By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

BOISE, Idaho — Up and down the field he went, again and again until he apparently couldn't take it anymore.

Boise State running back Brock Forsey, who carried 31 times for 105 yards against the University of Hawai'i?

No, the horse whose role it was to gallop around the track that circles the playing field after every Bronco score.

In a 58-31 rout of UH that was the most points scored against the Warriors by a Western Athletic Conference team in head coach June Jones' four seasons, the Bronco called it a night at 45-10 in the third quarter.

"Maybe it was time for him to go to the water trough," joked Dan Hawkins, the Boise State head coach.

Yes, this one was all over early, except for the punchlines.

What was supposed to have been a WAC showdown suddenly became a one-sided smackdown instead. A game that most figured would go down to the fourth quarter, if not to the team that had the ball last, quickly became a runaway.

Even the humans left early, with an estimated 4,000 in a crowd of 25,857 not bothering to come back from a 31-10 halftime intermission, according to a Boise radio station.

Last year the Broncos pulled out a 28-21 victory at Aloha Stadium, scoring in the final 3 minutes, 15 seconds to do it. This time the Broncos scored three times in a 2 minute, four second span of the first quarter and suddenly the Warriors were down 21-3 and the rout was on.

This time the Broncos used sleight of hand for one score (a 25-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver T.J. Acree to running back Donny Heck), special teams execution (Chris Carr's block and recovery of a punt) for a TD, opportunistic defense (two fumbles and an interception set up two touchdowns and a field goal) and just plain brute force (a 19-play, 76-yard, 10 minute, 22 second drive).

Not since Jones' first game as UH head coach, a 62-7 loss to Southern California in 1999, had the Warriors given up as many points or fallen so far behind so quickly.

Offense, defense, special teams, the breakdowns were everywhere in this one for the now 3-2 (2-1 WAC) Warriors, who came in leading the WAC only to be dispatched by what looks to be the best team in the conference.

Now it is the Broncos (4-1, 1-0 WAC) firmly in the driver's seat and the Warriors might have waved goodbye to their best shot to win the conference since Fresno State, Louisiana Tech and Rice all must come to Boise.

"Everybody was talking about how this should be such a close game and everything," Forsey said. "A lot of people were saying this would go down to the end and wondered if we could stay with Hawai'i and its offense. They questioned whether we could score on their defense and all that.

"Well, we didn't think it had to be close — or should be," Forsey said. "We wanted to jump on them right away. We wanted to knock them back on their heels and take them out of it."

On this night, there would be no horsing around by the Broncos.