Courtesy of Boise State

NEW YORK – Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty finished second in the 90th Heisman Trophy voting after a prolific 2024 season. The second-place finish is the highest by any player in Boise State history, topping Kellen Moore’s fourth-place result in 2010.

Colorado’s Travis Hunter was selected as the Heisman winner, garnering 552 first-place votes on his way to 2,231 total points. Jeanty tallied a total of 2,017 points, including 309 first-place votes. Hunter’s victory was the narrowest margin of victory since 2009.
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel came in third place with 516 points, while Miami’s Cam Ward rounded out the four Heisman finalists with 229.

Jeanty is the first running back to finish second in Heisman voting since Bryce Love (Stanford, 2017) and is the first Group of 5 player to finish second since San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk (1992).

Jeanty carried the ball 344 times for 2,497 yards, leading the nation in both categories. He ranks fourth in FBS single-season history in rushing yards, recording more than 115 FBS teams. He is tied for first in the nation with 29 touchdowns, which equals or bests the total of 118 FBS programs. The team captain also tops the national leaderboard in all-purpose yards (2,613), total touchdowns (30), points (180) and first downs (121).

The Lone Star HS product is one of the most difficult players to tackle, setting College Football Playoff-era records in yards after contact (1,889) and forced missed tackles (143). Since 2019, no player has eclipsed 1,889 rushing yards in a season. He has done this despite running against a 7+ man box a nation-high 266 times. In those attempts, he has scored 25 touchdowns and averages 6.9 yards per carry. His Pro Football Focus rushing grade is 97.5, the highest single-season mark during the College Football Playoff era (since 2014).

Jeanty has been consistent in both halves, averaging 104.9 yards per first half played and 103.0 yards per second half played. He has eclipsed 100 rushing yards in 17 of the 24 halves he’s played this season. He has rushed for over 125 yards in 13-straight games, the longest FBS streak since at least 1996. His big-play potential is unmatched, with the tailback running for 50+ yards 12 times and 60+ yards 10 times, both more than any FBS team. He is tied with LaDanian Tomlinson (TCU, 1999) for the most 70+ yard touchdown runs in a season since 1996, tallying five. He has more rushes of 20+ yards (24) than rushes for loss (23) and has 60 rushes of 10+ yards. No one is better in crunch time than Jeanty, who leads the nation in fourth quarter rushing yards (679), touchdowns (9), first downs (29), 10+ yard gains (21) and 20+ yard gains (6).

Jeanty has rewritten the Boise State record book, setting single-season rushing records for yards (2,497) and touchdowns (29), as well as career rushing records for yards (4,665), 200-yard games (8) and 100-yard games (21). His streak of 13-consecutive 100-yard games is a program record and he has joined Cedric Minter (1978) and Alexander Mattison (2018) as the only Broncos to rush for 200 yards in back-to-back games. Jeanty also holds the record for career 200-yard all-purpose games (8). His season averages of 7.3 rushing yards per carry, 192.1 rushing yards per game and 201.0 all-purpose yards per game are currently school records, as are his career rushing averages of 6.5 yards per carry and 119.6 yards per game.

His legacy extends off the field, as he has created the Ashton Jeanty Endowed Scholarship for Football. Nearly $180,000 has been donated by over 450 supporters. Fans can help Jeanty reach the goal of $200,000 by donating HERE.

Jeanty’s 2024 campaign began with a school-record 267-yard effort at Georgia Southern. His program-record six-touchdown performance included scores of 77 and 75 yards. He followed that with a 192-yard, three-touchdown game at No. 7/6 Oregon, which is now the No. 1 team in the country. He ran the ball 11 times for 127 yards against Portland State, recording those totals in one half.

Boise State returned to the national rankings before the Washington State game and Jeanty capitalized on the spotlight. He dominated the Cougars, totaling 266 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns on 27 touches. He gained 233 yards after contact and broke 18 tackles. The following week, he gashed Utah State for 186 yards and three touchdowns on 13 attempts, once again compiling those numbers in one half. He totaled 237 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns on 34 touches at Hawai’i before grinding out 139 all-purpose yards and one touchdown on 36 touches at UNLV.

Jeanty continued to shoulder the load in November, tallying 180 yards and two touchdowns on 33 touches against San Diego State. The junior ran for 209 yards and three touchdowns against Nevada then added three more touchdowns and 159 yards at San Jose State. He scored one touchdown against Wyoming, overcoming injury to finish with 169 yards. In the final game of the regular season, he had a career-high 37 rushing attempts, recording 226 yards against Oregon State.

In his final game on The Blue, Jeanty led Boise State to a Mountain West title, earning Offensive MVP honors after registering 226 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown in a victory over UNLV. The win secured a CFP berth for the Broncos, who earned the No. 3 seed and a spot in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

Jeanty won the Doak Walker Award and Maxwell Award while earning first team All-America honors from the AFCA, CBS Sports, Pro Football Focus, Sports Illustrated and Walter Camp. He was named MW Offensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous first team All-MW selection. He was recognized as the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week four times, Walter Camp National Player of the Week once and MW Offensive Player of the Week six times.

BOISE STATE RETURNS TO FIESTA BOWL
Boise State earned the No. 3 seed and a berth in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl during the first expanded College Football Playoff. The Broncos will face the winner of Penn State vs. SMU at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. Tickets for the game can be purchased HERE. More information about the game will be available on BroncoSports.com.

WAKE UP TO THE LATEST BRONCO NEWS
Get the latest news from Bronco Nation delivered to your inbox every morning! Delivered every weekday, Good Morning, Bronco Nation is a daily email full of the latest news, fun information, weekly schedules, stats and a daily trivia question. Click here to sign up today!

For complete coverage of Boise State Football, download the Bronco Sports App or follow the team on social media on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X.