Subscribe
Follow Us
After the Boise State Broncos won their fifth Mountain West Championship on Friday night, defeating the UNLV Rebels by the final score of 21-7, head coach Spencer Danielson made a last minute plea to Heisman Trophy voters on behalf of his All-American running back Ashton Jeanty.
“In regards to the Heisman, I ask all voters to please just watch the film, watch the stats,” Danielson said after the game, per ESPN News Services. “That will show you that he's the best football player in the country. … If you're a Heisman candidate, you should play in a championship game. And to see what he did in a championship game for his team also speaks volumes.”
Danielson, who took over as Boise State's head coach just two seasons ago, has beat this drum all season long. Since the Heisman race really began in early October, the 36-year-old coach has touted his running back as the best player in the country, and week after week, Ashton Jeanty backs this up. And on Friday night, in what was Jeanty's final game at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho, he made an emphatic closing argument.
Ashton Jeanty rushed for 209 yards and a touchdown against a UNLV squad he was limited to just 3.9 yards per carry against earlier in the season, and those 209 yards moved Jeanty up to 4th all-time on the NCAA's single-season rushing list. As things stand right now, Jeanty is only 132 yards away from breaking what was once thought to be an unbreakable record set by Barry Sanders in 1988.
What this means to Heisman Trophy voters, I'm not sure. By the estimation of most members of the media, Colorado Buffaloes two-way superstar Travis Hunter may have the award wrapped up already, and for the record, you won't catch this writer making an anti-Hunter case.
What Hunter has done each of his last two seasons at Colorado has been unprecedented, and he should be the top overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. But even as the 2024 regular season comes to a close, I'm not sure he should be the Heisman Trophy recipient. It's a good thing I don't have a vote.
It's not just that Ashton Jeanty could very well break Barry Sanders' single-season rushing record in Boise State's next game. It's that in 2024, Jeanty doesn't really have a peer at the running back position. Consider, Jeanty is 837 yards ahead of the 2nd-leading rusher in the country this year, North Carolina's Omarion Hampton. Over the last 20 seasons, there has only been one instance in which the nation's leading rusher led the pack by over 500 yards.
Again, I'm not sure how much these sort of statistical resume boosters mean to Heisman voters. But I do know that if you follow Spencer Danielson's advice and watch the film, you'll see a player who deserves the Heisman Trophy.
