Ashton Jeanty rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 12 Boise State to a 28-21 victory over visiting Nevada on Saturday night in the Mountain West Conference matchup.
The Heisman Trophy candidate topped 200 yards for the fourth time this season and raised his season totals to 1,734 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground. He entered the day as the national leader in both categories.
Maddux Madsen completed 9 of 20 passes for 119 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Broncos (8-1, 5-0 MW), who won their seventh straight game. Matt Lauter had a touchdown catch as Boise State beat Nevada for the 18th time in the past 20 meetings.
Jeanty became the fourth Boise State running back to top the 1,700-yard mark in a single season and finished the night second on the list. Jay Ajayi set the school record of 1,823 yards in 2014, while Ian Johnson (1,713 in 2006) and Jeremy McNichols (1,709 in 2016) also topped the mark.
Brendon Lewis was 17-of-26 passing for 188 yards and one touchdown for Nevada (3-8, 0-5), which lost its fourth consecutive game.
Jaden Smith caught a 36-yard touchdown pass with 2:19 left that kept the Wolf Pack in the game.
But Jeanty’s 17-yard run on the ensuing possession gave Boise State a first down. A short time later, Jeanty scampered for 10 yards and another first down to seal it.
The score was tied at 14 at the break before the Broncos moved ahead to stay behind a dominating eight-play, 95-yard drive to start the third quarter. Jeanty went the final yard for the touchdown.
Boise State took a 28-14 advantage on Jeanty’s 2-yard run with 10:05 left in the contest. However, Nevada bounced back and was threatening to make it a one-score game when it faced fourth-and-goal from the Boise State 1-yard line.
But Lewis and Sean Dollars botched the exchange and Jeremiah Earby of the Broncos recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
Boise State jumped out to a 14-0 lead before the game was 11 minutes old.
Jeanty’s rushes moved the ball down the field on the Broncos’ first possession, which ended with Madsen’s 11-yard scoring pass to Lauter.
With 4:12 left in the period, Jeanty powered through a Nevada defender on a 4-yard scoring run.
Lewis got the Wolf Pack on the board with a dazzling 17-yard burst with 57 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Nevada tied the game on a trick play with 6:14 left in the half. The ball was handed to Marcos Bellon. The receiver tossed a short pass to Caleb Ramseur, who broke two tackles en route to finishing off a 44-yard scoring play.
