Barry Sanders put collectively a Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1988. To today, it charges on a degree largely its personal.
Close to the halfway level of the 2024 season, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is placing up numbers at a tempo to problem the legendary Sanders.
BSU shared a graphic on its social media channels providing a side-by-side comparability of Oklahoma State’s No. 21 and the Broncos’ No. 2. By 5 video games in 1988, Sanders had 1,002 speeding yards on 130 carries and scored 17 touchdowns; Jeanty has 1,031 yards on 95 carries with 16 touchdowns.
It’s not a one-to-one comparability. Sanders additionally returned a punt and kickoff for touchdowns by the Cowboys’ first two video games. Nonetheless, the context of Jeanty’s efficiency makes his begin to 2024 uniquely particular.
Jeanty’s eye-popping stats are being produced throughout aggressive video games. He’s by no means round when the sport is out of attain. He has but to hold the ball greater than 26 instances in any of Boise State’s 5 video games and spent a lot of the third and fourth quarters on the sideline in blowouts towards Portland State and Utah State.
Coach Spencer Danielson might select to fabricate much more spectacular statistics for his star working again, however Jeanty’s position for the Broncos is extra vital than merely impressing award voters.
“Ashton Jeanty is the most effective participant within the nation,” Danielson stated following the 62-30 rout of Utah State within the Broncos’ Mountain West Convention opener on October 5. On a day when Jeanty carried simply 13 instances however accrued 186 yards, Danielson added, “I’m happy with all the remainder of our guys having the ability to step up. When [opposing defenses] load the field, [quarterback Maddux Madsen] was in a position to get the ball to playmakers.”
The results of that steadiness retains defenses—together with No. 3-ranked Oregon—off steadiness. Boise State is scoring greater than 50 factors per recreation, No. 1 within the nation.
Each the collective staff output and Jeanty’s contribution are much more spectacular contemplating the Broncos’ offensive line is lacking starters and preseason All-MW honorees Mason Randolph and Roger Carreon.
This context provides one other layer to Jeanty’s Heisman candidacy. Averaging greater than 206 yards per recreation, Jeanty is on tempo to eclipse Rashaad Penny’s Mountain West document of two,248 yards gained in 2017—and to take action in a single fewer recreation.
With a projected whole of two,475 yards by 12 video games based mostly on his present output, Jeanty would obtain regular-season speeding numbers not seen since Marcus Allen in 1981 and Sanders in 1988 (2,342 and a pair of,628 yards, respectively, every in 11 video games).
Like Sanders, who garnered 559 first-place votes to Rodney Peete’s 70 in 1988, Allen was a runaway Heisman winner. He completed with 441 first-place votes to runner-up Herschel Walker’s 152.
Sanders and Allen additionally gained the Heisman in an period that, frankly, confirmed working backs extra respect. It’s been nearly a decade since Derrick Henry turned the final working again to say school soccer’s high particular person honor.
Certainly, traditionally vital manufacturing will get Jeanty into the dialog. However how does he overcome the twin handicap of enjoying for a program outdoors the autonomy conferences and enjoying a place that’s typically undervalued on the poll field?
Nicely, Week 6 supplied a template for at the least one essential step within the blueprint: Jeanty wants would-be frontrunners from the ability conferences to undergo high-profile stumbles.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe turned an early Heisman favourite along with his efficiency in a win over Georgia, however a loss the next week to Vanderbilt stunted his odds. Colorado two-way sensation Travis Hunter and Miami quarterback Cam Ward head into Week 7 trying like main contenders.
Hunter’s candidacy depends on his dizzying snap totals from enjoying on each side of the ball. The season-long feasibility of him persevering with to take action at a excessive degree simply isn’t favorable given the pure attrition.
Loads of soccer stays, so presumably one other frontrunner will emerge. Nonetheless, ought to the race come all the way down to Ward and Jeanty, there’s one other step for the Boise State working again to contemplate, based mostly on the final time the Heisman race featured a Miami quarterback and a non-power convention working again.
In 1992, Gino Torretta beat out San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk for the prize, thanks partly to the Hurricanes beating the Aztecs head-to-head. The end result of that recreation—a 63-17 romp for The U—was much less vital than Faulk lacking the marquee showdown with a sprained knee.
As primary because it might sound, there’s a line of coach communicate that matches Jeanty’s Heisman roadmap: availability is the most effective potential. Staying wholesome and remaining on the forefront of Boise State’s pursuit of a School Soccer Playoff berth is paramount—and in a means, it makes Danielson’s determination to not pile pointless carries on Jeanty’s workload to pad the stat sheet much more worthwhile to the again’s Heisman case in the long term.
The final and maybe most evident step for Jeanty is to maintain producing. Persevering with on a Sanders-like tempo means Jeanty should do much more down the stretch, given Barry had three regular-season video games of 312 yards or extra within the again half of Oklahoma State’s 1988 season.
That’s a lofty normal to anticipate Jeanty to match—the loftiest, in case you contemplate Sanders’ ’88 the game’s gold normal. However up to now, No. 2 has stacked up properly towards No. 21’s normal.