Boise State football and Ashton Jeanty, a running back, still have three games to go. The mountain west’s San Jose Spartans are up next. They have a 6-3 record. The Spartans’ rushing defense is only average, placing 75th and giving up 151.2 yards per game.
They will have their work cut out for them against Jeanty. The junior running back gets just over 192 yards per game on average.
All eyes will be on Jeanty and the Broncos because Boise State football is in the running for a spot in the College Football Playoff as the No. 12 team in the country.
San Jose State isn’t a real threat to stop him from moving forward. Latrell Caples, a friend, told Austin Nivison of CBS Sports that most teams seem more interested in stopping Jeanty than winning the game.
“We’re playing teams from the conference,” Caples said. Their goal is to keep Ashton from getting the Heisman by letting it hang out for a while. In the end, we want to win the game, so we’re out there trying to do that by doing our basics better than they are.
Ashton Jeanty will rush for 200+ yards
This season, Jeanty has gone over 200 yards four times, and twice in his last four games. The 5-foot-9 back has run for more than 30 yards in each of his last four games.
Against the Spartans, look for him to get the ball early and often. The week before, San Jose State let Anthony Hankerson run for 121 yards and a score for Oregon State.
It’s clear that Jeanty is a strong candidate for the Heisman Memorial Trophy. Travis Hunter from Colorado is the favorite, but Jeanty is only a few points behind in most sportsbooks as the second or third choice. Because of all the attention he gets every week, Boise State football won’t be afraid to try to get back in the lead.
Bark Sanders of Oklahoma State holds the record for most running yards in a single season with 2,628. There are probably still at least five games left on Boise State’s schedule: three regular season games, the MWC championship game, and one bowl game.
If Jeanty keeps going at this rate, he will pass for 2,698 yards, which would be a new record. Now that Jeanty has the chance to make history, he should go for the record as hard as he can.
Boise State football will dominate time of possession
The Broncos will have the ball for more than 35 minutes, thanks to Jeanty and the very good Maddux Madsen at center. When it comes to time of possession, San Jose State football is fifth worst in the FBS. They only control the clock for 25 minutes on average per game.
Boise State takes a lot of shots downfield because their attack is based on running the ball well. In his last five games, Madsen has thrown for 200 yards four times. The Broncos have also given him more chances to run the ball lately. In his last three games, the sophomore QB has run for more than 50 yards twice.
A big reason Jeanty will win this MWC game is that he can wear down the Spartans’ defense while the Broncos have more time on the ball.
