Ashton Jeanty and the Broncos welcome the Nevada Wolf Pack to town for a Saturday night celebration in Boise.
The No. 12 Broncos are 7-1 and looking to roll over the pack, which is 3-7 and losers of three straight games.
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WHO: Boise State Broncos vs. Nevada Wolf Pack
When: 8:00 PM ET, November 9, 2024
Where: Albertsons Stadium
Current: fuboTV (free trial + $30 off your first month); or Garland; or DirectTV stream
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Nevada travels to No. 12 Boise State with the daunting task of slowing down Ashton Jeanty
By JASON CHATRAW Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Nevada travels to No. 12 Boise State on Saturday with the daunting task of slowing down Ashton Jeanty.
Jeanty leads the nation in rushing with 1,525 yards through eight games and is a big reason why the Broncos are in the driver’s seat as they try to earn a bid to represent the Group of Five in the College Football Playoff.
“We’re going up against a juggernaut this week,” Nevada coach Jeff Choate said, “and everyone is going to focus on Ashton Jeanty and the historic year he’s having. But what good players do is they make other players around them better. And that’s what Jeanty does.”
Choate, who was the co-defensive coordinator at Texas before taking the head job at Nevada before this year, has struggled to find sustained success with the Wolfpack (3-7, 0-4 Mountain West) in an injury-marred season.
Boise State (7-1, 4-0) also has a first-year head coach in Spencer Danielson. But his season was clearly different as he has the Broncos sitting atop the Mountain West.
“We are relentless to keep improving here and that is necessary, especially in games we have to win, like against a very good team from Nevada,” Danielson said. “We know we’re going to get Nevada’s best, and they’ll get ours, too.”
The game is a homecoming of sorts for Choate, his first return to Boise State since leaving in 2012. He coached at Boise State from 2006 to 2011, serving as the special teams coach along with other defensive units.
But if Nevada wants to pull off the upset, Choate has his work cut out for him, especially with a roster hampered by injuries to key players, most notably starting middle linebacker Tongiaki Mateialona.
“I’m not going to use the injury piece as a crutch, but everyone is a different team when they don’t have all their players,” Choate said.
Mateialona’s absence was stark. Two weeks ago, Nevada yielded 242 rushing yards to Hawaii, which had entered the game averaging 83.8 yards rushing per game.
Madsen vs. Lewis
When asked about dual-threat quarterback Brendon Lewis against a stingy Boise State defense, Choate emphatically emphasized his importance as a key to the game.
“(Having Lewis) is almost a must,” Choate said. “Their edges are really good and they can also mix opaque looks really well.”
Lewis’ mobility — he is the team’s second-leading rusher with 660 yards and seven touchdowns — will be key in neutralizing Boise State’s offense-oriented defense, which leads the FBS with 4.75 sacks per game.
The performance of Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen will be crucial for the Broncos if Nevada can contain Jeanty.
Last week against San Diego State, Madsen threw for a career-high 307 yards and four touchdowns after the Aztecs committed to stopping Jeanty.
Explosive plays
If there is one glaring flaw in Boise State’s defense, it can be found in the unit’s tendency to give up explosive plays. The Broncos have yielded 23 plays of 30 yards or more this season, which ranks 114th among FBS programs.
Choate took note.
“Nobody really moved the ball well consistently against Boise State,” Choate said, “but they gave up some explosive plays.”
Although Nevada has played two more games than Boise State, the Wolfpack defense has also produced 45 plays of 20 yards or more, 17 of which were for more than 30 yards.
Stop Jeanty
At nearly every press conference this season, Danielson reiterated his belief that Jeanty is “the best player in college football.” And the statistics support that.
As the unquestioned leader of the Boise State offense, Jeanty averages 200.75 yards per game to lead the nation. He also leads the FBS in rushing touchdowns (20) and total touchdowns (21), and is second in scoring per game (15.8) and yards per carry (8.03).
“He’s actually fun to watch,” Choate said. “You look at him and you think, ‘That was pretty impressive.’ One of the things he does better than other runners is he uses his off hand as a weapon. And when people try to tackle him low a lot, it’s not a winning proposition because he uses that stiff arm.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this article
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