BOISE, Idaho — Starting fast is the curse of this series.

And then there’s contending with Ian Johnson.

For the third straight time the team that jumped out to a big lead in the Oregon State-Boise State football battle, let the game get away.

It was OSU’s turn this time in a game that was reminiscent of the 2004 loss here.

The Beavers scored two quick touchdowns, but eventually gave away the nonconference game to the Northwest rival 42-14 on Thursday night in Bronco Stadium before a crowd of 30,711.

“You have to tip your hat to Boise State, and you can’t make excuses,” safety Sabby Piscitelli said. “We have to watch the film and get better. We didn’t execute our assignments. We didn’t play the way we should have. You have to finish in college football. We should know that from the last three games with guys.”

OSU’s mishaps led to Johnson’s breakout night, running for 240 yards and five touchdowns on 22 carries. He just made it look easy.

That’s the third best rushing performance in Boise State history. Johnson became the second player to rush for that many TDs against OSU. The first was Arizona State’s Ben Malone in 1973.

“I think he was good and effective,” OSU coach Mike Riley said. “They blocked well, and they were pretty relentless rushing.”

That allowed BSU’s star quarterback Jared Zabransky to take a support role. He accounted for only 127 all-purpose yards and one passing touchdown.

“It was just big plays,” defensive end Jeff Van Orsow said. “We knew they were good. I don’t know what we could have done. It was bad tackling. It started to go their way, and it all fell apart.”

OSU’s offensive highlight came on the first drive of the game. The Beavers (1-1) drove the ball 85 yards, finished off with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Matt Moore to Joe Newton.

It appeared to be a three-and-out situation, but a fake punt kept OSU going. Punter Kyle Loomis hit safety Daniel Drayton for a 27-yard pass. Running back Yvenson Bernard took over from that point.

The Beavers followed up with a strong defensive stand that forced the Broncos (2-0) to punt. That allowed Sammie Stroughter to return the ball 64 yards for a score.

Stroughter wound his way through traffic, and broke a tackle for his second punt return for a touchdown in two games.

“I was still enthused at halftime,” Riley said. “We had a good drive, but didn’t get any points. We have to be more tough-minded than that.”

From there it was all Broncos. They slowed down OSU’s running game and didn’t allow Moore to find anything deep.

He completed 12 of 17 passes for 115 yards, the TD and an interception. Bernard didn’t have much room to run most of the game. He gained 89 tough yards on 24 carries.

“Our execution wasn’t there,” Moore said. “It wasn’t that they did anything different, they just picked up their tempo a lot. We did what we wanted to do on that first drive, and then they played faster. They were getting to the holes before Yve.”