. easily took the cash in a 38-3 home win as a 24-point ‘chalk.’ In BSU’s last trip to Ruston, it won a 45-31 decision but La. Tech took the money as a 15-point home underdog. The Bulldogs have lost seven in a row to the Broncos by an average of 26 points per game.

ESPN2 will provide television coverage at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.

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