In 1988, football legend Barry Sanders rushed for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns in 1988—a record that has remained untouched for 36 years.
Boise State running back and former Lone Star high school great Ashton Jeanty might surpass those numbers this season.
Through four games, Jeanty has accounted for 82 carries for 845 yards and 13 touchdowns. He currently leads the nation in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and rushing yards per carry. His pace puts him somewhere north of 3,000 yards and 50 scores by the end of the season.
Jeanty certainly turned heads last weekend, putting up an insane performance against the previously beaten Washington State Cougars, filling up the stat sheet with a bludgeoning 259 yards on 26 rushes for four running scores. This coming from an FBS player that exploded for six touchdowns in his season opener against Georgia Southern.
In his third season with Boise State, Jeanty has seen his output increase since he started as a true freshman in 2022. Last season, he accounted for 220 rushes for 1,347 yards and 14 touchdowns, with an additional 569 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
In the last 15 years, only Derrick Henry won the Heisman as a running back. The rest in that span were either quarterbacks or a single wide receiver. Jeanty hopes to be the first former Texas high school football player honored at the position since Hooks Billy Sims did it in 1978.
As a competitor with Lone Star, Jeanty competed on both sides of the ball, taking snaps at running back, wide receiver, defense end, outside linebacker, and safety. During his senior season, Jeanty recorded 1,843 yards on 229 carries and 810 yards on 41 receptions, totaling 41 total touchdowns and averaging a total of 20.5 points per game. After fielding offers from New Mexico, North Texas, Kansas, Tulane, and Cal, Jeanty committed to the Broncos in September 2021.
As of this writing, Sports Illustrated has Jeanty pegged as the first running back taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. He is currently projected for top five in Heisman consideration.
