The Boise State football program is on cloud nine. Not only are the Broncos in control of their own Mountain West title and College Football Playoff destinies, but they are also less than two years away from a move to the Pac-12 and perhaps a couple of months away from sending their biggest star to New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Running back Ashton Jeanty is in a different stratosphere with his other-worldly production in the Boise State backfield, and he posted another résumé-building performance over the weekend in a win over Washington State.
That was only the second-biggest story to emerge from the Mountain West this week, though. UNLV was in the spotlight in the lead-up to Saturday’s action after starting quarterback Matthew Sluka opted out of the rest of the season due to an NIL dispute. What the Rebels accomplished in his absence, defeating another conference frontrunner with an offensive explosion, was nothing shy of impressive.
Those Group of Five powers headlined the Week 5 college football action on the West Coast, but a few key victories for dark-horse Big Ten and Big 12 title contenders also defined a big week out west.
ASHTON JEANTY MAKES HEISMAN CASE IN KEY BOISE STATE WIN
Running backs used to have clear paths to the Heisman Trophy, but with the award going more and more often to the nation’s top quarterbacks, it takes a truly special year for a ballcarrier to break through. Group of Five players also rarely enter the conversation for college football’s highest honor. Could Jeanty be the exception to both trends? It becomes more possible with each passing week, and after another monster showing in Boise State’s drubbing of Washington State, Jeanty’s stock is higher than ever before.
There are a couple of likely prerequisites Jeanty must fill before he earns a trip to New York City. Breaking through as the most outstanding player in the nation may require him to break longstanding individual records and for Boise State to remain firmly in the College Football Playoff picture. Those look like modest asks through five weeks as Jeanty is on pace to finish just under 100 yards shy of Barry Sanders’ FBS single-season rushing record and the Broncos stand as the highest-ranked Group of Five team in the land.
Jeanty is not new to the national leaderboards, but his dominance compared to the rest of the nation is on a different level in 2024. Through four starts, he racked up 82 carries for a whopping 845 yards and 13 touchdowns; 259 of those yards and four of those scores came Saturday night in front of a record crowd on The Blue. To put those numbers into context, here are a couple of eye-popping stats:
- Nine Mountain West players posted at least 234 total rushing yards across the first five weeks of the season. Jeanty racked up 234 yards after contact in the win over Washington State alone.
- Jeanty is responsible for an average of 19.5 points per game. That mark leads all college football players.
- Six teams have at least six plays of 50+ yards on the year. Jeanty himself has six such explosive plays, good for the most by an individual player. That is more than one per game.
- Jeanty is the only FBS player with four rushing touchdowns in multiple games.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is the new Heisman frontrunner after his tremendous performance in the biggest game of the college football season thus far. Colorado’s Travis Hunter is arguably the most impressive individual player overall given his two-way stardom. But Jeanty undoubtedly deserves a spot next to them as potential Heisman finalists, and if he stays on this pace, it would be hard to argue against him as the outright winner.
NO MATTHEW SLUKA, NO PROBLEM FOR UNLV
The new transactional era of college football reached a milestone moment last week when UNLV lost its starting quarterback for the year due to a dispute over preseason NIL promises. No matter for the Rebels, though. This could be an addition-by-subtraction situation for a team that is locked into a battle with Boise State for a playoff berth. With transfer signal-caller Hajj-Malik Williams under center for his first start as a Rebel, UNLV racked up a stunning 59 points against a fellow conference title hopeful in Fresno State.
The 59 points are by far the Rebels’ most against FBS competition this year, and they were a result of Williams’ outstanding dual-threat ability. The former FCS star at Campbell completed 13-of-16 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns in his UNLV starting debut, and he paced the team in rushing with 12 carries for an additional 119 yards and a score. Might the Rebels have upgraded at quarterback after one of the wildest developments of the season?
UNLV is now a top-25 team for the first time in program history. It holds victories over two Big 12 opponents, and it clearly boasts the offensive weapons necessary to hang with Boise State in a looming Oct. 25 showdown. The College Football Playoff selection committee should be on notice.
DEION SANDERS EARNS BIGGEST WIN OF COLORADO TENURE
The first three wins of the Deion Sanders era turned Colorado into a hype machine, but none of those 2023 victories were as impressive as the one the Buffaloes earned over the weekend in Orlando. Behind a 290-yard, three-touchdown explosion from Shedeur Sanders and more two-way heroics from Hunter, Colorado steamrolled a Big 12 title hopeful in UCF to the tune of a 48-21 blowout. It was the most lopsided victory of the Sanders era.
This program is not short of detractors and naysayers, but there is no room to discredit Colorado’s win against a Knights team that entered the day with a perfect record and that rarely loses inside the Bounce House. Now just two wins from bowl eligibility, the Buffaloes continue to prove that their splashy moves in the transfer portal upgraded the quality of talent on their roster. As unconventional and pot-stirring as it may be, Sanders’ program is on the rise.
FINAL NOTES
The newfound toughness at USC extends beyond defensive physicality. Lincoln Riley proved that his program has new mental fortitude, too, as it bounced back from a heartbreaking loss at Michigan with a 38-21 win over Wisconsin for its first Big Ten victory.
Defense was the primary concern at Arizona after it momentarily fell out of the Big 12 title race, but the Wildcats flexed on Utah, holding the Utes to just 10 points in a rare loss at Rice-Eccles Stadium. This conference landscape is as chaotic as expected, if not more so.
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Not every West Coast team had an enjoyable Week 5, though. Washington and Stanford experienced the perils of their new leagues with losses in cross-country away games. Falling to Rutgers on a last-second missed field goal and standing on the wrong side of a Clemson blowout introduced those programs to the harsh realities of conference realignment.
