Boise State blows by Toledo

Kellen Moore and No. 4 Boise State made it look easy from the start.

The Broncos needed five plays and a little more than two minutes to score their first touchdown, their quickest opening score this season.

With the help of an opportunistic defense, Moore directed Boise State to touchdowns on four of its next six first-half possessions and cruised to a 57-14 victory over Toledo on Saturday night at Boise.

Looking to impress voters after dropping a spot in the polls, Boise State (5-0) can’t afford letting lesser opponents that make up their midseason schedule hang around.

That wasn’t a problem against Toldeo. Moore threw three touchdowns in the first half, the offense rolled up 500 total yards and that starters started getting rest early in the third quarter.

“We don’t want to hold anything back. We want to go fast from start to finish. Some games it may not seem like that,” coach Chris Petersen said. “But part of that is that we want to show new stuff. We want the next team to put the film on and say, ‘We have to prepare for all this stuff?’”

The victory also extended Boise State’s unbeaten streak to 19 games. Thanks to No. 19 South Carolina’s upset over top-ranked Alabama Saturday, the Broncos now own the nation’s longest winning streak. The next closest team is No. 2 Ohio State, which has now won 12 in a row.

The Broncos also got plenty of help from the stingy defense, which came into the game allowing just 223.5 yards per game, the nation’s best.

The Broncos forced five turnovers, two of which spoiled Toledo first-half scoring drives and led to Boise State points.

Then on Toledo’s opening drive of the second half, defensive end Shea McClellin stepped in front of a pass by Austin Dantin and rumbled 36 yards for a score that put Boise State up 43-7.

“Turnovers are really the key to football,” said Moore, who was 16 of 22 for 267 yards passing. “Points come quickly when turnovers happen. And before you know it, you’ve got a few points on the board.”

Toledo (3-3) was able to move the ball early, too.

The Rockets, who had won all three of their games on the road, scored in the first quarter on a 4-yard run by Dantin to pull within 15-7.

But two other promising drives were spoiled by miscues, the first when Dantin’s pass deflected off the hands of Kenny Stafford and was intercepted by Brandyn Thompson at the Broncos 16.

One possession later, Adonis Thomas caught a screen pass and ran into Boise territory, but coughed up the ball after being stripped by George Iloka.

Toledo had 287 total yards, 65 rushing.

“We had an opportunity, probably, to score 21 points,” said Rockets coach Tim Beckman, who preached ball control all week after his team fell victim to fumbles and interceptions in a loss to Wyoming last week.

“When you’re playing a team like Boise State, a team that’s built this legacy that they’ve got now, you cannot beat yourself that way.”

No. 21 Nevada 35, San Jose State 13: At Reno, Nev., Vai Taua ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns and Colin Kaepernick passed for 264 yards, rushed for 91 and scored twice to lead Nevada past San Jose State (1-5).

Taua’s 73-yard scoring burst put Nevada ahead 28-13 early in the third quarter of the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams as the Wolf Pack improved to 6-0 for the first time since 1991.

Hawaii 49, Fresno State 27: At Fresno, Calif., Greg Salas scored three touchdowns, two on passes from Bryant Moniz, and Alex Green ran for three scores as Hawaii (4-2, 2-0 WAC) overwhelmed Fresno State (3-2, 1-1).

Louisiana Tech 24, Utah State 6: At Ruston, La., Lennon Creer ran for two touchdowns and Louisiana Tech (2-4, 1-1 WAC) defeated Utah State (2-4, 0-2).

New Mexico State 16, New Mexico 14: At Las Cruces, N.M., Tyler Stampler’s 22-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining lifted New Mexico State (1-4) past New Mexico (0-6).