No. 8 Boise St. mows down Bowling Green
The Broncos gave the coach exactly that and lots of them.
Kellen Moore passed for 247 yards and No. 8 Boise State needed four plays or less on its first six scoring drives in their 49-14 victory over Bowling Green Saturday.
"On offense, that's always the name of the game," said Petersen, who said he wanted to see more big runs and explosive passes this week. "It makes it a lot easier when you don't have those 15- and 17-play drives."
Moore completed 17 of 21 and threw two touchdowns. At times, it seemed as if he was tossing balls in a practice with no defenders around.
He threw for 195 yards in the second quarter alone, completing eight straight passes at one point.
The Broncos (4-0), with their highest regular-season ranking and BCS hopes, still have long trips to Tulsa and Hawaii in October and then an early November game at Louisiana Tech. And they'll be big favorites in each of those games, as they were against the Falcons.
"There's a lot of football to go and a lot of things to work on," Moore said.
Petersen said he thinks his players won't be looking too far ahead.
"These guys are a fairly mature bunch and if not, we have a staff of mature coaches to keep them focused," he said.
Bowling Green (1-3) looked to be a decent test after nearly tripping up Missouri on the road two weeks ago.
But the Falcons never stood a chance once the Broncos got rolling.
Boise State didn't score until a minute into the second quarter when receiver Titus Young took a pitch from Moore and ran 18 yards for a touchdown.
That was all the spark they needed.
"Sometimes it just takes a minute for kids to get comfortable," Petersen said.
Doug Martin scored on a 34-yard run down the right sideline two minutes later and then Young scored 18 second after that. The Broncos had gotten the ball back when Boise State's Brandyn Thompson intercepted Tyler Sheehan's tipped pass.
On the next play, Young ran 25 yards untouched into the end zone, giving the Broncos a 22-0 lead.
All that took just 2:27.
"That's what they do," said Dave Clawson, Bowling Green's first-year coach. "When they have 500 yards of offense, it will always be 10 to 12 plays where half their offense came from."
Moore spread the ball around to six different receivers. Tyler Shoemaker had 105 yards on four catches.
Bowling Green, hosting a top-10 team for the first time in school history, hung around early. The Falcons opened the game with a seven-minute drive, but came up empty after Jerry Phillips missed a 29-yard field goal.
They did hold Boise State scoreless in the first quarter - about the only bright spot on the night.
Boise State, making its first trip to Ohio, finished with 529 yards in total offense.
The Broncos' running game didn't miss a beat despite playing without second-leading rusher D.J. Harper, who has what is likely a season-ending knee injury.
Martin, a defensive back who has seven tackles this season, took Harper's spot and ran for 116 yards on 13 carries. Martin hardly looked like a back who had only seen limited action the last two seasons at running back.
"I felt pretty comfortable," Martin said. "That's what I've been doing since high school."
Jeremy Avery rushed for 92 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown run on the second play of the third quarter that put Boise State ahead 36-0.
Thompson's interception in the second quarter marked the sixth consecutive game with a pick for the Broncos.
The Broncos, with their best regular-season ranking in school history, intercepted Sheehan's passes twice, giving them nine interceptions this season. They did give up just their second passing touchdown, but it came after the game was all but over.
Sheehan, who had completed 68 percent of his throws this year coming into the game, couldn't get anything going against the Broncos' stingy pass defense.
He finished 16-of-29 passing with just 137 yards.
Falcons receiver Freddie Barnes, who was leading the nation with 14 catches per game, only managed four receptions for 24 yards.