College football winners and losers: Boise State leaves nothing to chance

College footballs conference championship weekend is in full swing, and College Football Playoff contenders will help clarify the playoff picture before the selection committee unveils its final bracket Sunday afternoon.

Here are some of the biggest winners and losers so far.

The Broncos are off to the playoff as one of the top five conference champions after controlling UNLV in a 21-7 victory Friday in the Mountain West title game.

But Boise State (12-1) isnt just one of the top five league champs.

The Broncos did nothing to suggest they will slip below whoever the Big 12 champion is, meaning they are all but assured a bye into the playoff quarterfinals.

Its an apt achievement for a team that methodically worked its way the past few months since a three-point loss at Oregon on Sept.

7.

At the time, that result could be viewed in equal measure about the Ducks apparent vulnerability and Boise States ability to play with just about anyone.

Now, its an admirable performance against the lone undefeated team left at the Football Bowl Subdivision level as well as reason to believe the Broncos will be an unpleasant matchup for whoever advances out of the first round to face them.

Its hard to fault the Rebels (10-3) for dropping a second game to Boise State, this time on the road.

Their only other loss was to 9-3 Syracuse, they overcame their starting quarterback walking away a month into the season in a payment dispute, and they won 10 games for the first time since 1984 and only the second time ever.

Theres no way to look at UNLVs season as anything other than a success.

However ...

a playoff berth was at stake Friday on Boises blue turf, and the Rebels couldnt score until the final 10 minutes.

This was despite an admirable 217 yards rushing 86 of them on a Kylin James run in the third quarter that went to waste when UNLV turned it over on downs four plays later.

There has to be disappointment in that missed opportunity, even if there is little else to quibble about when it comes to how the Rebels navigated the past three-plus months.

The Boise State running backs splendid season rolled along by providing an exclamation point on his Heisman Trophy candidacy, rushing for 209 yards and a touchdown as the Broncos claimed the Mountain West.

Jeanty has rushed for 2,497 yards and 29 touchdowns on the season in a riveting display of consistency.

His 75-yard touchdown just before halftime was Boise States third and final score, and it was indicative of his big-play ability even as one of his greatest traits is his durability.

Friday was his sixth 200-yard rushing game of the season.

It was also his seventh 30-carry game in his past eight outings.

He now owns the fourth-most rushing yards in a single season at the FBS level, just 131 yards shy of Barry Sanderss Heisman-winning season in 1988.

Thats heady company, and whether his all-timer of a year is enough to win him the Heisman over Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter remains to be seen.

What is certain is there isnt a whole lot more Jeanty could have done to win over voters, either Friday night or for the full season.

When the Black Knights were members of Conference USA for seven seasons from 1998 to 2004, they won nine conference games.

Two decades later, when Army decided to give the whole conference affiliation thing another whirl, it won nine league games in its first go-round.

The Black Knights (11-1) won all eight regular season contests against American Athletic competition, then turned in a textbook Army performance in a 35-14 defeat of Tulane on Friday at Michie Stadium in West Point to earn a conference championship.

A stereotypical Army victory would involve a methodical rushing attack, a shortened game, excellence on third and fourth downs, few penalties, even fewer turnovers and only a whisper of a passing attack.

Behold: The Black Knights rushed for 335 yards, allowed the Green Wave (9-4) only six possessions, went 4 for 9 on third down conversions and then 4 for 5 on fourth down tries, didnt have a penalty or a turnover and bothered to throw just twice (and one of those was on a fourth-and-five play early in the second half).

Maybe it wasnt flawless; after all, there was a botched fourth down at the Tulane 4.

Nonetheless, Army won the American in its distinctive style well, at least distinctive for anyone but a service academy, like the one (Navy) it will face next week in Landover, Md., in the hopes of burnishing an already splendid season with the most important victory available for the Black Knights in this or any season.

The Gamecocks beat Western Kentucky when it counted, turning around from a two-point loss to the Hilltoppers six days earlier to secure an overwhelming 52-12 triumph in the Conference USA championship game Friday night.

Tre Stewart rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Tyler Huff added 167 yards and a score on the ground in addition to a pair of touchdown passes for Jacksonville State (9-4), which won a league title in only its second season at the FBS level..

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