BOISE, Idaho — Boise State sophomore running back Ashton Jeanty on Tuesday was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, joining Kellen Moore and Brett Rypien as the only Broncos to earn the honor.
Jeanty put together head-turning numbers this fall despite missing November contests against Fresno State and New Mexico, and part of the Wyoming game. In Boise State's critical Black Friday win over Air Force, Jeanty became the first Bronco to record 100 or more yards both rushing and receiving since Jeremy McNichols in 2016.
The 5-foot-9, 210-pound back enters Saturday's conference title bout with 1,109 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground, in addition to 537 yards and five touchdowns on 37 receptions. Jeanty is the first FBS player to total 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in the same season since 2019.
Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi is the only player in the country with more all-purpose yards than Jeanty's total of 1,646 in 2023. Mahdi sits at 2,014 yards, but 529 came on kickoff returns and he has played in 12 games compared to Jeanty's 10.
Tuesday's All-Mountain West First Team featured three other Broncos with Jeanty in sixth-year senior offensive lineman Cade Beresford, junior defensive end Ahmed Hassanein and sophomore punter James Ferguson-Reynolds.
Beresford, a Washington State transfer, is staple on Boise State's front five that ranks 12th in the nation giving up just 1.08 sacks per game. Since becoming a starter for the Broncos, Beresford has received first team all-conference honors in back-to-back seasons.
Hassanein finished the regular season second in the conference with 12 sacks, trailing only Colorado State's Mohamed Kamara (13). After recording 13 total tackles in nine appearances in 2022, Hassanein enters post-season play ranked No. 6 nationally in sacks and sacks per game (1.00).
Ferguson-Reynolds has arguably been Boise State's most-prolific player alongside Jeanty. The Australian currently leads the country averaging 50.08 yards per punt and has posted longs of 71 yards (San Jose State), 70 yards (Air Force) and 68 yards (Wyoming).
Despite sitting at No. 1 among FBS players in punting, Ferguson-Reynolds was somehow not included in Tuesday's finalists for the 2023 Ray Guy Award, which recognizes the best punter in college football each year. Florida State's Alex Mastromanno, Vanderbilt's Matthew Hayball and Iowa's Tory Taylor were named finalists.
2023 All-Mountain West First Team:
A total of 12 Boise State players received All-Mountain West honors on Tuesday, as selected by the league's 12 head coaches and a select media panel. Kamara was named Defensive Player of the Year, while UNLV kicker Jose Pizano earned Special Teams Player of the Year and UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava received Freshman of the Year.
After guiding UNLV to its most wins in a season since 1984, Barry Odom was named Mountain West Coach of the Year. He is the second Rebel head coach to receive the honor, joining John Robinson (2000).
Three Broncos landed on the all-conference second team in redshirt freshman offensive lineman Kage Casey, senior kicker Jonah Dalmas and redshirt sophomore linebacker Andrew Simpson.
Casey's all-conference honors come in his first season of competition as a Bronco. This marks the fourth time the Mountain West has recognized Dalmas, who is ranked No. 19 nationally averaging 1.50 field goals per game. Against Fresno State, the Meridian native surpassed Kyle Brotzman's career field goal record at Boise State.
Simpson had three tackles-for-loss, a sack and a forced fumble in Boise State's 27-19 win over Air Force last week. The rising star has posted 13 TFLs in the last six games alone, and ranks third in the conference with 15 total TFLs this year.
2023 All-Mountain West Second Team:
Boise State also had five players included on Tuesday's 2023 honorable mention list – sixth-year senior offensive lineman Garrett Curran, junior cornerback A'Marion McCoy, redshirt sophomore linebacker Marco Notarainni, junior safety Seyi Oladipo and redshirt senior safety Alexander Teubner.
Interim head coach Spencer Danielson and the Broncos are set to face UNLV in the Mountain West title game on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The championship contest will be televised on Fox.
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