No. 10 Boise State defeated No. 20 UNLV 21-7 in the Mountain West Championship Game on Friday, presumably punching its ticket to the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Broncos held off a late rally from the Rebels to shore up their case to receive a first-round bye in the CFP as one of the four highest-ranked conference champions heading into this weekend's selection show.
Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty ran for 209 yards on 32 attempts. The Heisman Trophy contender scored on a 75-yard touchdown run in the final moments of the first half to help his team take a 21-0 lead into the intermission. Jeanty passed former USC star running back Marcus Allen for the fourth-most rushing yards in a single season on the play.
While Jeanty made highlight plays on the ground, Boise State's defense stole the show. The Broncos sacked Hajj-Malik Williams six times and held UNLV to a season-low seven points to win the program's fifth Mountain West title.
UNLV finished with 327 yards of offense, with 86 of those yards coming on a single run by Kylin James in the third quarter. Running back Greg Burrell scored a 31-yard touchdown with 9:06 remaining on fourth-and-short to get the Rebels on the board.
The Broncos entered the week ranked ahead of both teams (Arizona State and Iowa State) playing for the Big 12 title. Boise State could be seeded as high as No. 3 behind the conference champions from the SEC and Big Ten depending on how the rest of the weekend shakes out.