1. Rypien to Sperbeck
>> Situation: Boise State 0, Hawaii 0, 12:40 remaining first quarter, Boise State ball, second-and-7 at Hawaii 35
>> The Play: WR Thomas Sperbeck gets behind the Hawaii defense and catches a 35-yard touchdown pass from QB Brett Rypien.
>> Impact: It was the first of four touchdowns for Boise State before Hawaii got on the scoreboard with a field goal. Sperbeck caught another touchdown pass in the second half, and finished with five catches for 114 yards.
>> Hawaii defensive backs coach Abraham Elimimian: “They got the matchup they wanted. The receiver made a great play. He’s all-conference. We know that, and we couldn’t get it done. It’s not all on one player. It’s on all of us.”
2. McNichols
>> Situation: Boise State 7, Hawaii 0, 8:51 remaining second quarter, Boise State ball, third- and-1 at Hawaii 36
>> The Play: RB Jeremy McNichols takes a handoff up the middle designed to make a short yardage first down all the way for a long touchdown.
>> Impact: McNichols was well on his way to a 153-yard rushing day, with two touchdowns, on 16 carries.
>> McNichols: “Winning is hard but it never gets old. Coming on the road to get a win, it’s hard going anywhere.”
3. Lack of Execution
>> Situation: Boise State 14, Hawaii 0, 7:40 remaining first quarter, Hawaii ball, first-and-10 at midfield
>> The Play: WR Marcus Kemp gets behind the Boise State defense and QB Dru Brown hits him with an accurate pass. But Kemp drops the ball.
>> Impact: Hawaii failed to take advantage of an opportunity to stall Boise State’s early momentum before the game got out of hand.
>> Brown: “As a whole we need to execute better. That’s the issue with starting slow. When you don’t execute you’re going to start slow.”
4. Turnover
>> Situation: Boise State 35, Hawaii 3, 13:29 remaining third quarter, Hawaii ball, second-and-6 at Hawaii 41
>> The Play: Brown fumbles and it is recovered by DL Durrant Miles at the line of scrimmage.
>> Impact: Hawaii had moved the ball 26 yards on its first two plays of the second half. But a penalty and then the turnover killed any momentum and Hawaii continued on to its third loss in a row.
>> Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich: “That’s not the football team I envisioned. And that’s not the one I knew a month ago.”
5. Still Perfect
>> Situation: Boise State 52, Hawaii 13, 3:48 remaining fourth quarter, Hawaii ball, fourth-and-8 at Boise State 18
>> The Play: K Rigo Sanchez makes a 35-yard field goal.
>> Impact: It was the third field goal of the game for Sanchez, who has made all 11 of his tries this season, as well as all 35 extra-point attempts.
>> Rolovich: “We’ve got bigger issues than if we kick a field goal or try to throw a touchdown down 40 points.”
