No. 18 Boise St. 69, Hawaii 3

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Hawaii's Timmy Chang is still chasing the NCAA Division I-A passing record, and that's exactly what Boise State wanted. <br/><br/>Just when it seemed as if Ty Detmer's record

Saturday, October 30th 2004, 8:57 pm

By: News On 6

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Hawaii's Timmy Chang is still chasing the NCAA Division I-A passing record, and that's exactly what Boise State wanted.

Just when it seemed as if Ty Detmer's record of 15,031 yards passing was going to fall, No. 18 Boise State played its best defensive game of the season.

Chang finished 14 yards short of the record Friday night, and Boise State gave up just a first-quarter field goal in a 69-3 route of Hawaii that extended the Broncos' winning streak to 19 games, the longest in the country.

Chang had not been held to less than 294 yards passing this season, but Boise State's defense allowed just 227 yards and made sure the only record Chang set was a dubious one.

Chang was intercepted four times, and he broke Division I-A career interception record of 74 held by former Purdue quarterback Mark Herrmann.

Chang's performance became a footnote to a Boise State offense that scored 69 straight points, including 38 in the third quarter. The Broncos won their 23rd straight Western Athletic Conference game and 24th in a row at home.

``People kept asking us, How are you going to stop those guys?''' Boise State coach Dan Hawkins said. ``Well, our guys stepped up. I couldn't be happier.''

Instead of Chang being the quarterback in the spotlight, it was Boise State's Jared Zabransky who had a record-setting night.

The Broncos' sophomore ran for 123 yards and four touchdowns, including a school-record 85-yard TD run in the third quarter. He also passed for 164 yards. The four touchdowns tied a school record.

It was the second straight week Boise State's ground game excelled. Last week against Fresno State, the Broncos rushed 55 times for 164 yards.

Friday night, Boise State was far more successful, gaining 425 yards on 50 carries. It was the Broncos' highest rushing total since moving up to Division I-A in 1996.

``That 85-yard run was pretty nice,'' Zabransky said. ``The guys up front did a great job.''

Five Broncos rushed for more than 50 yards against a Hawaii run defense ranked 106th in the country.

Leading 24-3 at halftime, the Broncos blew the game open in the third quarter, scoring on all six of their possessions.

Tyler Jones kicked a 24-yard field goal on Boise State's opening possession of the half. Jon Helmandollar had a 4-yard TD run, and Quinton Jones followed with a 38-yard scoring run, and Zabransky added two TDs. Jeff Carpenter capped the quarter with a 26-yard run with 3 seconds left.

``I thought two years ago when we played Hawaii, that was about as close to a perfect as I've ever been involved with,'' Hawkins said of the Broncos' 58-31 home victory in 2002. ``I think this was probably better. It was unbelievable.''

The Broncos improved to 4-0 against the Warriors since joining the conference in 2001.

Chang entered the game needing 241 yards to break the record Detmer set 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. His last pass was incomplete on fourth-and-1 at the Boise State 11 with 6:09 remaining.

``I didn't throw with accuracy and we didn't sustain drives,'' Chang said. ``You do those things against a great team like Boise State and it's not going to work out.''

Last week, Boise State held Fresno State to just 17 rushing yards and 191 total yards.

``It was my dream tonight to shut Chang down,'' Broncos cornerback Gabe Franklin said. ``They were a powerhouse and we shut them down.''

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 and finished with 589. The 66-point margin tied for the worst road loss in Hawaii history, matching a 66-0 loss at Wyoming in 1996.

Hawaii (3-4, 3-3) is 0-3 on the road this season and has been outscored 158-52 away from home. The Warriors had won three of their last four games.

``This is one of those games you forget,'' Hawaii coach June Jones said.