Ashton Jeanty rushed for 259 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 25 Boise State to a 45-24 win over previously undefeated Washington State on Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium.
Jeanty scored on a 64-yard run on Boise State’s first offensive possession to give the Broncos an early 7-0 lead and he never looked back, adding touchdown runs of 14 yards, 59 yards and two yards to give him a nation-leading 13 rushing touchdowns through four games.
Jeanty already has 845 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns through just four games as his Heisman Trophy campaign continues to strengthen.
Asked if Jeanty is the best player he’s coached, coach Danielson didn’t hesitate: “no question.”
“He puts his team on his back, loves his team and will find anyway to score because he knows thats what his team needs,” Danielson said. “He’s the driving force for this team.”
A crowd of 37,711, the largest in the history of Albertsons Stadium, chanted ‘Heisman! Heisman!’ on multiple occasions in the second half as Jeanty took the game over and helped the Broncos improve to 3-1 ahead of their conference opener against Utah State next week.
“It’s a dream come true,” Jeanty said of his big night on The Blue. “(But) we’re winning and that’s the most important thing right now.”
Maddux Madsen completed 12 of 21 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Matt Lauter had four catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
Boise State’s defense deserves a ton of credit as well. Ahmed Hassanein had eight tackles and one of Boise State’s seven sacks, while Ty Benefield had the Broncos’ first interception of the season on a key play right before half time. The Cougars also went just 2 of 5 on fourth down.
After rushing for 52 yards on his first carry of the game Washington State quarterback John Mateer lost 24 yards on his next 19 carries to finish with 20 carries for just 28 yards.
“Hats off to our coaches – they had a great plan,” Danielson said. “We knew they’d get some yards, but get him down, make a tackle, work to punch the ball out. A huge interception at the end of the second quarter by Ty Benefield. … If that’s a touchdown, you never know.”
B.J. Rains and former Boise State assistant coaches Brad Bedell and Kent Riddle broke the game down on The Blue and Orange Store Postgame Show on Bronco Nation News after the game. Watch the show here:
