No. 10 Boise State beats No. 20 UNLV for Mountain West title and likely first-round bye in College Football Playoff

Boise State is expected to have a bye in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The No. 10 Broncos shut out No. 20 UNLV in the first half en route to a 21-7 victory in the Mountain West Conference championship game Friday night. The victory was deservedly sealed late in the second quarter with a 75-yard run by Heisman contender Ashton Jeanty.

Jeanty finished the game with 209 rushing yards and Boise State fans chanted his name in the second half.

Jeanty’s total brings him to 2,497 yards on the season as he passed former USC running back Marcus Allen for the fourth-most rushing yards in a single season.

The 75-yard TD before halftime was Boise State’s second TD in the final three minutes of the second quarter. Maddux Madsen extended Boise State’s lead to 14-0 with 2:40 left in the second quarter with a fantastic run on a QB draw.

UNLV got four yards on three plays on its next possession before Jeanty broke the game open.

The Rebels offense just couldn’t get things going. And when he had a chance to score, he didn’t capitalize. UNLV missed a field goal in the first half and Kylin James broke off an 86-yard run in the third quarter to set UNLV up for a sure TD. But Seyi Oladipo brought James down from behind to prevent the touchdown and UNLV couldn’t get the ball into the end zone when a fourth-down pass was incomplete.

After finally scoring in the fourth quarter, UNLV had an opportunity to cut the lead to seven before the 2-minute warning. But the Rebels pulled away after getting another scoring situation and turned the ball over again on downs.

The nature of the victory virtually guarantees that Boise State will remain ahead of the winner of Saturday’s Big 12 title game in Sunday’s College Football Playoff standings. That means Boise State should be the No. 4 seed in the playoff bracket and could even reach as high as third if Clemson beats SMU in the ACC championship game.

The playoff format guarantees spots to the top five conference champions in the standings and the top four seeds are reserved for the top four conference champions. Few would have bet before the season that a non-powerhouse conference champion would get one of the first-round byes, but it’s hard to argue with Boise State’s value unless you’re a Big 12 affiliate.

Boise State’s only loss this season came in Week 2 against Oregon, the only remaining undefeated team in college football. The Broncos lost this game 37-34 as the Ducks needed a short field goal as time expired to win the game.

Since then, Boise State has won six games by three or more scores and Friday night’s win over UNLV was the Broncos’ second against the Rebels. Boise State won 29-24 in Las Vegas in October.

UNLV, meanwhile, must make it to a non-playoff bowl despite the team’s second 10-win season in program history and first since 1984. The Rebels could be headed to the LA Bowl to attend back-to-back bowl games. for the very first time.