Ashton Jeanty surpasses 200 yards again in win over Boise State

Heisman Trophy contender Ashton Jeanty rushed for 237 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns to lead No. 17 Boise State to a 28-7 victory over Hawaii on Saturday night.

Jeanty, the leading rusher in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision, had a season-high 31 carries for 217 yards. It was the third game this season in which he surpassed the 200-yard mark and the fifth of his career. He also caught three passes for 20 yards.

“So proud of Ashton Jeanty; he’s a total warrior dad,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “He is the best player in the country. Those were tough yards. They are the No. 1 defense in our conference for a reason. These guys were flying around, they had a great plan of attack and he just kept fighting.” kept fighting.

The 5-foot-9, 215-pound Jeanty has rushed for 1,248 yards and 17 touchdowns in six games this season, averaging 9.9 yards per carry and 208 yards per game on the ground. With six games remaining in the regular season and a likely bowl game for the Broncos, Jeanty remains on track to challenge Barry Sanders' FBS single-season rushing record of 2,628 yards.

With his breakthrough performance, Jeanty has emerged as a leading candidate for the Heisman, which hasn't been awarded to a running back since Alabama's Derrick Henry in 2015.

Jeanty is the consensus betting favorite for the Heisman and was listed on ESPN BET Sunday morning as a +175 favorite for the award, ahead of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (+375) and Miami quarterback Cam Ward (+600).

The Broncos (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) ran their winning streak to four games since their narrow loss at then-No. 7 Oregon on September 7th.

The Rainbow Warriors (2-4, 0-2) have lost four of their last five games.

Boise State finished with points on its first three possessions. Jonah Dalmas hit field goals of 24 and 23 yards around Jeanty's 54-yard touchdown run to give the Broncos a 13-0 lead with 7:06 left in the first half.

Jeanty found a crease behind the right side of his offensive line before diving to the edge and getting into the end zone untouched. It was his seventh touchdown run of at least 50 yards this season. Jeanty came into the game averaging 10.9 yards per carry and 206.3 rushing yards per game.

He had 93 yards on eight carries after one quarter and was up to 15 carries for 115 yards by halftime.

Hawaii scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Schager to Tylan Hines with 3:24 left in the second quarter.

“It was a really hard-fought game,” Hawaii coach Timmy Chang said. “I thought our guys were up against a really good team on a level playing field, and when the decisions get thrown out the window and don't go in the right direction, you lose a little bit of momentum, but I'm proud of my guys Fight and us.” I will continue to try to get better.

After a scoreless third quarter, Boise State found some breathing room a few minutes into the final period with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Maddux Madsen to Jeanty. Madsen hit Austin Bolt for a 44-yard scoring strike in the final minutes.

Madsen completed 17 of 25 passes for 217 yards.

“It was a great team win, (but) it wasn’t perfect. There's a lot I'd like to look at and clean up, but on the road, with the travel and all that stuff, you got that.” “I had to find ways to win games in our conference and I'm proud of our team,” Danielson said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.