TOLEDO, Ohio — For one 17-yard play, the Boise State football team tasted perfection Friday night at the Glass Bowl as the No. 4 Broncos dispatched the Toledo Rockets 40-15.

Senior quarterback Kellen Moore dropped back into a comfortable pocket. Senior wide receiver Tyler Shoemaker worked upfield along the right hashmarks, setting up a skinny post.

Moore fired the pass, at least a couple steps before Shoemaker broke to the inside. Shoemaker cut, turned his head and the ball was there.

Touchdown. Game over.

“In practice, it went the exact same way,” Moore said.

And that’s the Broncos’ impossible expectation, particularly on offense.

If it happens in practice, in a controlled environment, it will happen in the game.

That’s how Moore could stand within sight of a scoreboard that says the Broncos beat the feisty Rockets by 25 points, after he just passed for 455 yards and five touchdowns, and tell a crowd of impressed journalists that this wasn’t the Broncos’ “best brand of football.”

And be right.

“We had a few big plays, then drives would get stuck, not getting any points out of it,” Moore said. “That can’t happen.”

Still, the Broncos (2-0) amassed 610 yards of offense against a Toledo defense that held Ohio State to 301 yards six days earlier. Shoemaker made a career-high three touchdown catches, senior defensive tackle Chase Baker grabbed his first interception and safety Cedric Febis returned from his one-game eligibility suspension to force a key fumble.

The turnovers snuffed out two chances for the Rockets to give the Broncos a scare.

“Boise State’s defense did a good job,” Toledo quarterback Terrance Owens said, “but we didn’t capitalize on our plays.”

Both teams likely will review the video and scream at their monitors. Missed opportunities — including two missed PATs for each team — were abundant.

A Toledo receiver dropped a touchdown pass and the Rockets lost two turnovers deep in Broncos territory. Boise State failed on a fake field goal and another fourth-down play and Moore tossed an interception in Toledo territory.

The difference was the efficiency of Moore, who dissected the Rockets’ defense with uncanny precision. He was 32-of-42 on a night when the Broncos’ running game struggled.

“He’s a surgeon, really,” Toledo running back Adonis Thomas said. “Everything is precise. Everything is where it needs to be. I don’t like what he did to our defense, but if he was playing somebody else I would say I’m a fan of Kellen Moore.”

Said Boise State coach Chris Petersen: “That’s how our offense is built and designed, to move it whichever way it’s going to be effective. Certainly if we have to put the ball in Kellen’s hands, we don’t have a problem with that.”

The Broncos’ offense and defense, as they often do, repeatedly answered the call when the other slipped.

The Rockets took a 6-0 lead on their opening drive, converting a pair of third-and-longs. The offense fired back on the next drive and, with an effortless 2-minute drill, took a 20-9 halftime lead.

The game appeared to turn in the Rockets’ direction early in the third quarter. The Broncos failed on a fake field goal and the Rockets quickly drove to the Boise State 11-yard line.

On first down, defensive end Shea McClellin tipped a screen pass and defensive tackle Chase Baker intercepted it.

Later in the quarter, leading 27-9, Moore threw a rare interception and safety Jermaine Robinson delivered a 60-yard return to the Boise State 19-yard line.

It could have been worse if not for sophomore right guard Jake Broyles.

“A lot of credit to the offensive line for making the tackle on that interception,” Moore said.

Again, the defense made a big play. Safety Cedric Febis stripped quarterback Austin Dantin and linebacker J.C. Percy swiped the loose ball.

“We understand there’s going to be momentum swings,” Baker said, “so we’ve just got to keep our minds right and play and things like that can happen.”

The turnovers made up for what was otherwise an off night for the Boise State defense. The Broncos allowed 349 yards, 21 first downs and seven third-down conversions. Sloppy tackling, and the Rockets’ ability to turn screen passes into big plays, hurt them.

“We’ve worked so hard on that and put so much emphasis on turnovers in the red zone and those two were huge,” Petersen said.

Moore followed the first turnover with an 89-yard drive that culminated with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Efaw.

He followed the second one with a long drive that came up empty, a missed opportunity. Moments later, though, he sealed the Broncos’ victory with that perfectly timed dart to Shoemaker.

“We look at every situation and see how we could do it the best we can because that’s how we practice it,” Shoemaker said. “If it’s not up to our standards, then we need to go back and fix things.”

Chadd Cripe: 377-6398