No. 14 Boise State loses Bachmeier, beats Hawaii 59-37

Chase Cord threw for 175 yards and three touchdowns in relief of injured starter Hank Bachmeier and No. 14 Boise State beat Hawaii 59-37 on Saturday night.

The Broncos (6-0, 3-0 Mountain West) remained perfect at home against the Rainbow Warriors in seven meetings, despite losing Bachmeier early in the second quarter when he was scrambling for a first down and spun to elude oncoming linebacker Kana’i Picanco.

Bachmeier absorbed a hit in his lower back and promptly fumbled. He walked gingerly off the field with the aid of staff trainers before going to the locker room. In the second half, he returned to the sidelines in street clothes.

The nature and extent of Bachmeier’s injury was not disclosed by the school.

“It’s tough seeing somebody go down,” Boise State receiver John Hightower said. “But all the quarterbacks are prepared and they know what they’re doing. It’s nice to see all of them make plays we already know what they’re capable of making.”

Hawaii (4-2, 1-1), which entered the game with the Mountain West’s top passing offense and fourth nationally, fell behind early and never seemed to have an answer defensively for any of the three quarterbacks Boise State played.

“The defense played well in the first half but awful field position,” Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich said. “We gave them some real short plays and they took advantage of it. Our defense didn’t play nearly as poorly as the score indicated, but in the second half we gave up some really big plays that we uncharacteristic for us.”

With Bachmeier out, Cord ensured that the Broncos’ passing offense that ranks second in the conference didn’t miss a beat, throwing TD strikes of 33, 42, and 8 yards.

Jaylon Henderson also played significant time at quarterback as the Broncos’ trio of signal callers combined for 315 yards passing.

Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns, moving past Garrett Gabriel for fifth place on the school’s career passing yardage list.

THE TAKEAWAY

Hawaii: The Rainbow Warriors raised some eyebrows early with wins over Pac-12 foes Arizona and Oregon State but fell flat against another Top 25 opponent. The last time Hawaii beat a ranked team was Nevada in 2010. If Hawaii intends to rekindle its glory from earlier the past decade, it needs to find a way to beat one of the country’s top teams.

Boise State: The Broncos played their most complete game of the season, and did so without Bachmeier for most of the contest. That’s exactly the kind of performance Boise State coach Bryan Harsin has been pleading for from his team, and the type of play it will need if the Broncos intend to stay in the driver’s seat for a New Year’s Six bowl game berth among the Group of 5 schools.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Boise State could possibly move up after a couple losses by teams above them.

UP NEXT

Hawaii returns home next Saturday to face Air Force.

Boise State will take a break from conference play next week and hit the road for a game with burgeoning regional rival BYU.

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