Boise State wins MAACO Bowl over Arizona State

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Boise State's Doug Martin returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, laying the foundation for the Broncos' 56-24 win over Arizona State in college football's MAACO Bowl on Thursday.

Boise State was never seriously threatened, even though the Broncos had three turnovers and allowed a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Sun Devils to start the second half.

Arizona State missed on several opportunities to make the game closer, wasting a 241-yard receiving effort by Gerell Robinson, who caught a touchdown in the fourth quarter after the Broncos had already scored 49 points.

Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore played well enough in his last college game to keep his team scoring, despite some missteps. He finished with 266 yards and two touchdowns, plus two interceptions and a fumble in a game that capped his college career with 50 total wins.

Martin finished with 301 all-purpose yards, breaking a bowl record set in 1997 by Air Force's Pat Johnson. It was the first time the opening kickoff had been returned for a score in any bowl game since Ted Ginn Jr. did it in the 2007 BCS title game.

The most costly mistake for Arizona State came in the third quarter, as it tried to capitalize a fumble by Moore. The Sun Devils drove 49 yards to Boise State's 1-yard line, but quarterback Brock Osweiler's fourth-down pass was intercepted by Jamar Taylor, who returned it for a touchdown to make the score 35-10.

Moments before the play, Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson tried to call a timeout as his team was late to the line of scrimmage, but his attempts weren't acknowledged by the referees. Erickson was coaching his last game for Arizona State, which made the decision to let him go in November after the Sun Devils finished the regular season on a four-game losing streak.

Osweiler threw for 390 yards with two touchdowns in defeat.

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Follow Oskar Garcia at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia .