NCAAF

UNLV Rebels at Boise State Broncos

· Mountain West Championship
10-3, 6-1 Away
Final
7 - 21
12-1, 7-0 Home

No. 10 Boise State grabs CFP spot, beating No. 19 UNLV 21-7 in Mountain West championship

The numbers behind Boise State's Mountain West championship

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 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 Southern California to move into fourth place on the FBS season rushing list and needs 132 more to pass record-holder Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State.

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 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,” 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 their 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 TD 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 TD 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.

Takeaways UNLV: Odom, who guided the Rebels to their first 10-win season in 40 years, has the program headed in the right direction after UNLV had just seven wins in the three seasons before his arrival. If he continues to recruit well and build through the transfer portal like he did this season, the Rebels should contend for the Mountain West title.

Boise State: First-year coach Spencer Danielson delivered what the program’s fan base has been starving for since it made waves in the college football world in 2006 by going undefeated and beating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. But now this team has a chance to take it one step further and take down one of the sport’s blue bloods in the playoffs.

Up next Boise State awaits the selection show Sunday to find out who and when it will play in the College Football Playoff.

How To Watch

How can I watch UNLV Rebels vs. Boise State Broncos?
  • TV Channel: Rebels at Broncos 2021 College Football, week 15, is broadcasted on FOX.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Broncos: 68.7%
Rebels: 31.3%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

BOIS TD 1st Period 3:51 Latrell Caples 22 Yd pass from Maddux Madsen (Jonah Dalmas Kick)
BOIS TD 2nd Period 2:40 Maddux Madsen 14 Yd Run (Jonah Dalmas Kick)
BOIS TD 2nd Period 0:29 Ashton Jeanty 75 Yd Run (Jonah Dalmas Kick)
UNLV TD 4th Period 9:06 Greg Burrell 31 Yd Run (Caden Chittenden Kick)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/2439.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originUNLV https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/68.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBOIS
13 1st Downs 19
5-16 3rd down efficiency 6-14
2-4 4th down efficiency 1-1
327 Total Yards 373
110 Passing 158
13/28 Comp/Att 18/27
3.9 Yards per pass 5.9
217 Rushing 215
35 Rushing Attempts 37
6.2 Yards per rush 5.8
5-30 Penalties 1-10
1 Turnovers 0
0 Fumbles lost 0
1 Interceptions thrown 0
27:46 Possession 32:14

Game Information

Albertsons Stadium

Location: Boise, ID
Attendance: 36,663 · Capacity:
Full Standings

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