Jeanty turns 13 carries into 186 yards as Boise State rolls

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty continued his record-setting quest to become the Heisman Trophy front-runner Saturday night with the No. 21 Broncos' 62-30 win over Utah State.

Jeanty already eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for the season with his 90th run and had 186 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 13 attempts in the first half of the blowout win. He set an FBS record by needing just five games to reach 1,000 rushing yards.

“First of all, Ashton Jeanty? Best player in the country. Next question,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said.

The junior running back has rushed for 1,031 yards and 16 touchdowns on 10.9 yards per carry for the 4-1 Broncos and is now averaging 206.2 rushing yards per game. His 1,031 receiving yards in five games rank eighth in FBS history, according to ESPN Research.

Jeanty converted his first carry against Utah State into a 63-yard touchdown. He then scored on a 75-yard run early in the second quarter, breaking the Mountain West Conference single-season record for 70-yard rushing TDs in a season with his fourth. Jeanty completed seven runs of 60 yards or more on the season, the most runs in FBS in a single season in the last 20 years.

Boise State didn't play Jeanty in the second half after taking a 49-17 halftime lead. He also sat out the second half of the Broncos' 56-14 home win over FCS Portland State on Sept. 21.

“It’s all about the team, and Ashton is the same way,” Danielson said. “We protect him. We're going to be smart with Ashton because he's so important to our team and we need to make sure we have other guys representing there too. Also, at this point I don't know what his rush yards were, but we know he had enough.

The Broncos' offense was still dominant, securing a victory in its Mountain West opener with the program's first 60-plus-point performance since 2018. Quarterback Maddux Madsen threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns, and Boise State finished the game with 599 total Yards against the Broncos 1-4 Aggies.

Through five games, Jeanty is on par with Barry Sanders' record-setting 1988 season. Sanders had 1,002 rushing yards on 130 carries in the first five games of his Heisman-winning season at Oklahoma State and finished the game with an FBS record 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Jeanty emerged as the favorite to win the Heisman and was listed at 2.5-1 by ESPN BET on Saturday night. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was the betting favorite earlier in the day, but his odds increased to 12-1 via ESPN BET after Vanderbilt upset the No. 1 Crimson Tide earlier Saturday.

“I think he’ll be in New York for the Heisman,” Danielson said of Jeanty. “I believe that because I see his work. Because I see the teammate that he is. This isn’t a flash in the pan.”