Rypien leads No. 22 Boise State’s 56-20 rout of Troy

TROY, Ala. (AP) — Brett Rypien and Sean Modster delivered some early highlights for Boise State.

Then, Tyler Horton and the Broncos' new Turnover Throne stole the show.

Rypien passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns, Modster had 167 yards receiving and Horton returned two second-half fumbles for touchdowns to lead No. 22 Boise State to a 56-20 opening victory over Troy on Saturday night.

Horton's reward: Time on the sideline "throne" for players who produce turnovers.

"I'm not sure it's the chair but the chair certainly made it more enjoyable on the sideline," Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. "I think you can enjoy yourself and I think our guys did that on the defensive side and it carried over to the whole football team."

The Broncos had plenty to celebrate.

They raced to a 35-7 halftime lead over a Trojans team coming off an 11-win season, largely with the Rypien-to-Modster connection. Then, Horton and Boise State's defense mostly took over the scoring for the second half against Troy.

The cornerback scooped-and-scored on a pair of fumbles, with returns of 55 and 11 yards. Horton, who has four defensive touchdowns, tied the FBS record for fumble returns for TDs in a game shared by four others.

The Broncos made the most of their nearly 2,300-mile trip for a second straight opening win over Troy.

Rypien passed for 276 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, with Modster easily topping his career high by the break.

He had 161 receiving yards in the half against Troy, which came in hoping to establish itself as a Group of Five elite but got routed instead.

"I feel that was probably the best team we have played since Clemson in 2016," Troy coach Neal Brown said. "Boise is a quality team, they were ready to play and their quarterback was lights out."

Rypien completed 20 of 28 passes and Modster did his damage on seven catches against a defense that didn't give up a 50-yard play all last season.

It started with a perfectly placed fade in the corner of the end zone to cap the opening drive.

"That was a money ball," Modster said. "That was money."

Troy struggled in the first start of quarterback Kaleb Barker but did score a pair of second-half touchdowns after falling behind 42-7. Barker completed 20 of 29 passes for 211, including a 33-yard touchdown to Deondre Douglas in the fourth quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY

Boise State: Looked perfectly sharp in the opener, with heavy pressure on defense and an array of big plays on offense. Rypien had touchdowns of 53 yards to CT Thomas and 54 yards to Modster. The active FBS leader, he joined Kellen Moore as the only Boise State quarterbacks with 10,000 passing yards. ... Converted 7 of 8 third downs in the first half.

Troy: Sputtered offensively in Barker's first start, but Trojans had four turnovers and his blockers didn't give him a lot of time to look downfield. ... The Trojans, who won 21 games the past two seasons, are replacing four-year starting quarterback Brandon Silvers and tailback Jordan Chunn. However, it was also the most points Troy had allowed in an opener.

TURNOVER THRONE

Horton got to preside on Boise State's new Turnover Throne a couple of times, though he did have to rush off for special teams duties one time. "It's real comfy. I gotta get used to that," a smiling Horton said.

MODSTER'S BIG NIGHT

The fifth-year senior had 335 yards in 14 games last season and was nearly halfway there after two quarters. His previous career-high was 82 yards against BYU in 2016.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Boise State didn't hurt its stock or the Broncos' aspirations of becoming the highest ranked Group of Five team at the end of the regular season.

UP NEXT:

Boise State hosts Connecticut in its only September home game.

Troy hosts Florida A&M before hitting the road against Nebraska.