Boise State shuts down Chang, crushes Hawaii

BOISE, Idaho — Jared Zabransky and the No. 18 Boise State Broncos reduced Timmy Chang’s bid to break the NCAA Division I-A football passing record to a footnote Friday, routing Hawaii 69-3 for their 19th straight win.

Chang fell 14 yards short of breaking former BYU star Ty Detmer’s career passing yardage record, and threw four interceptions to break former Purdue quarterback Mark Herrmann’s Division I-A interception mark with 74.

Zabransky ran for 123 yards and four touchdowns, including a school-record 85-yard scoring run in the third quarter, and passed for 164 yards for the Broncos (8-0, 5-0 Western Athletic Conference).

Boise State scored 69 straight points, including 38 in the third quarter, en route to its 23rd straight WAC victory and 24th consecutive home win. The Broncos also improved to 4-0 against the Warriors since joining the conference in 2001.

Chang entered the game needing 241 yards to break the record of 15,031 yards set by Detmer from 1988-91. But Boise State’s pass defense — ranked 103rd in the country — frustrated Chang into his worst performance of the season.

With chants of “Timmy! Timmy!” from the near-sellout crowd at Bronco Stadium, Chang completed 26 of 53 passes for 227 yards. His last pass was incomplete on fourth-and-1 at the Boise State 11 with 6:09 remaining.

Chang threw all four interceptions in the second half, with Chris Barrios returning the last one 50 yards for a touchdown with 12:04 left.

The Broncos had 533 yards of offense by the end of the third quarter, finished with 589 and set a school record with eight rushing touchdowns. The 66-point margin tied for the worst road loss in Hawaii history, a 66-0 loss at Wyoming in 1996.

Ahead 24-3 at halftime, the Broncos scored on all six of their third-quarter possessions.