Williams, Shakir help short-handed Boise State beat Hawaii

HONOLULU — Avery Williams had 192 all-purpose yards — including a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown — Khalil Shakir caught two touchdowns passes, and Boise State beat Hawaii 40-32 on Saturday night.

Andrew Van Buren had a career-highs of 27 carries and 113 yards rushing for Boise State (4-1, 4-0 Mountain West Conference). Shakir finished with a career-best 11 receptions for 130 yards.

Williams, the 2019 conference special teams player of the the year, had a 34-yard punt return to the Hawaii 44 and two plays later Hank Bachmeier hit Khalil Shakir for a 38-yard touchdown. The Rainbow Warriors then went three-and-out — for the fourth time in their first six possessions — and Shakir caught a 3-yard TD pass from wide receiver CT Thomas on a jet-sweep pass to make it 19-3 just before halftime.

Chevan Cordeiro was 25-of-48 passing for 253 yards and three TDs — including two to Calvin Turner — and added 90 yards rushing on 18 carries for Hawaii (2-3, 2-3). Turner had scoring catches of 36 and 15 yards and scored on a 1-yard run.

Boise State has won nine in a row against the Rainbow Warriors, including a 31-10 victory in the 2019 conference championship game.

Turner’s touchdown capped a 13-play, 87-yard drive to open the second half but Williams took the ensuing kickoff, faked a lateral pass and broke a pair of would be tacklers before racing down the right sideline to give Boise State a 17-point lead. After Hawaii again went three-and-out, Williams had a 36-yard punt return that set up the first of Van Buren’s two 11-yard scoring runs to make it 33-9 midway through the third quarter.

Seven Broncos players did not play due to positive COVID-19 tests earlier Saturday and another five didn’t make the trip due to contact tracing.