Clinging to a five-point lead with 8:09 left in a huge road game, Boise State got the ball on his own 14.

It doesn’t matter which opponent. In that situation, with perhaps one of the five best running backs this sport has seen during the College Football Playoff era, the Broncos are nearly impossible to beat. The plan was simple: work the clock, play keep-away and win. It was time for Ashton Jeanty to shine.

With the game on the line, Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson didn’t even have to think. He continued to carry his Heisman Trophy with hope. Even though UNLV had done a better job all game than anyone stopping Jeanty, the Broncos leaned on him. On a 14-play drive that killed all the clock, Jeanty touched the ball eight times. Three of those plays were kneel-downs.

Boise State 29, UNLV 24. Finals.

Back in the day, this would have been a Friday night game reserved for college football sickos. Two undefeated teams in the Mountain West would have been an interesting game for those interested in conference championships. But this game, in the 12-team College Football Playoff era? These were two teams that had more in mind.

Now Boise State is the clear favorite from the Group of 5 to advance to the Playoff. Given what happened to the Broncos in the 2006 season, who could be a more appropriate representative for the Group of 5 in the sport’s first year of actually playing on the field?

Before we delve deeper into that, there is still work to be done. The Broncos’ future could include another match against these Rebels, who have now lost two games, both Friday night heartbreakers on penalties that will keep their fans awake at night. But when it came to who was the better team this Friday night, there’s no doubt it was the Broncos.

Heading into the game, Jeanty had rushed for 1,120 yards and 16 touchdowns. In Boise State’s first six games, Jeanty rushed for 185 yards or more five times. Losing in a last second Oregon – now the No. 1 team in the country – in week two, Jeanty rushed the ball 25 times for 192 yards and three touchdowns.

Against the Rebels, Jeanty had 33 carries for 128 yards and a touchdown. In a year where Jeanty is challenging Barry Sanders’ single-season record, a great game for others feels like a bad game for him. UNLV almost certainly would have adopted that statistic if it were offered before the game.

But being an elite-level player means more than 80-yard touchdown runs. It’s about going big when your team needs you most. That’s what Jeanty does.

During that last ride he consistently fought for extra distance. He rarely went down on first contact. And after going through an entire game where it seemed like it took every ounce of UNLV’s energy to take him to the ground, asking the Rebels to stop him on that final drive was just too much. There won’t be an ESPN SportsCenter Top-10 game, but the body of work in this game — perhaps the biggest of the season for the Broncos — was Heisman worthy. With Boise State down by one point, he had a tough five-yard run from the UNLV six, bringing the Broncos to the edge of the goal line that most running backs wouldn’t have been able to reach. That set up his only touchdown run, which ultimately became the game-winner. Jeanty showed up. Again. And again. And again.

You have to ask yourself this question: Which running backs would you take over Jeanty since the 2014 season? Christian McCaffery? Saquon Barkley? Dirk Hendrik? Ezekiel Elliott? Travis Etienne? Naje Harris? Nick Chubb? Jonathan Taylor? Bijan Robinson? Am I forgetting someone?

Some of the aforementioned players’ NFL careers make that decision even more difficult. But Jeanty is definitely part of that conversation.

That’s what makes this Boise State team truly dangerous. Not just in the Mountain West race, but in one of those College Football Playoff games that happen in December.

The job isn’t done yet for Boise State. Staying undefeated in conference play and winning the conference title game won’t be easy. But with five games left in the season San Diego State, Nevada, San Jose State, Wyoming And State of Oregonthere is no speed bump on that schedule that, on paper, represents a greater challenge than the one UNLV posed Friday night.

There are still teams in the Group of 5 that will compete for Boise State. Army and Navy are both still undefeated. We will discover how realistic that is on Saturday Navy is when it is confronted Notre Dame. And hey, if UNLV leads with two losses and beats Boise State – in Boise – in the Mountain West title game, the Rebels could have a fight in December. Remember, the Mountain West Championship Game will be hosted by the team with the highest winning percentage in conference play, which will likely be Boise State.

But if Boise State makes it? How appropriate would that be?

These Broncos were the Group of 5 class for most of the modern era of college football.

In 2006, these Broncos went 13-0. It ended the season with one of the most exciting games in college football history: a victory Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime in the Fiesta Bowl. You know, the famous game with the iconic Hook and Ladder and Statue of Liberty plays that you’ve seen highlights a million times in the nearly twenty years since.

At the end of that season, Boise State could no longer compete for a national title on the field. That season, two losses Florida everything won, defeated State of Ohio 41-14 in the BCS National Championship Game. Funnily enough, the national title game was played in Phoenix, the same city where the Broncos dazzled the world against Oklahoma.

This season is different. Boise State will determine its fate on the field.

With Jeanty on this team, who knows what could happen.