Boise State crushes Tennessee-Martin 63-14

Joe Southwick threw five touchdown passes as Boise State pounded overmatched Tennessee-Martin 63-14 on Saturday.

Boise State (1-1) rebounded from its worst defeat in eight years, a 38-6 loss at Washington last week that knocked them from the Top 25.

Tennessee-Martin (1-1), an FCS team from the Ohio Valley Conference, could do little to stop Boise State's hurry-up offense.

This was the first meeting between the programs, and the longest trip west Tennessee-Martin has made for a football game.

Boise State, which has won 12 consecutive home openers on the blue turf at Bronco Stadium, led 49-7 at halftime. They substituted freely in the second half.

Tennessee-Martin fell to 1-15 against FBS programs in its history, beating Memphis last season.

Southwick, who was pulled from the game early in the second half, completed 17 of 25 passes for 234 yards. He was not intercepted.

Jay Ajayi ran for 80 yards on 15 carries and scored twice for the Broncos. Shane Williams-Rhodes caught 7 passes for 89 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Tennessee-Martin quarterback Dylan Favre completed 15 of 22 passes for 155 yards and was intercepted three times. DJ McNeil led the Skyhawks in rushing with 87 yards and Jeremy Butler caught 9 passes for 118 yards.

Boise State scored first when Ajayi ran 11 yards up the middle for a touchdown to cap a 9-play, 70-yard drive in the first quarter.

Tennessee-Martin replied with a 75-yard drive requiring 13 plays. Favre, a nephew of NFL great Brett Favre, threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Trent Garland to tie the score at 7-7 with 2:49 left in the first quarter.

Then the wheels fell off for the Skyhawks.

Boise State struck right back on the next series, with Southwick lofting a 54-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Aaron Burks for a 14-7 lead.

Then Boise State recovered an on-side kick at the Tennessee-Martin's 43. Southwick's 5-yard touchdown pass to Matt Miller gave the Broncos a 21-7 lead in the opening seconds of the second quarter.

After Tennessee-Martin turned the ball over on downs, Boise State drove 63 yards on a series aided by two pass interference calls against the Skyhawks. Ajayi's touchdown run from the 11 lifted Boise State to a 28-7 lead.

Boise State scored again on Southwick's 5-yard pass to Kirby Moore for a 35-7 lead late in the second quarter. The drive was kept alive by a 28-yard reception by Geraldo Boldewijn on fourth-and-9.

Jarod Neal replaced Favre at quarterback for the Skyhawks, but his first pass was intercepted by Bryan Douglas and returned 33 yards for a touchdown that gave Boise State a 42-7 lead with 5:03 left in the second quarter.

The Skyhawks fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Boise State recovered at Tennessee-Martin's 15. Southwick fired a touchdown pass to Shane Williams-Rhodes for a 49-7 lead.

The second half started much the same. On a fourth-and-7 play, Southwick threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Williams-Rhodes for a 56-7 lead.

Backup quarterback Grant Hedrick ran 50 yards for a touchdown midway through the third for a 63-7 Boise State lead.

DJ McNeil scored on a 4-yard-run for the Skyhawks with 13:08 left in the game.