By Bob Lundeberg

Boise State senior wide receiver Latrell Caples believes opposing defenses have one goal in mind when facing the Broncos: stop Ashton Jeanty at all costs.

“We’re playing conference teams where they’re kind of letting it hang and trying to keep Ashton from winning the Heisman (trophy),” Caples said during Tuesday’s press conference. “Overall, we’re trying to win the game, so we win the game by just executing our fundamentals at a higher level than they do.”

In Boise State’s Nov. 1 game with San Diego State, the Aztecs stacked the box to deal with Jeanty. The star tailback was still running for 149 yards and two touchdowns when quarterback Maddux Madsen picked apart the SDSU secondary for 307 yards and four touchdowns.

“They’re not trying to win, so I would say that,” Caples said when asked if preventing Jeanty from winning the Heisman was a focal point for opposing defenses. “Because you can’t win by putting nine people in the box every time.”

Caples was one of the beneficiaries of SDSU’s approach, catching six passes for 90 yards and three touchdowns in the 56-24 victory. Caples, who missed the 2023 season due to injury, had not caught a touchdown since 2022.

“San Diego State loaded the box,” Caples said. “If I have a route that can get me wide open, I’m going to get open. Just because we were able to get open and run the offense, I don’t think it was anything special that we did. It was just the simple fact that they were so concerned about our running back that they didn’t try to stop anyone else.”

Caples gave Jeanty credit for opening up Boise State’s passing game.

“When you have the best player in the country, all eyes are on him,” Caples said. “It frees up so much space for us in the passing game because we also make everything look like we’re going to block people, so they don’t know if we’re blocking or running routes. Him being in the backfield makes this whole offense fail.

“It’s much more one-on-one. For me as a receiver, my job is to be open, and I don’t think there’s one person who can guard me. It’s just a relief to have Ashton in the backfield and know that I’m going to get a lot more one-on-one battles because I’m practicing every day to win one-on-one.”

Jeanty, a top contender for the Heisman Trophy, has 190 carries for 1,525 yards and 20 touchdowns this season.

Boise State (7-1, 4-0 Mountain West Conference), ranked No. 12 in the initial College Football Playoff Rankings, hosts Nevada (3-7, 0-4) in an MWC matchup on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on Fox.