MOSCOW — Forget about those defensive slugfests between the Idaho Vandals and Fresno State Bulldogs in the Western Athletic Conference.

The WAC finale between the two schools was all about the offense.

Quarterback Derek Carr completed 24 of 37 passes for 371 yards and five touchdowns as the visiting Fresno State Bulldogs pulled away in the second half and rolled past the Idaho Vandals 48-24 in the Western Athletic Conference football opener for both schools Saturday in front of 15,110 at the Kibbie Dome.

“We’re very disappointed with how we came out in the second half,” said Akey, whose offense only had 55 yards of total offense in the second half. “It was a hell of a first half, but I was really disappointed in our lack of ability to move the ball after halftime.”

Carr, the younger brother of former Fresno State QB David Carr, the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NFL draft, was 12 of 15 for 276 yards passing and three touchdowns in the first half. Fresno totaled 513 yards for the game.

“We started keying on the run game and were doing a good job in that,” said Idaho cornerback Matthew Harvey, who had four tackles and an interception. “We just had bad eyes in the secondary. We got caught up in the run game and let it slip in the second half.”

Carr set up the Bulldogs’ opening score, hitting Josh Harper on a 49-yard pass to move to the 16-yard line, eventually scoring on a pass to Jalen Saunders for the early 7-0 lead.

Idaho (1-3) answered on its ensuing possession when Brian Reader hit Clayton Homme on a quick out to even the score at 7-7 with 4:21 remaining in the first quarter.

Fresno State (2-2), in its last year in the WAC before moving to the Mountain West next season, retook the lead on a 48-yard field goal by Kevin Gosseling with 2:57 remaining in the opening quarter.

Reader hit tight end Michael LaGrone for 20 yards to set up an 18-yard TD run by Princeton McCarty to take a 14-10 lead with 10:34 remaining in the first half.

Fresno answered as Carr hit Saunders on a slant for a 51-yard TD to go up 17-14 with 7:48 remaining.

A 23-yard field goal by Trey Farquhar of Idaho tied the game at 17 with 6:03 left in the first half.

Carr scrambled to find tight end Marcel Jensen on a 1-yard touchdown to give Fresno State a 24-17 halftime lead. Carr passed for 276 yards in the first half. Carr and Saunders combined for 142 yards through the air in the first half.

“They’ve got great receivers,” Harvey said of Fresno. “We should have been more aggressive at times. We were switching coverages from man to zone, but he’s a great quarterback. He saw all of that.”

Gosseling kicked a 41-yard field goal, and Carr hit Evans on a 33-yard TD pass to give the Bulldogs a 34-17 lead.

Fresno State capitalized on a Reader fumble as Nat Harrison rumbled 40 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 41-17 lead at the end of the third quarter.

“There are some throws that I’m not making right now,” said Reader, who finished the game with 235 yards passing and two touchdowns. “Their defense came out ready to play in the second half and we weren’t making the right adjustments on the field.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Kama Bailey caught a 7-yard TD pass from Reader to pull Idaho within 41-24 with 14:34 remaining.

Fresno State held the ball for nearly five minutes on its next possession, with a 34-yard run by Rouse setting up a 9-yard pass from Carr to Josh Harper to make it 48-24 with 6:32 remaining.

“We did a really good job today,” Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. “Our protection was very good against movement and the blitz. We gave up some plays in the first half on defense, second half we held it to seven points. Offensively, we really played well throughout the game.”

Idaho has now dropped two straight.

“We need to play all four quarters,” Harvey said. “We need to come together as a team. Sometimes our defense lets the offense get to us. We just can’t let the small things get to us as a group.”

“It’s aggravating because I know we can fix this,” Akey said. “One team just finished better than the other one today. We still need to grow up as a team a little bit. We need something to happen for us. This is just one WAC game for us.”

Notes: LaGrone left the game with a leg injury after the first play of the fourth quarter. Akey said following the game that X-rays showed no damage and expects him to be available for next Saturday’s game ... Carr matched the school record for touchdown passes in a game, tying Paul Pinegar’s five in the MPC Computers Bowl in 2004 against Virginia ... Idaho’s Ryan Bass, a senior transfer from Arizona State, is also expected to return from injury next week, according to Akey.

Fresno St. 10 14 17 7—48

Idaho 7 10 0 7—24

First Quarter

Fre_Saunders 16 pass from Carr (Goessling kick), 9:54.

Id_Homme 3 pass from Reader (Farquhar kick), 4:21.

Fre_FG Goessling 48, 2:57.

Second Quarter

Id_McCarty 18 run (Farquhar kick), 10:34.

Fre_Saunders 51 pass from Carr (Goessling kick), 7:48.

Id_FG Farquhar 23, 6:03.

Fre_Jensen 1 pass from Carr (Goessling kick), 1:59.

Third Quarter

Fre_FG Goessling 48, 11:39.

Fre_Evans 33 pass from Carr (Goessling kick), 6:36.

Fre_Harrison 40 fumble return (Goessling kick), :04.

Fourth Quarter

Id_Bailey 7 pass from Reader (Farquhar kick), 14:34.

Fre_Harper 9 pass from Carr (Goessling kick), 4:00.

A_15,110.

Fre Id

First downs 22 17

Rushes-yards 34-142 24-44

Passing 371 239

Comp-Att-Int 24-37-2 23-43-0

Return Yards 79 7

Punts-Avg. 2-51.0 8-48.5

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 7-75 7-85

Time of Possession 33:03 26:57

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Fresno St., Rouse 25-112, M.Knox 7-27, Shapiro 1-15, Team 1-(minus 12). Idaho, McCarty 7-33, Bailey 6-19, Vital 6-9, Reader 5-(minus 17).

PASSING_Fresno St., Carr 24-37-2-371. Idaho, Reader 22-38-0-235, T.Davis 1-3-0-4, Bailey 0-1-0-0, Team 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING_Fresno St., Evans 7-81, Saunders 5-142, Harper 3-74, Burse 3-33, Wylie 3-30, Skidmore 1-9, M.Harris 1-1, Jensen 1-1. Idaho, LaGrone 5-57, Bailey 5-41, M.Scott 4-43, A.Johnson 2-43, Veltung 2-14, McCarty 2-11, Elmo 1-19, Vital 1-8, Homme 1-3.