Instant analysis: Ashton Jeanty, Boise State offense serve notice to Mountain West

In front of a wealth of empty seats in Snapdragon Stadium, Boise State made sure Friday night that one of college football’s most impressive streaks would not end.

With a 34-31 win at San Diego State, the Broncos (2-2, 1-0 Mountain West) pushed their streak of consecutive victories in conference-opening games to 24, an absurd mark. They are now 13-0 in Mountain West openers.

And Boise State let the league know that it will have something to say about who plays in the title game come December — as usual. This team has kinks to work out, but if it can do that while winning conference games, look out.

Main takeaways: Ashton Jeanty is a beast and the offensive line can do a lot of nice things. San Diego State’s defense, normally a strength, is not good. That was a lethal combination in the Broncos’ favor on Friday night.

Jeanty was so good that several Aztecs wanted no part of him. He broke tackles of the few defenders not afraid to hit him, and ran past the guys who got near him and waved because they were scared to hit him. It added up to 205 yards rushing, 254 total yards and two touchdowns, including a 58-yard TD run where he zipped by a blitzing linebacker in the backfield, broke two tackles downfield and made a third guy look foolish diving at his feet.

Hell, he even recovered an onside kick with 41 seconds left. If he has interest in becoming a pilot, perhaps he can fly the plane home.

Wide receiver Eric McAlister also was superb again, with five catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, and he made defenders miss badly while running after receptions, including on a 39-yard gain that set up a third-quarter score. (As a whole, the Aztecs’ defense needs a Tackling 101 class.)

The Boise State defense, meanwhile, is still a work in progress that’s giving up too many big plays (five passing plays of at least 22 yards) and is not getting off the field well enough on third down (SDSU converted 7 of 13.) With a 27-17 lead, it gave up a 92-yard touchdown drive that included three straight third-down conversions.

Aztecs QB Jalen Mayden entered the game 70-for-116 passing in four games, with three TDs, four interceptions and 10 sacks. He was sacked once by BSU, midway through the fourth quarter, and didn’t throw an incompletion until the third quarter.

Mayden’s longest completion had been 29 yards this season. He bettered that three times against the Broncos.

To Boise State’s credit, it forced two Mayden fumbles that were huge. One came when it looked as if he’d run for a TD on the game’s first drive, but Rodney Robinson and Andrew Simpson sandwiched him at the goal line. The other came deep in San Diego State territory, setting up a TD for a 10-point advantage.

Main question: What’s the offense look like when running back George Holani returns?

Holani, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, is still the team’s starter on the depth chart. He’s missed three straight games with a leg injury of some sort. And hey, as everyone who’s seen him play already knows, he’s good.

Jeanty is already borderline great. He’s a difference-maker. He needs to be on the field a lot and needs to get the ball a lot.

McAlister is a blossoming big-play receiver. QB Taylen Green is as dangerous as ever when running and scrambling, and coordinator Bush Hamdan has shown he’s fine with having Green throw the ball a lot.

Bottom line, it simply could be a great problem to have. No matter who’s on the field, there are serious weapons out there. But spreading the ball around while having balance is also a fine line to walk when it comes to being efficient and effective, two favorite words of the Boise State coaches.

Main drive: Nursing a 27-24 lead in the fourth quarter, the Broncos took over at midfield with 6:54 remaining. Jeanty converted on a fourth-and-inches play with a 5-yard run. Green made defenders look silly after appearing to be trapped in the backfield and converted on a third-and-3. Jeanty trotted into the end zone to end an 11-play drive that forced SDSU to use timeouts and drained the clock to the 2-minute mark. Game over.

Main stats: Boise State rushed for 241 yards, averaged about 6 yards per carry and had seven runs that accounted for 164 of those yards.

Special mention: BSU punter James Ferguson-Reynolds is wicked good. He’s averaging about 50 yards a kick on the season. He punted five times for a 50.8 average Friday night, including a 67-yarder. He pinned the Aztecs inside the 1-yard line. The Aussie has it figured out.

Up next: Boise State keeps racking up the air miles with a trip to the home of Elvis. The Broncos kick off at Memphis at 2 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The Tigers, who enter today’s game at Missouri unbeaten, and BSU have never played.