Boise State QB Henderson ends college career as an MVP. ‘I finished what I started.’
On the first day of Tropical Bowl practice in St. Petersburg, Florida, assistant coach Arin Hankerd spent a few minutes with each of the four quarterbacks on the American team roster to offer his critique of their game film.
When he got to former Boise State quarterback Jaylon Henderson, the conversation was short. Hankerd said his was the only film he’d seen where there really was nothing to critique.
“I was like, ‘Whoa, really? Well let’s definitely try to find something,’ ” Henderson said by phone. “That was cool to hear from my coach, but It was honestly surprising because I’m the type where I don’t feel like I’m ever at my best. There’s always room for improvement.”
It took five years and stops on three different teams for Henderson to earn his first Division I start, but on Jan. 12 he ended his college career as the American team’s offensive MVP in a 35-7 loss in the Tropical Bowl.
“I made a lot of really good plays in my mind, and I feel really good about it,” Henderson said. “The score wasn’t really reflective of how well we played, but I think we went out there and executed for only having two days of practice and two days of install.”
Henderson scored the American team’s only touchdown on a 12-yard quarterback keeper, which cut the National team’s lead to 28-7 in the fourth quarter. The 16-play, 75-yard scoring drive was eerily similar to the one he led with Boise State trailing Washington 24-0 in the third quarter of the Las Vegas Bowl. That also ended with the Broncos’ only touchdown of the game.
Henderson finished the Tropical Bowl 10-for-17 for 87 yards through the air and added 17 yards on the ground.
“I felt like I had a great command of the offense,” Henderson said. “Everyone would look to me. A lot of times I would give out specific hot routes we hadn’t worked on. We just talked about them on the sideline and went out and executed.”
A double MVP
His MVP at the Tropical Bowl was Henderson’s second such honor in a little more than a month. He also earned the title after going 20-for-29 for 212 yards and three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) in the Broncos’ 31-10 win over Hawaii in the Mountain West championship game.
“I’ve always known that I have this special gift and special ability to play, but just to be able to put it into an offense and convince a group of guys to believe in me and help coaches believe in me to go out there and execute, that was special,” Henderson said.
Henderson didn’t make his first Division I start until Nov. 16, 2019, in Boise State’s 42-9 home win over New Mexico. With true freshman Hank Bachmeier, who started the first six games of the season, and top backup Chase Cord on the bench, Henderson went on to start the next four games — all wins — and account for 12 touchdowns (10 passing, two rushing) during that stretch.
Despite his success, Henderson said he knew the Sunday before the Las Vegas Bowl that he wasn’t going to start. Sure enough, Bachmeier started despite not having played since Nov. 2 at San Jose State, and Boise State’s offense never recovered from a slow start in a 38-7 loss to Washington.
As he has his whole career, though, Henderson took Boise State coach Bryan Harsin’s decision in stride.
“I wasn’t going to question Coach’s decision,” Henderson said. “He has coached a lot more than Jaylon Henderson and makes a lot more money than I make. At the end of the day, I just hoped we came out with the win and didn’t get embarrassed on national television.”
Opportunity ahead?
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Kingwood, Texas, native began his college career in 2015 at University of Texas-San Antonio. After two seasons there, he spent a year at Trinity Valley Community College. Two years later, he ended his career in front of professional scouts.
Before the Tropical Bowl, Henderson spent a few days at the College Gridiron Showcase in Fort Worth, Texas. He said it was more of a scrimmage setting than a traditional game, but he got some valuable face time with scouts from the NFL and Canadian Football League.
Henderson has signed with an agent — Corey Williams of Overtime Sports Management — and said he plans to train in the Houston area until Boise State’s pro day on April 2. He’s open to any professional opportunity that comes his way, but even if he never plays another snap, he can look back on his career with pride.
“Although I didn’t play much as much as I would have liked in my career, I can sit back and say I finished what I started and I never gave up,” Henderson said. “Sometimes when you just stick through it and keep working and never give up, the end result might happen in your favor.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
