Moore's 5 TDs leads No. 4 Boise St. over Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Boise State's Kellen Moore admits he has a little selfish streak. That's a good thing for the No. 4 Broncos.

At least the quarterback didn't mind sharing the ball Friday night, spreading his throws around to nine different receivers against Toledo in 40-15 over the Rockets.

Boise State leaned heavily on Moore after they weren't able to get their running game on track. He didn't mind at all.

"Yeah, I want to throw the ball every play," he said.

Moore finished with 455 passing yards and five touchdowns, playing pitch and catch at times.

He missed on his first two throws but not many times after that, connecting on 32 of 42 passes.

"He's the same every game," said Broncos coach Chris Petersen. "It sounds like a boring answer, but it's probably the biggest compliment I can give."

It looked for a while as if Toledo (1-2) might give Boise State (2-0) a scare just six days after the Rockets came within a play or two of knocking off No. 17 Ohio State. But the Rockets couldn't stop Moore once he got in a rhythm.

"With Kellen back there, we never worry," said receiver Tyler Shoemaker, who caught three touchdowns. "He's so precise. It makes our jobs easier."

The Broncos were sputtering and leading 13-6 when they got the ball back with 1:22 left in the first half and marched right down the field for a key touchdown.

Moore connected on five consecutive passes to get down to the 1. He then lofted a throw into the corner to Shoemaker that gave the Broncos a little breathing room.

Moore also tossed a 26-yard pass to Shoemaker to give the Broncos a 7-6 lead with 6:56 left in the first quarter. On their next possession, running back Doug Martin dashed through Toledo's defense on a screen pass for a 71-yard score.

Martin had 122 receiving yards, but he and the rest of the Broncos' backs were bottled up most of the game.

They had only 26 yards on the ground in the first half and 145 for the game. Martin, their leading rusher, finished with 70 yards on 19 carries.

Petersen said the running game was needs to improve.

"We'd like to run the ball, but it doesn't always happen that way," he said. "It's a work in progress."

It's the second straight game Moore has been sharp.

In the Broncos' opening 35-21 victory against Georgia, he finished with the highest completion percentage (82.6) in school history for a quarterback making more than 30 attempts in a game.

Toledo kept it close early on, but had a couple of costly mistakes. The Rockets dropped a sure touchdown pass in the first half and fumbled inside the Broncos' 10 in the third quarter.

It was the first time the Rockets lost to a Top 25 team at home in five games. The Broncos, though, were the highest-ranked team to play in the Glass Bowl.

The Rockets felt like they let one get away.

"You can't turn the football over in the red zone, you can't have nine penalties," Toledo coach Tim Beckman said.

Running back Adonis Thomas agreed with his coach that there were too many mistakes.

"The thing that really hurts about both of these losses is that we beat ourselves both times," Thomas said. "It just goes to show us that if we eliminate a lot of those mistakes, how good of an offense we could be."

It has been a long week for Boise State.

They didn't find out until Wednesday that they'd be getting back one of three players suspended two weeks ago by the NCAA for undisclosed reasons - starting safety Cedric Febis.

He didn't start but finished with four tackles and helped force a fumble.

On Tuesday, the NCAA placed Boise State on probation for three years and imposed other sanctions Tuesday for major violations by the football program and other sports.

The football program will be docked three scholarships each year, from 85 to 82, through the 2013-14 season, and allowed fewer contact practices during spring training.

Petersen didn't think the NCAA announcement distracted his team.

"Our kids, they pay attention to their coaches, they go to school, they come to practice," Petersen said. "I don't think they pay a lot of attention to all the other stuff."