BOISE, Idaho – After Ashton Jeanty burst through the middle of the UNLV defense en route to a 75-yard touchdown run in the Mountain West Conference title game on Friday night, he didn’t strike the Heisman pose.

He didn’t even stand up for it after the game, just let his game speak for itself.

“I think the same thing week in and week out,” Jeanty said of all the Heisman Trophy hype after No. 10 Boise State beat No. 19 UNLV 21-7 to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff. “Not only is this one of the best teams in the country, but they also have one of the best players in the country.”

Jeanty added another 209 yards – his sixth 200-yard game of the season – and increased his total to 2,497 – just 132 yards shy of Barry Sanders’ FBS single-season rushing record.

Boise State coach Spencer Danielson, who sprinted a few yards down the sideline with Jeanty – who was playing his final game in Boise – for a long stretch, was not at all calm after the game.

“As far as the Heisman goes, I ask all voters to just look at the film and the stats,” Danielson said. “This will show you that he is the best football player in the country. …If you’re a Heisman candidate, you should play in a championship game. And to see what he did for his team in a championship game speaks volumes too.”

It was a not-so-subtle dig at Heisman front-runner and two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter, whose team was eliminated from the Big 12 championship game and will not appear in the playoffs.

But Jeanty will also be in the playoffs, albeit long after the voting and the ceremony. And he will have a chance to pull off one of the greatest single-season rushing feats in FBS history.

“He’s proving week in and week out that he’s the best football player in the country, and I don’t think he comes close to that,” Danielson said.

The fact that Jeanty is even at Boise State this season, in the era of NIL and transfer portals, is almost as astonishing as his jaw-dropping stats – the 2,497 rushing yards along with 29 touchdowns and five TD runs of 70-plus yards.

Jeanty, who turned down several offseason NIL offers from Power 4 schools a year ago, decided to return to Boise State to do something special.

He soaked everything into Friday.

“As soon as I woke up, that was all I thought about,” Jeanty said of his time at Boise State. “I was just so grateful for the program and the coaches and the community and everyone who believes in me. I took everything with me the whole game. It was just an incredible experience. I wouldn’t want to go out any other way.”

___

Get AP Top 25 poll alerts and updates throughout the season. Sign up here. AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football