Ashton Jeanty scored six touchdowns and ran for 267 yards as the Boise State football team downed Georgia Southern, 56-45, Saturday afternoon at Allen E. Paulson at Evans Family Field.
The Broncos jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter when Jeanty broke off two long touchdown runs. The Eagles got on the board in the second quarter when Jalen White punched it in from 2 yards out. A 31-yard field goal by Gavin Stewart brought the Eagles to within five early in the quarter. Right before the end of the half, Dalen Cobb hauled in an 18-yard touchdown catch on a spectacular grab to get the Eagles back into it.
The Eagles built on the momentum from the end of the first half and came out strong in the second half. On the first drive, French scored on an 11-yard run, and then after a fourth-down stop by the defense deep in Boise territory, White scored from 1 yard out to give the Eagles their first lead of the game.
The Broncos responded with a 14-play drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Jeanty late in the third quarter, giving them the lead back. French connected with Beau Johnson on a 3-yard touchdown pass, but on the next play, Jeanty went 85 yards for his sixth score. A late scoring run from White, his career-high third score of the game, capped the scoring.
The Eagles were down as many as 19 points but scored on six of seven drives to take the lead before the Broncos' run game took over, finishing with 372 yards and seven scores.
In his first game as a starter, French went 28 for 50 and 322 yards with two scores against no interceptions. He also ran for 39 yards and a touchdown. Derwin Burgess Jr. led the Eagles with 93 yards on four catches. Marques Watson-Trent led the team with seven tackles and Tyrell Davis had an interception.
Up Next: Georgia Southern (0-1) travels to Reno, Nevada, to take on the Wolf Pack of Nevada next Saturday at 7 p.m. (ET)/4 p.m. (PT). The game will be broadcast on TruTV and streamed on Max.
