Boise State hammers Utah State, could land in Vegas bowl game

On the first play from scrimmage Saturday, Acrey stepped in front of a pass by Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel and returned the interception 31 yards for a touchdown.

So much for any doubts about the No. 9 Broncos’ ability to pick themselves up from a crushing defeat.

Minutes later, quarterback Kellen Moore started sealing the deal, firing the first of his three touchdowns in guiding the Broncos to a 50-14 victory in their Western Athletic Conference farewell.

The victory gave Boise State (11-1, 7-1) a share of the conference title and put an exclamation point on a decade of dominance in the WAC. This year’s title is the Broncos’ eighth since joining the WAC in 2001, but they are co-champs this time with Hawaii, which had already laid its claim, and UNR.

It also set the Broncos up for a likely postseason trip to the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas.

■ Connecticut 19, South Florida 16 — At Tampa, Fla., Dave Teggart had four field goals, including a career-long 52-yarder with 17 seconds to play, as the Huskies clinched the Big East’s automatic BCS bowl berth by beating the Bulls (7-5, 3-4).

Lawrence Wilson had an interception return for a touchdown, and Teggart kicked three field goals, including one from 50 yards early in the fourth, to put Connecticut (8-4, 5-2) up 16-6. South Florida then rallied, tying it with 1:16 left on a Maikon Bonani 22-yard field goal.

The Huskies shared the Big East title with No. 23 West Virginia (9-3, 5-2), which rolled over Rutgers 35-14 but lost the BCS tiebreaker to UConn.

■ Central Florida 17, Southern Methodist 7 — Latavius Murray rushed for 94 yards and scored two touchdowns Saturday to lead Central Florida to a 17-7 victory over Southern Methodist (7-6) in the Conference USA championship game.

The Knights (10-3) won their second league title and a trip to the Liberty Bowl.