LAS VEGAS — MAACO Bowl Las Vegas officials tried to present the champions’ trophy to Boise State football coach Chris Petersen on Thursday night.

He wouldn’t touch it.

“This trophy needs to be lifted by one Bronco,” Petersen told the mosh pit of players, coaches and fans. “Kellen, do the honors.”

That was Petersen’s final public salute to Kellen Moore, the senior quarterback who led the No. 8 Broncos to a 56-24 destruction of Arizona State and put a successful cap on one of the greatest careers in college football history.

Moore finished at 50-3 — breaking the Football Bowl Subdivision record for career wins by five.

He and the Broncos’ other 20 seniors became the first class in FBS history to win 50 games in four years, and the program became the first to win at least 12 games in four straight seasons.

“We’re just winners,” said senior tailback Doug Martin, who won MAACO Bowl MVP honors with a school-record 301 all-purpose yards.

Said Petersen: “There’s a lot of kids that played here and have done a great job laying the foundation in an extremely positive, productive-on-the-field, off-the-field, in-the-classroom type of way. And I think these guys took it up another notch or two.”

The Broncos made a point of ending their four-year run in impressive fashion.

They improved to 6-0 against Bowl Championship Series-conference teams — and the 32-point win was the largest in school history against one of those teams.

“We always talk about finishing a season or finishing a game,” Moore said. “You’re talking about finishing careers. There was no reason to settle or relax.”

The game started with Martin’s 100-yard kickoff return and essentially ended on a 12-play, 74-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

Petersen usually would have substituted with such a big lead. On that drive, he allowed his seniors to stay on the field.

“There were two things that we really wanted to do in this game,” Petersen said. “We really wanted to start fast, and they did that, and we really wanted to finish strong, and they really did that. We need to talk a little bit maybe about the third quarter next time.

“We don’t want to sit here and preach for three weeks that it’s all about finishing and then the coach is not letting them finish, so we wanted to make sure that, hey, if they could do it, ‘We’ll leave you in to finish.’ ”

The Broncos (12-1) built a 28-3 lead with a dominant first half. Moore tossed a pair of touchdown passes, and wide receiver Matt Miller threw a TD pass of his own, to tight end Kyle Efaw.

But the Sun Devils (6-7) put up a fight in the third quarter.

Rashad Ross returned the opening kickoff of the second half 98 yards for a touchdown, the Sun Devils hit Moore as he threw to force an interception and they pounced on a fumbled snap.

All that led to the game’s critical play. Arizona State faced fourth-and-goal at the Boise State 1-yard line midway through the third quarter. The Devils trailed 28-10, but had some momentum.

The call was a fade, and coach Dennis Erickson didn’t like the way the Broncos were aligned. Plus, the Devils’ best receiver was on the sideline. Coaches and players wildly called for a timeout — to no avail.

“Twenty years ago, I might have got there, but I didn’t,” Erickson said of his attempt to get the officials’ attention.

Quarterback Brock Osweiler tossed a back-shoulder fade to the right corner. Boise State junior cornerback Jamar Taylor anticipated the route, waited for the ball and easily intercepted it.

He dashed about 104 yards — diving into the end zone for a TD.

“If he hadn’t made that play, it was game on and it’s a much different feel,” Petersen said.

The Broncos tacked on three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a fumble return by senior safety Travis Stanaway.

The Sun Devils scored two TDs, too, as Osweiler (395 yards) and Gerrell Robinson (13 catches, 241 yards) found a groove — way too late.

That led to one final play for the Broncos this season. Fittingly, that put the ball in Moore’s hands.

He took the snap, bent to a knee and began hugging his teammates.

With 50 victories, he could be the winningest quarterback in college football history for many years.

“I don’t know how someone will break that,” Petersen said. “That’s a lot of football wins right there.

“But you know, someone will probably come down the pike some day. I’d like to be the coach on that team.”

Moore was 26-of-34 for 293 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions — one off a receiver’s hands and one when he was hit while trying to throw.

He finished as the least-intercepted quarterback, by percentage, in FBS history and for the second time in three years the Broncos will lead the nation in fewest sacks allowed. He also could top the nation in completion percentage.

“His anticipation,” Erickson said, “he made a couple throws where he threw that football and the receiver hadn’t even come close to coming out of his break. So he breaks and boom, the ball is there. You can’t defend that. He’s got the intangibles that are special. He’s about as good as I’ve ever seen.”

Moore, true to form, deflected the praise and spread the credit for his massive win total to his teammates.

Still, he’s proud of his consistency — a trait that rubbed off on a team that was able to win at least 12 games every year, never lost more than one game in a season and never trailed by more than seven points during his career. That’s as consistent as it gets.

“That’s a word that goes around the office a lot,” Moore said. “We speak about it a lot — wrapping up your career, reflecting on it, you feel like that word did appear and you were able to achieve some of that.”

Chadd Cripe: 377-6398