Ashton Jeanty was into basketball more than football as a kid. So before he grew up to be a 5-foot-9 battering ram in cleats, his favorite athlete was LeBron James. Jeanty, who bounced around the globe as the son of a Naval officer, spent a chunk of his childhood in Florida when James was on the Miami Heat.
“Seeing (LeBron) beat all the odds,” said Jeanty, “I feel like I’ve been doing that same thing in my career.”
It’s why the Boise State running back will forever be the answer to that same question — Who’s your favorite athlete? — for a generation of Broncos fans.
Jeanty didn’t win the Heisman Trophy, finishing second to Colorado’s Travis Hunter. But he did collect the most points by a Heisman runner-up and forced the narrowest margin of defeat since 2009. He also took home the Maxwell Award (player of the year), Doak Walker Award (best running back) and unanimous All-American honors. And Jeanty has another major milestone in his sights.
He enters the College Football Playoff at 2,497 rushing yards this season, just 131 yards shy of college football’s official single-season record, set by Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders in 1988. Considering Jeanty has averaged 192.1 rushing yards per game this season, there’s at least a decent chance he rewrites that record in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff against Penn State on Dec. 31.
But Jeanty is more than just a Heisman runner-up and future first-round NFL running back who is on the verge of a record-breaking statistical accomplishment. At a Boise State program with a reputation for giant slaying and a rich history of running backs, he has managed to stand above the rest.
“Ashton Jeanty is phenomenal for college football, and he’s going to be phenomenal for the NFL,” said Boise State coach Spencer Danielson. “Not only from his play on the field but also the culture he brings with him.”
There is some nuance to Sanders’ record. He rushed for 2,628 yards in only 11 games on his way to the Heisman in 1988; Jeanty has already played 13 games. And Sanders’ unofficial record is 2,850 yards if you add in the 222 yards he racked up in the Holiday Bowl, before bowl game stats were officially counted.
There will be those who discount Jeanty’s record if he does set it, but Sanders won’t be among them, sending a tweet ahead of Boise’s victory in the Mountain West championship wishing Jeanty luck.
“My fans can gripe, but records are made to be broken & I am rooting for you,” Sanders wrote.
Hey @AshtonJeanty2 – Wishing you luck tonight.
My fans can gripe, but records are made to be broken & I am rooting for you. I love seeing all these @NFL and @NCAA #RBs showing the value of the position. #RunTheRock pic.twitter.com/bk0NtPbAL0— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) December 6, 2024
Asked about Sanders’ mark, Jeanty said it would be “like the cherry on top, to break a record that’s been around for decades,” especially after he came up just short in the Heisman race. But as Boise State enters the inaugural 12-team Playoff as a No. 3-seed from the Group of 5, the record — attained or not, contested or not — doesn’t change what Jeanty has achieved.
The stats are staggering, like if Paul Bunyan played high school football. Nearly 2,500 rushing yards, an FBS-leading 30 total touchdowns, 7.3 yards per carry and six games with 200-plus rushing yards. His season low was 127 yards against Portland State, and he got pulled at halftime. Jeanty outrushed 115 FBS teams this season all by himself. The next closest player to him in terms of rushing yards is North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton with 1,660. That’s less than the 1,889 yards Jeanty has gained after contact. He’s the first back to eclipse 2,000 yards rushing since 2019.
“I love watching Ashton play — the mix of physicality, speed and control,” said Alexander Mattison, a former Boise State running back now in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders. “But I’ve been able to get to know him, not just as a football player but a genuine person. It’s fun to see him get everything that he deserves. He loves the game, and if you love the game, it will love you back.”
There is an impressive pedigree of running backs at Boise State, with Jeanty set to become next in a long line of Broncos bell cows who have gone on to play in the NFL. Jeanty surpassed Cedric Minter as the program’s all-time leading rusher this season and broke a number of other records Minter has held since at least 1980. But the string of modern-day tailbacks stretches to Ian Johnson, who famously won the 2007 Fiesta Bowl on the Statue of Liberty handoff, followed by Jeremy Avery, Doug Martin, D.J Harper, Jay Ajayi (the former single-season record holder), Jeremy McNichols, Mattison and George Holani.
It’s quite a list, and that’s just the running backs. Former quarterback Kellen Moore is the winningest QB in FBS history (50) and the program’s only other Heisman finalist (he finished fourth in 2010). He remains a Boise State icon. Yet after this season, no one compares to what Jeanty has produced on the field or what he embodies off it.
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“He’s a unanimous captain, part of our leadership council,” said Danielson, who added that he meets one-on-one with Jeanty each week after those council meetings.
“Every single time we have those meetings, it is nothing about Ashton. He’s asking about the team, a player, asking how he can help lead better, have more of an impact,” said Danielson. “That is uncommon. He’s different in all facets.”
Jeanty does care about the awards and accolades. He hasn’t shied from that, whether rattling off the individual goals he had for himself this season or lamenting his Heisman finish by stating: “I really felt like I should’ve walked away with the award.” It’s part of why he returned to Boise State this season, believing he could achieve everything he wanted right where he was.
But Jeanty also cares about the legacy he will leave behind. It’s why he embraced being a team captain and leader and de facto spokesperson. It’s why he spurned more lucrative name, image and likeness (NIL) offers to transfer elsewhere last offseason. It’s why he established the Ashton Jeanty Endowed Scholarship for Football — in October, even before he broke all the records and became a Heisman finalist and carried the Broncos to a Mountain West title and first-round bye in the CFP. The scholarship has raised more than $180,000 toward its $200,000 goal, which will support future Boise State athletes.
“He’s like a movie star here,” said athletic director Jeramiah Dickey. “We had to finally get him security so we could cut off the autograph and photo lines. It was our responsibility to help him because he’s such a good kid, he didn’t want to say no to anyone.”
Jeanty is already the most decorated player in program history and has put Boise State in position to compete for a top-flight national championship for the first time. He has a chance to set a single-season rushing record that could stand for decades.
And none of it will outlast what he has meant to Boise State football and the community that surrounds it.
“Culture is about the people who are here — just bringing back what Boise State’s been, having a positive influence over everybody,” said Jeanty. “People won’t remember the stats, they’re not going to remember the games. But they’re going to remember how I treated people, how I carried myself throughout my time here and the impact that had.”
— The Athletic’s Vic Tafur contributed reporting
(Photo: Loren Orr / Getty Images)