Heisman hopeful Jeanty rolls again in Boise win
Heisman Trophy contender Ashton Jeanty accounted for 237 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns to lead No. 17 Boise State to a 28-7 win over Hawaii on Saturday night.
Jeanty, the leading rusher in all of the Football Bowl Subdivision, had a season-high 31 carries for 217 yards. It was the third game this season that he has eclipsed the 200-yard mark and the fifth of his career. He also caught three passes for 20 yards.
“So proud of Ashton Jeanty; he’s an absolute war daddy,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “He’s the best player in the country. Those were tough yards. They’re the No. 1-ranked defense in our conference for a reason. Those guys flew around, they had a great plan of attack, and he just kept battling, kept battling.”
The 5-foot-9, 215-pound Jeanty has rushed for 1,248 yards and 17 touchdowns in six games this season, averaging 9.9 yards per carry and 208 yards per game on the ground. With six games remaining in the regular season plus a likely bowl game for the Broncos, Jeanty remains on pace to challenge Barry Sanders’ FBS single-season rushing record of 2,628 yards.
With his breakout performance, Jeanty has emerged as a leading candidate for the Heisman, which has not been awarded to a running back since Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015.
Jeanty is the consensus betting favorite for the Heisman and was listed as a +175 favorite for the award Sunday morning at ESPN BET, ahead of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (+375) and Miami quarterback Cam Ward (+600).
The Broncos (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) ran their winning streak to four games since their narrow loss at then-No. 7 Oregon on Sept. 7.
The Rainbow Warriors (2-4, 0-2) have lost four of their past five games.
Boise State capped its first three possessions with scores. Jonah Dalmas sandwiched field goals of 24 and 23 yards around Jeanty’s 54-yard touchdown run to put the Broncos up 13-0 with 7:06 left in the first half.
Jeanty found a crease behind the right side of his offensive line before he bounced to the perimeter and went untouched to the end zone. It was his seventh touchdown run of at least 50 yards this season. Jeanty entered the game averaging 10.9 yards per carry and 206.3 rushing yards per game.
He had 93 yards on eight carries after one quarter and was up to 15 rushes for 115 yards by halftime.
Hawaii’s score came with 3:24 left in the second quarter on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Schager to Tylan Hines.
“It was a really hard-fought game,” Hawaii coach Timmy Chang said. “I thought our guys went toe to toe with a really good team, and when the calls get overturned and don’t go your way, you lose a little bit of momentum, but I’m proud of my guys in fighting and we’ll continue to try to get better.”
After a scoreless third quarter, Boise State found some breathing room with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Maddux Madsen to Jeanty a few minutes into the final period. Madsen hit Austin Bolt for a 44-yard scoring strike in the closing minutes.
Madsen finished 17-of-25 passing for 217 yards.
“It was a great team win, [but] it was not perfect. There’s a lot that I’m excited to go in and look at and clean up, but on the road, with the travel and all the stuff, you’ve got to find ways to win games in our conference and I’m proud of our team,” Danielson said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
