BOISE - Until the fourth quarter of No. 7 Boise State's 45-7 shellacking of moribund San Jose State (1-6, 0-3 WAC), the Broncos (8-0, 3-0) were unable to muster anything resembling a running game.

When the ground game failed, the Broncos simply turned to their bright young quarterback and asked him to move the ball.

Kellen Moore did just that, going 21-for-33 for 278 yards and three scores. Another typical day for the sophomore sensation.

"Kellen and the receivers can throw it pretty good, but the name of the game on defense is to stop the run first," BSU head coach Chris Petersen said. "Those guys hit our quarterback more than anyone has all season."

Carl Ihenacho recorded the lone sack for the Spartans, but Moore hit the ground a number of times. Those turf greetings add up.

"I was really worried there for a few of them," said BSU receiver and QB sibling Kirby Moore. "He's going to stay in the pocket and make the most for the team. He's a tough guy."

Kellen Moore said afterwards he was OK, no major pain. He responded to the pressure with another stellar day. When he is on, nothing except a fumbled snap can stop him - a trend that happens to this team in every game.

Moore never really got the mojo rolling with receiver Titus Young, who sat out two series in the second quarter for his unsportsmanlike antics at Hawaii last week.

The pair missed on their regularly-scheduled bomb. But Kellen did hit his talented younger brother Kirby on a 61-yard strike along the left sideline. Kellen rolled out on the play, stepped up and hit little brother on the inside shoulder, in stride to spark a connection to be repeated in the future.

"We emptied it out and they brought a little heat," Kellen said. "I had to get it out quickly and he had to make a play. It was probably not planned to go to (Kirby) necessarily. We made something out of it."

The scoring connection clearly meant a lot to the Moore brothers. Kirby called it a "dream come true."

Kellen joked, "We'll only be here for another three years."

Kellen hit his scheduled, prototypical 8-yard fade to Austin Pettis for a TD. Pettis created four yards of separation and easily came down with the ball even though the corner closed the gap. Moore also ran for a touchdown, scrambled a few times, picked up one first down and showed off one of the ugliest slides I've ever seen.

The jokes about Moore's athleticism will always come, but look closer and you'll see a savvy signal caller who evaded four sacks in the game because he can run (a bit). His receivers dropped four passes or else his numbers would have approached perfection. It's a no-brainer to say that Moore is a great quarterback, but he answered some other questions Saturday. He proved that he is able to get loose, take some hard hits and stay cool. He struck a connection between being a quarterback and a leader. He may never make a defender miss, but he sure will break their hearts.