Ashton Jeanty falls just short of Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record

Boise State junior tailback needed 132 yards against Penn State to surpass Sanders

Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty’s record-breaking season came up just shy of the FBS all-time mark.

In Tuesday’s 31-14 College Football Playoff Fiesta Bowl loss to No. 6 Penn State, Jeanty had a season-low 104 yards on 30 carries for the third-seeded Broncos. The Heisman Trophy runner-up finished his junior campaign with 374 carries for 2,601 yards and 30 total touchdowns, falling 28 yards short of breaking Barry Sanders’ FBS single-season rushing record. 

Sanders, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame, officially ran for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns in 11 games during the 1988 season for Oklahoma State. 

Entering the College Football Playoff, Jeanty was 132 yards away from breaking Sanders’ record. He arrived in Glendale, Arizona with 2,497 yards and 29 touchdowns, trailing only Sanders, Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon (2,587, 2014) and UCF’s Kevin Smith (2,567, 2007) on the all-time single-season rushing list. Jeanty passed Gordon and Smith in the second half of Tuesday’s loss. 

Prior to the Fiesta Bowl, Jeanty’s previous season-low for rushing yards came in a blowout of Portland State. Jeanty had just 11 carries for 127 yards in the 56-14 victory. 

If Jeanty had broken Sanders’ record, the milestone would’ve come with an asterisk as the NCAA did not include bowl game statistics for official records prior to 2002. 

Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (2) reacts after the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Following a dominant regular season, Sanders ran for 222 yards and five touchdowns in a Holliday Bowl rout of Wyoming. Adding his bowl numbers, Sanders compiled 2,850 rushing yards and 42 rushing touchdowns in 1988. 

Jeanty, a two-time Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, won the 2024 Maxwell Award (college football player of the year) and Doak Walker Award (best running back in college football). He was second in the AP Player of the Year voting to Colorado’s Travis Hunter, the Heisman Trophy winner. 

The 5-foot-9, 215-pound Jeanty is projected to be an early selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Here are the 20 top rushing seasons in FBS history: 

1. Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, 1988 - 2,628

2. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State, 2024 - 2,601

3. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin, 2014 - 2,587

4. Kevin Smith, UCF, 2007 - 2,567

5. Marcus Allen, USC, 1981 - 2,342

6. Rashaad Penny, San Diego State, 2017 - 2,248

7. Derrick Henry, Alabama, 2015 - 2,219

8. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin, 2018 - 2,194

9. Troy Davis, Iowa State, 1996 - 2,185

10. Andre Williams, Boston College, 2013 - 2,177

11. LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU, 2000 - 2,158

12. Mike Rozier, Nebraska, 1983 - 2,148

13. Donnel Pumphrey, San Diego State, 2016 - 2,133

14. Matt Forte, Tulane, 2007 - 2,127

15. Ricky Williams, Texas, 1998 - 2,124

16. Bryce Love, Stanford, 2017 - 2,118

17. Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State, 2019 - 2,094

18. Larry Johnson, Penn State, 2002 - 2,087

19. Donald Brown, UConn, 2008 - 2,083

20. Rashaan Salaam, Colorado, 1994 - 2,055

MORE BOISE STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS

• What Penn State head coach James Franklin, tight end Tyler Warren, safety Zakee Wheatley said after Fiesta Bowl

• Game recap, analysis: Mistakes doom No. 3 Boise State in Fiesta Bowl loss to No. 6 Penn State

• Boise State transfer portal tracker: Ohio State offensive lineman signs with Broncos

• Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson: ‘What we did this year is not going to be enough going forward’

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