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Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty rushed for a school-record 267 yards and six touchdowns, helping the Broncos to avoid a season-opening upset bid with a 56-45 road win over Georgia Southern on Saturday.

Jeanty, a preseason All-American and the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, broke away for a career-long 77-yard touchdown run on his second carry of the season and delivered a 75-yard score in the fourth quarter to help the Broncos pull away after Georgia Southern took a 37-36 lead.

“Obviously, it goes without saying, but Ashton Jeanty is the best player in the country,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “That was on full display tonight.”

Jeanty became the first FBS player to score six rushing touchdowns in a game since Pitt’s Israel Abanikanda had six against Virginia Tech in 2022, according to TruMedia. He averaged 13.4 yards per carry on his 20 attempts. Jeanty finished No. 2 in FBS in yards from scrimmage last season with 1,916 yards and 19 total touchdowns.

Boise State launched a Heisman Trophy campaign for Jeanty earlier this week, and he struck a Heisman pose in the end zone after his first touchdown of the year.

“I’ve got to shout out my O-line,” Jeanty said. “They opened up big, wide holes all game. I’ve got the easy part: make some guys miss and go run to the end zone.”

Boise State, the reigning Mountain West champions, is considered a top contender to earn the Group of 5 spot in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff and received the most votes among G5 team in the preseason AP poll. The Broncos held a 28-9 lead late in the second quarter before Georgia Southern rallied back with four consecutive touchdown drives to pull ahead.

Jeanty answered with his 75-yard touchdown on the first play of Boise State’s next possession and the Broncos got two fourth-quarter scores from true freshman running back Sire Gaines, who produced 154 total yards in his first career game.

“I’m proud of how our team battled,” Danielson said. “I’m proud of how they stayed in the fight, kept swinging, didn’t always go our way and sometimes it was self-inflicted, sometime they’re just things that happen in a game that you’ve got to respond to. That’s what I’m excited about as a coach. Week 1, when you can find a lot of things to clean up on film and still find a way to win the game? That’s what I’m proud of our team doing.”

The Broncos go on the road again next week for a massive test against No. 3 Oregon. They opened the 2023 season at Washington, losing 56-19 to a team that went on to play for the national championship, and hadn’t won a season opener since 2020.

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Rich Rod bans Mountaineers from TikTok dancing

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Rich Rod bans Mountaineers from TikTok dancing

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, like all football coaches, wants his players to show up on time, work hard and play their best.

Oh, and another thing: Don’t dance on TikTok.

“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” he said Monday. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok, ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”

Making TikTok dance videos is a popular activity among high school- and college-age users of the social media platform. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, Boise State star Ashton Jeanty and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola are among college football players who have posted dance videos.

Rodriguez is beginning his second stint as Mountaineers coach. He said he has talked to his players about the tendency in society to emphasize the individual rather than the team and that banning TikTok dancing is something he can do to put the focus where he thinks it belongs.

“I’m allowed to do that. I can have rules,” he said. “Twenty years from now, if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell, they can go at it, smoking cannabis, whatever. Knock yourself out.”

As for now, he said: “I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?”

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Battle, DB star at USC and former Jet, dies at 78

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Battle, DB star at USC and former Jet, dies at 78

LOS ANGELES — Mike Battle, an All-American defensive back and a member of USC‘s 1967 national championship team who later played two seasons for the New York Jets, has died. He was 78.

He died of natural causes on March 6 in Nellysford, Virginia, the school said Tuesday.

In 1967, Battle led a USC defense that allowed only 87 points all season. The Trojans were 26-6-1 and won three conference titles during his three-year career. Battle played in the 1967, 1968 and 1969 Rose Bowl games, all won by the Trojans.

Battle was USC’s annual punt return leader in each of his three seasons and still owns the school record for most punts returned in a season. He was the NCAA statistical champion in 1967, when he had 49 returns for 608 yards, a 12.4-yard average. He also holds the school mark for most punts returned, with 99 during his three years.

He was chosen in the 12th round of the 1969 NFL draft by the Jets and played for two seasons in 1969 and 1970.

Battle appeared in the 1970 film “C.C. and Company,” a biker film starring Jets teammate Joe Namath and actor Ann-Margret.

He is survived by his wife Laura and children Christian Michael, Hunter, Frank, Michael, Kathleen, Murphy and Annie.

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Stars forward Hintz out a week with facial injury

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Stars forward Hintz out a week with facial injury

Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz will be sidelined for a week with a facial injury but avoided a fracture.

General manager Jim Nill said Tuesday that Hintz has to keep his heart rate down for 5-7 days to avoid pressure or swelling.

Hintz, 28, was struck in the face by a puck midway through the second period in Saturday’s 5-4 loss at Edmonton. He did not return.

Hintz is tied for second on the Stars in goals (25) and is fourth in points (52) through 59 games this season.

He has 362 points (172 goals, 190 assists) in 451 career games in seven NHL seasons. Dallas drafted him in the second round in 2015.

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