Coming off a rare loss at home, Boise State didn’t figure to stumble today against the University of Hawaii in a Mountain West Conference football game at Aloha Stadium and the Broncos didn’t en route to a 49-14 win.

After building a 28-point halftime lead, the Broncos added to that margin with 6:37 left in the third, as Boise State defensive lineman Demarcus Lawrence returned UH quarterback Sean Schroeder’s 12th fumble of the season 25 yards for a touchdown. Michael Frisina added the PAT to make it 42-7. The battered and bruised Schroeder has lost eight of those this season. The UH starting quarterback was lifted for Jeremy Higgins in the second half as the small crowd roared its approval.

But Higgins got roughed up and fumbled early on, leading to another Boise State touchdown. On second and goal from the 4, backup quarterback Grant Hedrick kept it off an option play to extend the margin to 49-7 with Frisina’s PAT.

Hawaii scored its only offensive touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run by John Lister against Boise State’s backups, with Tyler Hadden adding the PAT to make it 49-14 with 5:35 left. The 10-play, 72-yard drive was aided by a nice 23-yard completion from Higgins to Clark Evans. But it was a rare big play down the field for the Warriors. They dropped to 1-8 for the season and 0-6 in league play. The Broncos are 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the MWC. 

In the first half, the Broncos scored early and often to build a lead that proved insurmountable.

Set up on a nice punt return and then a personal foul by Hawaii running back Will Gregory, the Broncos needed only two plays to go the final 18 yards and take a 7-0 lead with 12:46 left in the opening quarter. Boise State receiver Shane Williams-Rhodes scored from 9 yards out. Frisina added the PAT.

But 15 seconds later, Mike Edwards returned a kickoff 100 yards. Hadden added the PAT to make it 7-7 with 12:31 left in the opening quarter.

A special teams fumble by Hawaii punt return man Scott Harding gave Boise State the ball at the UH 14. The Broncos converted a fourth and 1 at the UH 5 and then scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Joe Southwick to Matt Miller. Frisina added the PAT to make it 14-7 Boise with 5:17 left in the first.

The Broncos added to that first-quarter margin with a 46-yard touchdown pass from Southwick to Aaron Burks to culminate a six-play, 80-yard drive. Frisina added the PAT to make it 21-7 Broncos with 33 seconds left in the first.

Boise added another touchdown off another long drive, this time 71 yards. The final 13 were by Jay Ajay, who scampered in untouched. Frisina added the PAT to make it 28-7 Boise State with 8:15 left in the half.

The Broncos scored one more time before intermission. It was set up on a fake punt that kept the drive alive. Southwick threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Holden Huff, and Frisina added the PAT to make it 35-7 with 1:12 left in the half. This time, the Broncos went 76 yards on eight plays.

Boise State finished with 411 yards to UH’s 240. Southwick hit 17 of 29 passes for 209 yards and three scores. Schroeder was 10-for-19 for 100 yards. Higgins was 11-for-17 for 154 yards, but it was mostly against Boise’s second and third teams.