Boise State's dominant defense set the tone again, leading the Broncos to another easy victory.

Senior cornerbacks Jamar Taylor and Jerrell Gavins shut down the Rebels' corps of fast, young receivers, accounted for two turnovers and teamed up on a second quarter touchdown that helped put the game out of reach before halftime in a 32-7 rout of UNLV on Saturday night at Boise.

With Boise State leading 18-0 minutes before the half, Taylor chased down receiver Marcus Sullivan in the middle of the field and stripped the ball. Gavins, trailing behind, scooped up the loose ball and ran untouched 16 yards into the end zone.

Minutes before, Gavins squelched the Rebels' best scoring chance with an over-the-shoulder interception in the end zone, and Taylor had a sack to go with his career-high nine tackles to help lead the Broncos to their sixth straight win since losing the opener at Michigan State.

"They're very important to this team. They have that senior leadership, and they have that senior mentality," said Boise State coach Chris Petersen. "When those two guys are playing at a high level, I think the rest of the guys feed off them. They're really important out there."

They sure were Saturday.

The ability of Taylor and Gavins to lock down on Rebel receivers enabled the front four - minus sack leader Demarcus Lawrence - to put relentless pressure on UNLV's redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Sherry.

Lawrence, who has 5.5 sacks on the season, was suspended before the game for violating team rules. Petersen declined to provide details for the discipline after the game, but said Lawrence would likely play next week at Wyoming.

The Broncos (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) held the Rebels to just 210 total yards and forced three turnovers, giving the Broncos 22 takeaways this season. The Broncos, who came into the game allowing a meager 14.6 points per game, have also gone five straight games without allowing opponents to score in the first half.

"We're playing great as a unit, and everyone's doing their job," said Taylor, who helped hold UNLV to 71 yards pass, the third time an opponent has been held to fewer than 100 yards through the air.

The defense also sacked Sherry twice and knocked him around so often that at the end of the game he needed help from a couple of teammates to get to the locker room.

UNLV (1-7, 1-2) and former Montana coach Bobby Hauck said he expects Sherry will be fine, though plenty sore for the next several days.

"He got roughed up, that's about all I know about it," said Hauck, whose team has now lost four straight. "Give Boise credit, they whipped our tail today."

D.J. Harper rushed for 59 yards on 12 carries and had TD runs of 10 and 1 yards, and Jay Ajayi scored on a 4-yard run that gave the Broncos an 18-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Eastern Washington 31, Sacramento State 28: At Cheney, Vernon Adams and Kyle Padron combined for 342 yards passing and three touchdowns, leading Eastern Washington to a victory over Sacramento State.

Coach Beau Baldwin wanted to play both quarterbacks, and each delivered. Adams was 17 of 21 for 169 yards and two TDs for the Eagles (6-1, 5-0 Big Sky). Padron finished up, going 9 for 16 for 173 yards, including a 52-yard TD pass to Brandon Kaufman that put Eastern Washington up 31-21 with 11:22 left in the game.

Kaufman had six catches for 102 yards, while Greg Herd caught nine passes for 109 yards and two TDs.

Sacramento State (5-3, 3-2) was outgained 454-288 in total yards, but stayed close by going 8 for 14 on third-down conversions. The Hornets pulled within 31-28 on a 6-yard pass from Mason Magleby to T.J. Knowles with 3:05 remaining, but didn't get the ball back until there was 21 seconds remaining.

North Dakota 40, Montana 34: At Grand Forks, N.D., Greg Hardin caught a 32-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left, breaking the Big Sky Conference receiving record with 333 yards in North Dakota's victory over Montana (3-5, 1-4).

Hardin caught 12 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns, breaking the previous record of 315 yards set by Northern Colorado's Patrick Walker in 2011.

Quarterback Braden Hanson completed 42 of 61 passes, setting a North Dakota (4-4, 2-3) single-game passing record with 660 yards, and had five touchdowns to go along with his three interceptions.

Montana's Shay Smithwick-Hahn completed 26 of 39 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns.

Northern Colorado 52, Idaho State 14: At Greeley, Colo., Seth Lobato threw for 243 yards and a career-high five touchdowns to lead Northern Colorado (2-5, 1-3 Big Sky) to a win over Idaho State (1-6, 0-4) and embattled coach Mike Kramer.

Kevin Yost threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns for the Bengals.

It was Idaho State's first game since it was reported that Kramer is being investigated by the university and the Pocatello Police Department for allegedly shoving senior wide receiver Derek Graves to the ground two weeks ago in an incident caught on video.

Graves lodged a complaint with police on Oct. 14 that he was pushed by Kramer during an Oct. 3 practice. His attorney, Don Jackson, said Graves has suffered from neck and back spasms since the incident.

Graves was inactive Saturday and has not played in the Bengals' last three games.

Whitworth 70, Puget Sound 11: At Spokane, Bryan Peterson threw four touchdown passes, Ronne Thomas added 122 yards and two TDs on 23 carries, and the Pirates (6-2, 2-2 Northwest Conference) routed Puget Sound (0-6, 0-3).

Whitworth's Connor Williams, a former Coeur d'Alene High standout, caught two passes - both for touchdowns - of 9 and 48 yards. Former Lakeland High standout Scott Carr added a 29-yard interception return for another score.

Carroll College 35, Montana State University-Northern 14: At Helena, Mont., Dustin Rinker ran for 232 yards and three touchdowns to lead the No. 7 NAIA Saints (6-2, 6-1 Frontier Conference) past the Lights (2-5, 2-5).