HONOLULU — Joe Southwick threw three touchdowns, backup quarterback Grant Hedrick rushed for another, and Boise State easily beat Hawaii 49-14 on Saturday.
Southwick threw for 209 yards, including touchdowns to Matt Miller, Aaron Burks and Holden Huff in a game the Broncos hoped for a bounce-back win after dropping out of the AP Top 25.
Hedrick replaced Southwick in the fourth quarter, well after the game was decided. He led the Broncos (8-2, 5-1 Mountain West) on a 56-yard drive of more than 9 minutes, capping it off with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Jay Ajayi and Shane Williams-Rhodes each added rushing touchdowns, and Boise State’s defense also scored on a 25-yard fumble recovery.
Boise State was looking to recover from a bitter home loss last week to San Diego State, an upset that thwarted the Broncos’ hopes of reaching a BCS bowl game this year.
In Honolulu, Boise State made sure the game’s outcome was rarely in doubt. The Broncos defense finished with six sacks, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions. The sacks pushed down Hawaii’s rushing total to minus-14 for the game.
Hawaii (1-8, 0-6) had its best play on special teams, with Mike Edwards returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter.
Quarterback Sean Schroeder of Hawaii was benched midway through the third quarter. He finished with 100 yards and an interception while taking four sacks.
A crowd generously announced at just over 24,000 — including many orange shirt-wearing Broncos fans — cheered loudest when Schroeder was pulled from the game with roughly 6 minutes left in the third quarter. His backup, sophomore Jeremy Higgins, went on to complete one more pass, with 154 yards and an interception.
Higgins led the Warriors on their only offensive scoring drive of the game, a 10-play, 72-yard drive resulting in a 1-yard touchdown run for John Lister.
Will Gregory, who picked Hawaii over Boise State because he wanted to play running back instead of defense, was ejected in the first quarter for throwing a punch at an opposing player after a kickoff.
Boise St. 49, Hawaii 14
Boise St. 21 14 7 7 — 49
Hawaii 7 0 0 7 — 14
First quarter
Boi—Williams-Rhodes 9 run (Frisina kick), 12:46.
Haw—Edwards 100 kickaoff return (Hadden kick), 12:31.
Boi—Miller 3 pass from Southwick (Frisina kick), 5:17.
Boi—Burks 46 pass from Southwick (Frisina kick), :33.
Second quarter
Boi—Ajayi 13 run (Frisina kick), 8:15.
Boi—Huff 10 pass from Southwick (Frisina kick), 1:12.
Third quarter
Boi—Lawrence 25 fumble return (Frisina kick), 6:37.
Fourth quarter
Boi—Hedrick 4 run (Frisina kick), 9:15.
Haw—Lister 1 run (Hadden kick), 5:35.
A—29,471.
Boi Haw
First downs 20 15
Rushes-yards 42-155 33-(-14)
Passing 256 254
Comp-Att-Int 20-33-0 21-36-2
Return Yards 70 25
Punts-Avg. 7-41.3 5-53.4
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-3
Penalties-Yards 8-68 5-40
Time of Possession 31:10 28:50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Boise St., Ajayi 8-54, Harper 12-34, Fields 10-32, Harman 1-21, Williams-Rhodes 2-7, D.Wright 3-5, Hedrick 6-2. Hawaii, Iosefa 14-29, Lister 9-16, Harding 1-(minus 11), Higgins 4-(minus 11), Schroeder 5-(minus 37).
PASSING—Boise St., Southwick 17-29-0-209, Hedrick 3-4-0-47. Hawaii, Schroe der 10-19-1-100, Higgins 11-17-1-154.
RECEIVING—Boise St., Burks 5-107, Huff 4-47, Moore 3-48, Miller 3-21, Boldewijn 1-13, Potter 1-9, Harper 1-5, Jackson 1-3, Williams-Rhodes 1-3. Hawaii, Hall 5-70, Evans 4-67, Gant 3-45, Lister 3-12, Harding 2-31, Stutzmann 2-23, Iosefa 2-6.