BOISE, Idaho — Ashton Jeanty ran for 209 yards and a touchdown, and No. 10 Boise State secured a College Football Playoff spot, beating No. 19 UNLV 21-7 on Friday night and winning the Mountain West Conference title game for the second year in a row.
Boise State (12-1) is all but assured of a first-round bye in the first 12-team edition of the CFP if it maintains its ranking ahead of the Big 12 winner — No. 15 Arizona State and No. 16 Iowa State meet for that league’s title Saturday — and finishes as one of the four highest-ranked conference champs when the final rankings are revealed Sunday by the selection committee.
“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 first-year head coach Spencer Danielson said of his Broncos’ offseason training. “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 case for the Heisman Trophy, didn’t disappoint, ripping off an electrifying 75-yard touchdown run. It was his fifth touchdown run of 70 yards or longer this season, tying LaDainian Tomlinson’s single-season record in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Jeanty also surpassed 1981 Heisman winner Marcus Allen of Southern California to move into fourth place on the FBS single-season rushing list and needs 132 more yards to pass record holder Barry Sanders, who set the mark at Oklahoma State in 1988.
Maddux Madsen threw a touchdown pass and rushed for another score for the Broncos.
UNLV (10-3), which entered the game seventh nationally in scoring offense averaging 38.7 points, hadn’t been held below 23 this season.
“I have been in championship games before and come up on the wrong end of them,” said UNLV coach Barry Odom, whose team was 20th in the most recent CFP rankings. “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 75 yards to the end zone, giving the Broncos a 21-0 lead with 29 seconds left in the first half.
UNLV had a chance to claw back into the game late in the third quarter when Kylin James raced 86 yards before Seyi Oladipo ran him down at the Boise State 5. The Rebels lost 4 yards on the next four plays, though, and failed to score.
The visitors finally got into the end zone with 9:06 left on Greg Burrell’s 31-yard run.
Hajj-Malik Williams led UNLV’s offense by passing for 110 yards and rushing for 56.
Army wins first league title
WEST POINT, N.Y. — The first conference championship celebration in Army football history was underway at midfield, and Bryson Daily made clear it would be a brief one.
The Black Knights are going after another trophy next weekend.
“Beat Navy,” Daily said.
The senior quarterback and the Black Knights ought to be a tough matchup for the Midshipmen — or just about anyone.
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 on Friday night.
Kanye Udoh rushed for 158 yards, including a 72-yarder to set up a Daily touchdown, 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 time around the league, then ran it to perfection in the championship game.
Army won the first conference title in its 134-year history.
The Black Knights have one game left in the regular season, and it’s the one they want most: the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy will be up for grabs when they face top rival Navy at the home of the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
“Now we’ve got the biggest game of the year coming up in eight days, and we’re looking forward to that,” Army coach Jeff Monken said.
Daily had touchdown runs of 5, 3, 4 and 7 yards. The 6-foot, 221-pounder’s four rushing scores gave him 29 this season, breaking the AAC record of 25 set by Navy quarterback Will Worth in 2016. The conference player of the year has rushed for multiple touchdowns 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. 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 but has now lost two in a row. 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.
They could barely get their hands on the ball in the second half, when Army had touchdown drives of 11 and 16 plays.
“When you start slow the way we did, missing two field goals early, you don’t do yourselves any favors,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said, “because once they get a lead, a couple scores, it’s really, really hard to overcome.”
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.
Army gained 335 on the ground and went 4-for-5 on fourth down.
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 the program from New Orleans 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.
Army regained control with a 6 1/2-minute drive to open the third quarter.
Jacksonville State cruises in C-USA
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — 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 the league title game Friday night.
Jacksonville State (9-4) won the conference 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 last weekend.
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 first-and-goal at the 8-yard line, and Huff hit Sean Brown for the final 6 yards to take a lead the hosts never surrendered.
Jacksonville State stopped Caden Veltkamp on fourth-and-1 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 seven yards on fourth down and 5 at the Hilltoppers’ 37 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.