It wasn’t the scoreboard putting the Boise State football team under pressure in the home opener Saturday night at Bronco Stadium.
It was the down marker.
And as is his habit, Broncos senior quarterback Kellen Moore delivered almost every time.
Moore completed 7-of-9 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown on third and fourth downs in the first half against Tulsa — leading the No. 4 Broncos to a 41-21 rout of the Golden Hurricane.
Moore’s clutch throws bailed out an offense that, largely because of an inefficient rushing attack, didn’t have its usual bite.
“There’s no doubt you want to be good on third down, and certainly if you’re going to go for it on fourth down you better make it,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. “That was pleasing that we were able to get a few things done.
“But it seemed like everything in between, we were very sloppy. … There were some very nice plays made in all three phases, but I thought it was a lot of sloppy football.”
Even Moore made a couple of mistakes, fumbling a handoff and a snap.
But his overall performance added to his Heisman Trophy résumé with 23-of-29 passing for 279 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions and no sacks.
He exited with 9 minutes, 25 seconds left in the third quarter with a 34-0 lead.
And Moore did it all while sporting a brace on his right knee. He admitted he was “a little bit” banged up in the previous game at Toledo, but he and Petersen were coy about the reasons for the new hardware.
“It’s fine,” Moore said. “It’s just a doctor deal.”
Moore’s passing helped the Broncos (3-0) extend their school-record home winning streak to 33 games in front of a sellout crowd of 34,019.
They are the third Top 10 team to beat the Hurricane (1-3), who previously lost to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Broncos held them to 291 yards — more than 100 fewer than anyone else.
Boise State’s dominance in special teams forced Tulsa to begin 11 of its 13 drives at or inside its own 20-yard line.
“They are as good as any of them,” Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship said of the Broncos. “They are the Boise that most people think nationwide. They’re not going to have as impressive of guys getting off the bus, but these guys know how to play.”
Some of those playmakers were old favorites, like Moore, senior wide receiver Tyler Shoemaker (five catches, 102 yards, two TDs), senior tailback Doug Martin (33-yard TD run) and senior linebacker Aaron Tevis (diving interception).
Others are budding stars, such as senior cornerback Jerrell Gavins (two interceptions), junior wide receiver Mitch Burroughs (five catches to take the team lead, 10-yard TD), freshman wide receiver Matt Miller (38-yard catch on the first third down of the game), senior punter Brad Elkin (three punts downed inside the 20-yard line) and senior safety Cedric Febis (interception).
Gavins, who recorded an interception and prevented two completions on three deep balls against Georgia, picked off two long throws from Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne.
Quarterbacks seem determined to pick on him.
“I would, too. I’m 5-8, 160 pounds,” Gavins said. “Come at me. … I’m a little guy, but I can jump high. I always feel like I’m a better athlete than anybody I go against. I just go up and try to make a play.”
Fans even got a glimpse of the Broncos’ future, though judging by the grumbles from the stands some weren’t happy about that. Moore sat out the final five drives.
Sophomore backup Joe Southwick replaced him and was 5-of-7 for 48 yards and a touchdown pass to tight end Gabe Linehan. Southwick also took a sack and lost a fumble deep in Tulsa territory.
“Joe can play and (freshman Grant Hedrick) can play, and we need to get those guys some game reps,” Petersen said. “You could see Joe do some really good things, and then he fumbles. He just needs to get in there and get hit and get some game experience.”
It won’t be just the youngsters like Southwick who will cringe at missed opportunities when they review this win.
Petersen worked his complaint about “sloppy” play into his answer to the first question in his postgame press conference.
His team surely heard that message in the locker room, and likely will for the rest of the week, as the Broncos prepare for Saturday’s home game against Nevada.
Action item No. 1: Fix the run game, which averaged 2.9 yards per carry against Tulsa and is producing just 3.4 yards per carry on the season.
“We’ve got to analyze that,” Petersen said. “I think this team is capable with the line that we have and the backs that we have. We need to run the ball better.”
Otherwise, they’ll be relying on Moore’s third-down passing again. Not that that’s a huge risk.
“He’s just so accurate and doesn’t miss,” Blankenship said.
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