Jeanty powers Boise State past UNLV for Mountain West title, CFP spot

Ashton Jeanty ran for 209 yards and a touchdown and No. 10 Boise State earned a College Football Playoff spot, beating No. 19 UNLV, 21-7, on Friday night for its second straight Mountain West title in Boise, Idaho.

Boise State (12-1, No. 10 CFP) is all but assured of a first-round bye in the playoffs if it maintains its ranking ahead of the Big 12 winner and finishes as one of the four highest-ranked conference champs.

“In January when they were playing tug of war on the field with their shirts off, they talked about what they wanted to do this season,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “They wanted to win a conference championship and make it to the college playoffs, and they worked for that.”

Jeanty, who had the spotlight to himself to state his Heisman Trophy case, didn’t disappoint, ripping off an electrifying 75-yard touchdown run. It was his fifth TD run of 70 yards or more this season, tying LaDainian Tomlinson’s FBS season record.

Jeanty also surpassed 1981 Heisman winner Marcus Allen of USC to move into fourth place on the FBS season rushing list and needs 132 more to pass record-holder Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State.

“I think the same thing week after week,” Jeanty said of all the Heisman Trophy hype. “Not only is this one of the best teams in the nation, but they’ve got one of the best players in the nation.”

Danielson was more pointed in touting Jeanty’s case, taking a not-so-subtle dig at Heisman frontrunner and Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter, whose team was left out of the Big 12 championship game and won’t make a playoff appearance.

“In regards to the Heisman, I ask all voters to please just watch the film, watch the stats,” Danielson said. “That will show you that he’s the best football player in the country. … If you’re a Heisman candidate, you should play in a championship game. And to see what he did in a championship game for his team also speaks volumes.”

Danielson added of Jeanty: “He showcases week in and week out that he’s the best football player in the country, and I don’t even think it’s close.”

Maddux Madsen threw a touchdown pass and rushed for another score for the Broncos.

UNLV (10-3, No. 20 CFP), which entered the game seventh nationally in scoring offense (38.7 ppg), hadn’t been held below 23 all season.

“I have been in championship games before and come up on the wrong end of them,” UNLV coach Barry Odom said. “But you continue to learn from them and move your organization forward and find a way to get back to a game like this and win it.”

However, Odom didn’t mince words when describing how he felt about Boise State, which handed his team two of its three losses.

“Good luck to anyone who comes here and thinks they’re going to win the game,” Odom said. “I think they’re one of the best teams in college football right now. And I think they’ll do a great job representing this conference. They’re built to make a run.”

With UNLV loading the box with eight or nine defenders early in the game, Boise State leaned heavily on Madsen in the first quarter. And he delivered, completing six of his first seven passes, including a 22-yard scoring strike to Latrell Caples for a 7-0 lead.

Madsen used his legs to put the Broncos ahead 14-0, scrambling for a 14-yard touchdown run with 2:40 left in the first half.

After a quick stop, Boise State got the ball back and let Jeanty work his magic. Two plays later, he raced through the teeth of the defense and sprinted to the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown run, giving the Broncos a 21-0 lead with 29 seconds left in the half.

UNLV had a chance to claw back into it late in the third quarter when Kylin James raced 86 yards before Seyi Oladipo ran him down at the Boise State 5. But the Rebels lost 4 yards on the next four plays and failed to score.

The Rebels finally got into the end zone with 9:06 left on a Greg Burrell 31-yard run.

Hajj-Malik Williams led UNLV offensively with 110 yards passing and 56 yards rushing.

Boise’s win removes a possible path to a first-round bye for the Big 12 champion, which will be decided when No. 15 Arizona State squares off with No. 16 Iowa State on Saturday (9 a.m. PT, Ch. 7) in Arlington, Texas.

The Big 12 winner will be in the playoff, but the only realistic route left for either team to earn a bye (and the extra $4 million that comes with it) would be to combine that win – preferably a convincing one – with a loss by the Atlantic Coast Conference leader, No. 8 SMU, which faces No. 17 Clemson on Saturday night (5 p.m., Ch. 7) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Big 12 commissioner and Iowa State’s athletic director are among those already crying foul.

No. 24 Army beats Tulane for AAC championship

Bryson Daily rushed for four touchdowns to tie the American Athletic Conference championship game record, and No. 24 Army completed a perfect first season in the league by beating Tulane, 35-14, in West Point, New York.

Kanye Udoh rushed for 158 yards, including a 72-yarder to set up a Daily TD, and a score. Daily added 126 yards on the ground for the Black Knights (11-1), who overwhelmed AAC opponents with their bruising, clock-eating rushing attack during their first around the league, then ran it to perfection in the championship game. Army won the first conference title in its 134-year history.

Daily had runs of 5, 3, 4 and 7 yards. The 221-pound quarterback’s four rushing scores gave him 29 this season, breaking the AAC record of 25 set by Navy QB Will Worth in 2016. The conference player of the year has rushed for multiple TDs in 10 consecutive games.

Except for an unsuccessful stint in Conference USA from 1998-2004, the Black Knights had played as an independent since their program began in 1890. Coach Jeff Monken said this week that Army felt that it needed to be in a conference to have a pathway to college football’s expanded postseason.

As cadets poured out of the stands to join players in a midfield celebration, the Black Knights must have been loving the decision.

Darian Mensah threw two touchdown passes for Tulane (9-4), which was playing in its third straight AAC championship game and has lost the last two. The Green Wave had hopes of hosting before losing at home to Memphis on Thanksgiving night, ending their 17-game winning streak in conference games.

They were even shakier Friday, botching field goal attempts after their first two drives, then fumbling a kickoff and having a pass intercepted in their own territory on the next two.

Then Tulane could barely get its hands on the ball in the second half, when Army had touchdown drives of 11 and 16 plays.

A temperature of 29 degrees to begin just the third December game in the 101-season history of Michie Stadium demanded a strong running attack and nobody does it better than Army, which came in leading the country with 312.5 rushing yards per game.

Daily didn’t even attempt a pass until the second half – when he kept a scoring drive alive with a 9-yard completion on fourth-and-5.

The Green Wave were asked during the week about playing in the chilly conditions along the Hudson River, and the weather may have been a factor when Tulane attempted a field goal after a good first drive. Holder Brice Busch dropped the snap on the Army 27.

Army promptly went 72 yards in 11 plays for Daily’s 5-yard score. Tulane got inside the Army 20 again on its second drive but had to settle for another field goal attempt. The Green Wave handled the snap this time but Patrick Durkin’s kick was wide right from 38 yards.

Daily’s 4-yard run made it 21-0 before Tulane finally got on the board on Mensah’s 42-yard pass to Mario Williams with 44 seconds left in the half.

But Army regained control with a 6½-minute drive to open the third quarter.

Army still has a game left in its regular season, playing Navy next Saturday in Landover, Maryland, while Tulane awaits its bowl destination.

Jacksonville State routs Western Kentucky in C-USA final

Tre Stewart ran for 201 yards and three touchdowns and Tyler Huff threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third as Jacksonville State rolled to its first Conference USA championship, dominating Western Kentucky, 52-12, in Jacksonville, Alabama.

Jacksonville State (9-4) wins the conference title in just its second season as an FBS member and avenged a 19-17 loss to the Hilltoppers (8-5) in the regular-season finale.

Lucas Carneiro opened the game with a 54-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive, but Jacksonville State answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive for the go-ahead touchdown. Huff broke free for a 48-yard gain to give the Gamecocks a first-and-goal at the 8-yard line and Huff hit Sean Brown for the final 6 yards to take a lead they never surrendered.

Jacksonville State stopped Caden Veltkamp on fourth-and-one at the Western Kentucky 42, then needed just six plays to reach the end zone to take a 14-3 lead. Tyler Huff hit Stewart for 7 yards on fourth-and-5 at the WKU 37-yard line to keep the drive alive, then threw a 26-yard fade to a wide-open Cam Vaughn for the touchdown.

Stewart scored on a pair of short runs in the second quarter before Carneiro kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired in the half for a a 28-6 lead. Huff added a 3-yard run to the end zone in the third quarter and Stewart added a 29-yard run for his third touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Huff completed 11 of 15 passes for 176 yards and carried 23 times for 167 yards. Stewart carried 27 times and caught three passes for 54 yards. Vaughn caught four passes for 91 yards.

Veltkamp was 18-of-30 passing for 141 yards and a touchdown for the Hilltoppers. Elijah Young carried 19 times for 108 yards.