In the pantheon of college football greatness, Barry Sanders’ 1988 season stands as a near-mythical achievement. His 2,628 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns that year remain the gold standard for single-season dominance. Now, nearly 36 years later, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is on the cusp of history, threatening to rewrite the record books with his standout 2024 campaign.
Jeanty has been a force of nature for the Broncos this season with a rare blend of vision, speed, and power. Through 10 games, he has racked up 1,893 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns, putting him within striking distance of Sanders’ marks with two regular-season games, Mountain West Championship Game and a potential College Football Playoff appearance still on the horizon. Jeanty also just broke Boise State’s regular season rushing record of 1,823 yards set by Jay Ajayi in 2014. However, it took Ajayi 14 games to amass those numbers while Jeanty did it in 10.
Jeanty’s consistency is what stands out as he’s eclipsed 150 rushing yards in seven games this season, including a career-best 267-yard, six-touchdown performance against Georgia Southern to open the season. His ability to find the end zone has also been unparalleled with at least three touchdowns in all but four games.
Jeanty needs 735 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns to match Sanders’ records—a tall order in the final two regular-season games against Wyoming and Oregon State. However, Boise State’s 9-1 record has them ranked 13th in the most recent College Football Playoff standings.
If the Broncos win their last two regular season games, they’ll secure a spot in the Mountain West Championship Game. A victory there would punch their ticket to the 12-team CFP as an underdog, giving Jeanty four likely games to chase history. If that's the case, he would need to average 183.7 yards and 2.75 touchdowns per game to surpass Sanders, which is realistic, given his season-long performance.
Even if BSU doesn’t make the CFP, they’d certainly play a bowl game, which would give Jeanty the all-important fourth game he will likely need to pass Sanders. Colorado State (5-0 in conference) and UNLV (4-1 in conference) are the only other teams in the hunt for the Mountain West Championship Game and it’s more likely than not that BSU gets into that conference title game unless they lose the next two regular season games.
However, if he does eventually surpass Sanders, there will be a hypothetical asterisk on Jeanty’s record because it only took Sanders 11 games to reach those marks. However, it’s also important to note that Jeanty’s numbers could’ve been even stronger if he hadn’t sat out the second halves of blowout wins against Portland State and Utah State.
Ashton Jeanty Heisman Odds (+350, BetMGM)
Jeanty’s Heisman hopes are still alive, with the race boiling down to him and Colorado’s Travis Hunter. The Buffalos' dynamic two-way player is the clear favorite at -400 on BetMGM, while Jeanty follows at +350. The odds drop significantly from there, with Miami’s Cam Ward at +1500 and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel at +3000.
For Jeanty to surpass Hunter, he’d likely need Colorado to stumble or deliver back-to-back monster performances—think 200+ yards and 3+ touchdowns per game. Regardless, Jeanty has solidified himself as one of college football’s all-time greats.
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