Jeanty rushes for 6 TDs in Boise State victory
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Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
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.
MIAMI — Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer and the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 on Sunday, completing their first-ever sweep of the Yankees in a series of three or more games.
The Marlins (55-55) reached .500 for the first time since April 15, when the team was 8-8. Since June 13, the Marlins are 30-14; that’s tied with the 2003 team for the most wins in a 44-game span in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.
The 2003 Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series in six games.
Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk. His only blemish came against the first batter he faced. Trent Grisham drove Cabrera’s 98.1 mph four-seam fastball to right-center.
Miami rookie Jakob Marsee, who made his major league debut on Friday, was 2-for-4 and finished a single short of the cycle.
Stowers made it 6-1 when he connected on an 0-2 fastball from Brent Headrick, who entered in the fourth with two on after starter Luis Gil (0-1) was lifted 3⅓ innings into his season debut.
Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, struck out three and surrendered five runs and five hits while issuing four walks in his return from a high-grade lat strain. He threw 77 pitches.
Gil’s shaky debut comes at a rough point in the season for the Yankees, whose inconsistency has prompted a rash of criticism, the latest coming from former Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on Fox’s pregame show Saturday night.
“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “Way too many mistakes, and you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams.”
Added Rodriguez: “Where’s the accountability?”
Boone addressed those criticisms before Sunday’s game, saying it comes with the territory of being the Yankees, but he added after the loss that it’s “gut-check” time for his club.
New York’s weekend series at Miami included the Yankees blowing a six-run lead in a wild 13-12 loss on Friday, before a 2-0 loss on Saturday.
The Yankees had a seven-game lead in the AL East in late May. By July 2, the lead was gone and the Yankees have been looking up at Toronto in the division ever since. The red-hot Boston Red Sox, who were more than 10 games behind the Yankees about two months ago, have overtaken their rival for the second spot in the AL East and AL wild-card lead.
“It’s getting late,” Boone said. “And it’s certainly not too late for us. I am confident that we’re going to get it together. But that’s all it is right now is, you know, it’s empty until we start doing it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.
Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.
Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.
The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.
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