Jeanty Recognized as Semifinalist for Doak Walker Award

Courtesy of Boise State

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State junior Ashton Jeanty has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2024 Doak Walker Award, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum announced. The award is presented annually to the nation’s premier running back.

Jeanty ranks first in the country in nearly every rushing category, including attempts (256), yards (1,893), touchdowns (26), yards after contact (1,370) and missed tackles forced (105). His yards after contact and missed tackles forced numbers are the highest single-season totals in the College Football Playoff era, which began in 2014. The tailback also leads the FBS in all-purpose yards (1,991) and points (162).

The junior started the 2024 season with a school-record 267 yards and six touchdowns at Georgia Southern, then ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns at No. 7/6 Oregon, which is now No. 1 in the country. Jeanty ran for 127 yards in one half against Portland State, then totaled 259 yards and four touchdowns against Washington State, which was ranked No. 18 by the CFP committee last week. Jeanty ran for 186 yards and three touchdowns against Utah State, recording those totals in one half.

At Hawai’i, he totaled 237 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. In a crucial Mountain West showdown with UNLV, he recorded 139 all-purpose yards on 36 touches. The Rebels are currently No. 23 in the AP and Coaches Polls. Jeanty returned to The Blue against San Diego State, tallying 180 all-purpose yards and two more touchdowns. Against Nevada, he had a career-high 34 rushing attempts, finishing the game with 209 yards and three touchdowns.

The team captain set the program single-season rushing record with his 159-yard, three-touchdown effort at San Jose State. Jeanty passed Jay Ajayi, who ran for 1,823 yards in 2014. The three-touchdown game was Jeanty’s sixth of the year, tying Brock Forsey (2002) for the program record. He also holds the program records for career 200-yard all-purpose games (9), consecutive 100-yard rushing games (10), career 200-yard rushing games (6) and single-season 200-yard rushing games (4).

2024 Doak Walker Award Semifinalists
Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech
DJ Giddens, Kansas State
Omarion Hampton, North Carolina
RJ Harvey, UCF
Makhi Hughes, Tulane
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
Dylan Sampson, Tennessee
Cam Skattebo, Arizona State
Brashard Smith, SMU

No. 13 Boise State (9-1, 6-0 MW) will travel to Wyoming (2-8, 2-4 MW) for the final conference game of the regular season. The Broncos and Cowboys will kick off at 5 p.m. MT on Nov. 23. The game will air nationally on CBS Sports Network.

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Led by Spencer Danielson in his first full season, Boise State looks to become the first Mountain West program to win back-to-back championships since San Diego State did so in 2015-16. Achieving such a feat will put Boise State in the discussion for the new, expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff format beginning this fall. Last year, Danielson became the first coach in college football history to win a conference championship with an interim title.

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