No. 25 BSU, Jeanty’s 250 yards hand WSU its first loss

BOISE — All it took was four touches and 89 seconds for Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty to find the end zone.

On four carries, the Broncos’ Heisman hopeful accounted for all 75 yards on Boise State’s opening drive, the first of his four touchdowns and over 250 yards.

No. 25 Boise State used Jeanty’s fourth career 200-yard game, and a season-high seven sacks, to outpace and corral Washington State quarterback John Mateer and crush the Cougars 45-17 on Saturday in front of 37,711 fans — the largest crowd in Albertsons Stadium history.

Ashton Jeanty runs through Wazzu

The Cougars were aptly aware that their key to victory was stopping Jeanty. The thing about Jeanty is you can know you have to stop him, you can have a plan to stop him, but no level of preparation seems to be able to stop arguably the best running back in the country.

“Number two (Jeanty) was the problem,” WSU linebacker Kyle Thornton said. “Getting him down was a major problem, and it was a problem at pretty much every level of our defense, and it’s hard to play good defense if we can’t get a guy on the ground. Credit to him. He’s a very talented runner.”

On the Broncos first drive, Jeanty got the ball once, twice and three times in a row, totaling 11 yards. After one Maddux Madsen incompletion, Jeanty got the ball again.

True to form, he shook off one Coug, pin-balled off another and sprinted 64 yards into the end zone. Jeanty had four touches, 75 yards and Boise State had a 7-0 lead.

Jeanty gained 14 yards and found the end zone again toward the end of the first half. Between then, the Cougs contained Jeanty to 31 yards on 11 carries — 2.8 yards per carry compared to his first-half total of 8.4 yards per carry and final average of 10 per attempt.

In the second half, Jeanty gained 150 yards and scored two more times, including a bruising 59-yard touchdown run, in which he left Thornton face planted on the ground and dragged a crusade of Cougars into the end zone with him. Wazzu swarmed him 2 yards short of the end zone, but Jeanty didn’t just find a hole, he made a hole.

The sold-out, boisterous Boise State crowd serenaded their star with chants of “Ashton Jeanty” as the Broncos hyped them up.

It was that kind of magical, feel good night for the Boise State faithful.

Mateer’s mistakes

In a battle of high octane offenses, WSU quarterback John Mateer responded. On the Cougars’ first play from scrimmage, he shot up the middle for a gain of 60 yards. Two plays later, he pump faked twice, then fired to senior tight end Cooper Mathers, who was wide open in the end zone. It was the third Mateer-to-Mathers touchdown connection in two weeks.

Mateer showed confidence throwing the ball, finding his receivers on their routes and traversing the field. However, his error right before halftime cost the Cougars a chance to tie the game.

With the Cougs inside the 30, Mateer fired an end zone bound throw directly to Boise State defensive back A’Marion McCoy. The Broncos snuffed out the Cougars’ chance to tie and marched into halftime up 17-10.

The Broncos tore up the Cougars’ offensive line, sacking the WSU signal-caller a season-high seven times. It was the most sacks the Broncos front had generated in a game and the most Mateer had taken through his five career starts.

Mateer’s success

The Cougar quarterback completed 26-of-37 passes for 327 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

The Cougars came within one score of the Broncos at the beginning of the fourth quarter on a beautiful deep heave from Mateer, perfectly placed to senior wide receiver Kyle Williams in the left corner of the end zone.

Williams racked up nine catches for 142 yards and a TD. Kris Hutson caught nine passes as well for 126 yards.

A stubborn strategy

WSU was 9-for-22 on third and fourth down attempts, with several QB sneak attempts on fourth and short.

In the third quarter, Wazzu faced fourth-and-inches from its own 27. The Cougars chose to rush it up the middle down 17-10. The Boise State defense stuffed Mateer at the line and the Cougs gave the Broncos the ball at the 27. The Broncos scored with the short field to go up 24-10.

Dickert said he chose to go for it on fourth down with the Cougars’ backs 27 yards from their own end zone, because that is what he has always done.

Playoff outlook

The Cougs walked into this ranked matchup with College Football Playoff hopes. They leave with a sliver of hope, but with their shortcomings staring them squarely in the mirror and on the tape.

Boise State leaves their largest crowd in stadium history with a 3-1 record and their College Football Playoff hopes in their control. If the Broncos can win the Mountain West Conference — or just keep winning — they give themselves a real shot at being the fifth-highest ranked conference champion or at least grabbing an at-large bid.

WSU has a bye week and faces Fresno State on Oct. 12 in Fresno, Calif.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.