LOGAN, Utah – Doug Martin ran for 121 yards and four touchdowns and No. 6 Boise State remained unbeaten and in BCS contention with a 52-21 victory over Utah State on Friday night.
Jeremy Avery added 116 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Broncos (11-0, 6-0 Western Athletic Conference), who gained 243 yards and scored four TDs in the second quarter — two 43 seconds apart to break a 14-all tie.
Boise State added another touchdown barely 2 minutes into the third quarter and what was a close game for about 25 minutes turned into the rout it was expected to be.
Utah State (3-8, 2-5) fell to 1-51 against ranked teams.
Boise State's Kellen Moore was a modest 15 for 29 for 233 yards with a touchdown, breaking a streak of six straight games with three of more touchdown passes. But he had enough help in the backfield that it didn't matter.
The Broncos rushed for a season-high 323 yards and outgained the Aggies 572-363.
Diondre Borel was 18 for 30 for 201 yards and kept the Aggies alive by avoiding several sacks with his speed, but the Broncos eventually started catching him and Utah State didn't have enough other weapons to keep up after matching Boise State's first two touchdowns.
After Robert Turbin tied it at 14 on a 24-yard run for the Aggies with 6:28 left in the second, the Broncos drove 73 yards in four plays to retake the lead for good. Titus Young made a diving grab with a defender all over him for a 56-yard catch at the 2, where Martin easily ran it in for a 21-14 lead.
Then Utah State fumbled a handoff and Ryan Winterswyk recovered at the 9 for the Broncos and Avery scored on first down, putting the Broncos up 28-14 with 4:04 left in the quarter.
Being down two touchdowns at halftime would have been tolerable for the Aggies, but another defensive lapse late in the period allowed the Broncos to drive for a 1-yard touchdown by Martin with five seconds left in the half. The Aggies almost had Boise State stopped on third-and-10 with about a minute left, but Martin broke through for a 17-yard run to keep the drive going.
The Broncos opened the third quarter with a 71-yard drive, needing only four plays to score again on a 32-yard run by Avery.
Boise State intercepted a tipped pass on the opening possession and quickly took a 7-0 lead on a pass from Moore to Tommy Gallarda.
The Aggies answered on a 22-yard touchdown run by Michael Smith, who woke up the Utah State fans that had been drowned out until then by the orange-clad Boise contingent.
The Broncos got a little lucky on their next touchdown. The snap was bad and bounced to the left of Moore, but Martin scooped it up and bolted for a 17-yard touchdown run with 8:51 left in the second quarter.
Borel got Utah State right back, starting the next drive with an 18-yard option keeper to the 47. He also threaded a pass through tight coverage for a 14-yard gain to Eric Moats, then Turbin broke through the defense and ran 24 yards for a touchdown to tie it at 14.
