Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009

Boise State football team rolls past Hawaii

By BY CHADD CRIPE

HONOLULU — Perfect, no.

Impressive, yes.

And that’s progress for the No. 6 Boise State football team.

The Broncos hammered Hawaii 54-9 in a WAC game Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

The defense forced six turnovers, quarterback Kellen Moore threw a career-high five touchdown passes and the Broncos scored the first 44 points of the game.

Boise State improved to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the WAC, tying a school record with its 10th straight road win. Hawaii fell to 2-5, 0-4 with its fifth straight loss.

“Six turnovers is the reason we were able to get such a commanding lead,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. “When we play like that on defense, we’ll be hard to stop.”

Moore’s touchdown throws went to wide receiver Titus Young (three), wide receiver Austin Pettis (one) and slot receiver Tyler Shoemaker (one). Those gave Moore - the nation’s leader in pass efficiency - 21 touchdown passes against two interceptions this season. Freshman tailback Matt Kaiserman added 122 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, the defense produced those six turnovers after going two games without one. Three of the turnovers came inside the Hawaii red zone and set up 13 points. All told, the Broncos scored 30 points off turnovers.

Safety Jeron Johnson had two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

The win probably helped the Broncos with poll voters who questioned their less-than-dominant performances against UC Davis and Tulsa, but it also helped them in the locker room. The Broncos entered the week at No. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

“We just needed a big victory for ourselves, I think,” Moore said. “We certainly feel like we haven’t played up to our potential the last two weeks and we feel pretty good about that performance (against Hawaii). We were able to get after them on both sides of the ball.”

Still, the Broncos left plenty of room for coaches to grumble as they prepare for their return to Bronco Stadium on Saturday against San Jose State - their first home game against an FBS team in seven weeks.

The Broncos fumbled six snaps, including one for a safety. They were 3-of-13 on third down. And they settled for field goals on four of seven red-zone trips. Plus, they took a couple of unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties.

The snap problems had a lot to do with the red-zone and third-down struggles.

“If we can eliminate some sixth-grade penalties and figure out how to snap the ball,” Petersen said, “we might be in business.”

The Broncos had plenty of bright spots in Hawaii:

- Moore, who wasn’t quite as crisp as usual, managed to pad his national lead in pass efficiency, take over the lead in touchdown passes and add momentum to his upstart Heisman Trophy campaign.

He was 18-of-30 for 223 yards without a sack or a turnover. And he did it while taking some shots from an aggressive Hawaii defense.

The Broncos established a season high with 54 points and moved into third in the nation in scoring.

“There’s still little mistakes, details, we’ll always look at that stuff,” Moore said. “But any time you’re able to put up points like that, you’re happy.”

- The defense responded to the coaches’ challenge about turnovers. The Broncos forced 11 in the first four games before going through their first two-game drought in eight years.

They left with three interceptions and three fumble recoveries, including a tone-setting fumble on the Warriors’ first drive.

“You can stress it in practice, but you can’t really ask for them,” said nickel Winston Venable, who had six tackles and a forced fumble. “You’ve got to make it happen.”

- Kaiserman, who missed the first six games as he recovered from a concussion, made a fantastic college debut. He carried 23 times for 122 yards and a touchdown, including 11 straight carries on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive.

He is the fourth different Bronco to rush for 100 yards in a game this season.

“It wasn’t perfect, but I felt like I was out there competing at my best level,” Kaiserman said. “For that, I’m happy.”

- They ended a two-game Aloha Stadium losing streak. The Broncos lost to Hawaii and East Carolina in back-to-back games on the island in 2007.

“It’s always a tough trip here,” Moore said. “We’re excited to come out like this.”

- And the Broncos cleared a significant scheduling hurdle. They played four of their past five games on the road - in four different time zones, none their own.

They get four of their final six games at home.

“It was definitely draining on our bodies - with school, missing a lot of school, and traveling,” Johnson said. “And it’s not like we were going to Idaho State. We were on the road pretty far. We stayed mentally tough and got through it. That’s football. There’s going to be obstacles placed in front of you.”

Those obstacles are fewer now. Another long trip, to Louisiana Tech, in a couple weeks. Red-hot Nevada on Thanksgiving weekend. Maybe a feisty Idaho in between.

More and more, though, this looks like the Broncos’ fourth undefeated regular season in six years. They certainly left that impression Saturday night.

“It’s a good win for the fans,” Venable said, “to show we can put together a solid win.”