Kellen Moore threw three touchdowns (of course he did!), the Bronco defense forced five Toledo turnovers (like a fox!), and Boise State beat the Rockets 57-14 in what could have been a much closer game.
After the jump, get a recap and some analysis of Boise State's win, and share your thoughts on what you saw. What did you think of Boise State's defense? What were your favorite plays? Read on for my take, and let me know yours.
The five best plays of the game
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Kellen Moore 51-yard TD pass to Titus Young. As is usually the case with deep balls to Titus Young, the pass was underthrown, but Young made a great grab and rolled into the end zone off a pair of Toledo defenders. That part was cool. But my favorite part was easily the play action fake that confused Toledo's defensive end so badly that he was chasing around the pocket as Moore strolled right past him with the ball.
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Brandyn Thompson interception. Assist bad Toledo catching skills. The Rockets drove to the Broncos' 20-yard-line, down by only 15 in the second quarter, only to see the drive fail when a perfectly thrown ball bounced off a Toledo receiver's hand and into the arms of Brandyn Thompson.
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Brandyn Thompson fumble recovery. Again with the score 22-7, Toledo RB Adonis Thomas took a screen pass, broke three tackles, and coughed up the ball from a George Iloka hit. That was the end of that.
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Boise State's fake punt that didn't count. A shovel pass from Kyle Brotzman to Tyler Shoemaker for 70 yards, called back by holding. I don't care, I love that play so much!
- Shea McClellin pick six. Poor Austin Dantin. Forgetting that Shea McClellin is not human.
Your turn
What were your favorite plays of the game?
Recap of Toledo vs. Boise State
Toledo's bad offense was good, its good defense was bad, and none of it really mattered as Boise State made all the plays on Saturday night in blowing by the Rockets, 57-14.
The Rockets scored to cut Boise State's lead to 15-7 late in the first quarter, but two other good-looking first half drives ended with turnovers, and that was all she wrote. The Broncos capitalized on Toledo mistakes to take a 36-7 halftime lead and sealed the deal with two quick strikes to open the second half.
Kellen Moore looked sharp in a pass-heavy Bronco gameplan, and Jeremy Avery piled on with three scores out of different versions of the wildcat. The Broncos outgained Toledo 501-278, racking up a lot of yards through the air with Kellen Moore in the game (268 yards, three touchdowns) and a lot of yards on the ground once he left.
Is 57-14 enough to appease voters? Considering what else happened in the Top 25 this week, I'd hope so.
It was over when ...
Jeremy Avery scored his third touchdown of the game just before halftime.
Boise State went 91 yards in seven plays and 40 seconds to make the score 36-7 at the break. Whatever momentum Toledo might have had from being three scores down and moving the ball relatively okay was gone. One minute, 11 seconds is way too much time to give Kellen Moore.
Statistics
Passing
Kellen Moore 16-22, 268 yards, 3 touchdowns
Rushing
Doug Martin 8 carries, 56 yards
Jeremy Avery 7 carries, 42 yards, 3 touchdowns
Matt Kaiserman 9 carries, 42 yards, 1 touchdown
Receiving
Austin Pettis 4 catches, 81 yards
Titus Young 6 catches, 98 yards, 1 touchdown
Knee-jerk reactions
Toledo's worst mistake all night might have been changing QBs after their first TD and thereby killing all momentum; Dantin was clearly the better quarterback tonight ... Attention BSU opponents: Don't bother running the ball against the Broncos ... Doug Martin had 56 yards on 8 carries, and I hardly remember him ... We should have a memorial for that fake punt that was called back because it was one of the greatest fake punts of all time ... Eric Page = Freddie Barnes ... I was surprised to see Page have so much room to roam in the BSU secondary in the first half; I thought the Broncos would have gameplanned to stop him since he was the only thing Toledo's offense had ...
Tonight was easily Boise State's worst tackling game of the season ... It's pretty clear that Boise State's kickoff coverage is not fixed ... How different would this game have looked if Toledo defenders would have actually caught the interceptions in their hands in the first quarter ... Boise State really came out with some wild stuff tonight, which might say just how much the Broncos thought of this Toledo team ... I don't know what to think about Michael Atkinson right now ... Another Boise State defensive line WIN tonight ... I have never seen a head coach madder over a 2-point conversion than Tim Beckman was over Toledo's first quarter try ...
Your turn
What did you think of Boise State's win over Toledo? Happy with the Bronco offense? Concerned with the Bronco defense? Share your thoughts in the comments.