BOISE, Idaho — Grant Hedrick threw for a career-high 410 yards and had four touchdown passes in Boise State’s 55-30 victory over BYU on Friday night.
Hedrick was 24 of 31 with one interception and also ran for a touchdown in the Broncos’ highest-scoring game of the season.
“We’ve really found our rhythm on offense,” Hedrick said. “And it’s a great time of year to do that for us as we hit our stretch run. All those big plays tonight were the result of our receivers’ ability to make a play after the catch. They did a great job of finding the end zone.”
Boise State (6-2) had the highest points total against BYU since Tulsa handed the Cougars a 55-47 loss in 2003. BYU (4-4) has lost four straight for the first time since 2010.
Jay Ajayi ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns. He’s the first rusher to top 100 yards this season against the Cougars, who entered the game holding opponents to an average of 97 yards rushing. The Broncos finished with 227 yards rushing.
Hedrick gave Boise State a 10-0 lead on a 12-yard run with 5:33 left in the first quarter, capping a 10-play, 76-yard drive. After Dan Goodale added his second field goal, Hedrick found Thomas Sperlock for a 78-yard pass play to make it 20-0 early in the second quarter.
BYU, held without a first down on its first three possessions, got its offense on track when running back Jamaal Williams returned to the backfield. Williams, hampered by a sprained left ankle sprain for the past month, capped a 13-play, 65-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown run.
The teams traded big scoring plays less than 90 seconds later.
Boise State made it 27-7 when Hedrick hit Shane Williams-Rhodes with a 49-yard scoring strike. BYU countered on the next play from scrimmage with Christian Stewart’s 81-yard touchdown pass to Colby Pearson.
Ajayi finished off a nine-play, 77-yard drive with a 3-yard run with 3:39 left in the half.
No. 6 Oregon 59, California 41
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Marcus Mariota matched his season high with five touchdown passes and broke the Oregon record for career passing yards in the No. 6 Ducks’ victory over California in the first college game at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Mariota completed 18 of 30 passes for 326 yards. He also threw his first interception of the season, ending his streak of 253 passes without an interception.
Royce Freeman ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns to overcome a critical early turnover, and Charles Nelson scored on a 58-yard punt return to help Oregon (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) win its sixth straight against Cal.
Jared Goff passed for 360 yards and two touchdowns for Cal (4-4, 2-4), but the Bears couldn’t overcome multiple breakdowns and lost their third straight.
Cincinnati 34, South Florida 17
CINCINNATI — Gunner Kiel threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score before hurting his ribs again, and Munchie Legaux took it from there Friday night, scoring a notable touchdown of his own while Cincinnati pulled away to a victory over South Florida.
The Bearcats (4-3, 2-1 American Athletic) took advantage of the Bulls’ many mistakes and got their second straight lopsided win. They also came away with more worries at quarterback.
Kiel has played the last five games with bruised ribs. He aggravated the injury on a scramble in the closing seconds of the first half, which finished with the Bearcats up 20-3.
The Bulls (3-5, 2-2) switched quarterbacks but couldn’t pull off a second straight comeback. They had the biggest comeback in school history a week earlier, rallying from a 27-7 halftime deficit to a 38-30 win over Tulsa.
Legaux, who overcame a career-threatening knee injury early last season, had an emotional moment early in the fourth quarter. He ran 9 yards on his rebuilt left knee for his first touchdown since his comeback, slid on his knees at the back of the end zone and put his head on the ground, cradling the ball.
By wire sources