Boise State Broncos vs Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors Match Player Stats On Nov 12, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Nov 12, 2016

Boise State steamrolled Hawaii and saw its Mountain West title hopes revitalized on a big Saturday for the No. 22 Broncos.

Quarterback Brett Rypien passed for 338 yards and four touchdowns, and running back Jeremy McNichols rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns in Boise State's 52-16 rout of Hawaii at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

The Broncos' win coupled with first-place Wyoming's 69-66 triple-overtime loss to UNLV gives Boise State life heading into the final two weeks of the season.

The Broncos (9-1, 5-1 Mountain West) need to win out and have Wyoming lose to either San Diego State or New Mexico in the final two weeks of the regular season to earn a spot in the Mountain West championship game. Boise State gets UNLV on Friday, before closing out the regular season at Air Force.

Rypien, the nephew of former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien, was an efficient 18 of 22 and threw two touchdown passes to Thomas Sperbeck and one each to Cedrick Wilson and Alec Dhaenens.

The Rainbow Warriors (4-7, 3-4) had no answers for the Broncos' offense, which racked up 603 yards. Hawaii turned it over twice on offense and didn't find the end zone until quarterback Dru Brown hit John Ursua with 12:05 to play.

Rainbow Warriors coach Nick Rolovich, looking for anything to spark his team, removed the benches off Hawaii's sideline at halftime. It didn't help.

Wilson opened the second half with a 35-yard touchdown reception that put the Broncos up 42-3. Rypien hooked up with Sperbeck on a 44-yard touchdown pass to open the fourth quarter, before turning the offense over to the second team.

Hawaii running back Paul Harris was one of the few bright spots for the Warriors, rushing for 145 yards on 14 carries.

The Broncos stormed out to a 28-0 lead in the first half, with McNichols scoring twice and Rypien throwing touchdown passes to Sperbeck and Dhaenens.

McNichols scored on runs of 35 and 5 yards.

Rypien completed 13 of 17 passes for 218 yards and rushed for a touchdown to go along with two passing touchdowns in the first half. Boise State had 403 yards of offense in the first two quarters and led 35-3 at halftime.

The loss means Hawaii will suffer its sixth straight losing regular season, the longest such streak in program history.

Kicker Rigoberto Sanchez's 24-yard field goal accounted for Hawaii's only points in the first half.

NOTES: The game featured the top two receivers in the Mountain West in Hawaii's Marcus Kemp and Boise State's Thomas Sperbeck. ... Boise State visited Pearl Harbor on Veterans Day. ... The Warriors' last victory over the Broncos came in 2007, when Hawaii reached the Sugar Bowl behind QB Colt Brennan. ... Boise State RB Jeremy McNichols entered Saturday's game third in Mountain West in rushing. ... Broncos DB Chanceller Jones had an interception on a reverse-pass trick play by the Warriors in the second quarter.