Boise State Broncos ON SI

What Ashton Jeanty said about Penn State, extra rest, elbow injury, Barry Sanders

‘Last time I was feeling super fresh, we’ve seen what I did,’ Jeanty said

Bob Lundeberg

Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty.
Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Ashton Jeanty carried the ball 344 times between Boise State’s Aug. 31 opener at Georgia Southern to its Dec. 6 Mountain West Football Championship victory over UNLV. 

The third-seeded Broncos (12-1) received a first-round bye for the College Football Playoff, giving Jeanty and company extra rest ahead of their Fiesta Bowl matchup with No. 6 Penn State. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Mountain time on New Year’s Eve. 

“I feel really good about it,” Jeanty said of the additional rest during Thursday’s press conference. “Football is a very physical sport. And in our offense, we pride ourselves on physicality. So I think it’ll do us all well having this time off.”

Jeanty, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, leads the country in carries (344), rushing yards (2,497) and rushing touchdowns (29). He is 132 yards away from breaking Barry Sanders’ FBS single-season rushing record. 

“Obviously I want to break the record, but you’ve just got to keep the main thing the main thing,” Jeanty said. “And that’s winning against Penn State. I feel like if we take care of what we need to take care of, then that will come with it, just like all the other awards.”

Here are the highlights from Jeanty’s press conference: 

On the last time he felt this fresh

“Georgia Southern, honestly. Week One. Because after that, you don’t really get this much time off. It’s been a blessing to get this much time off. Last time I was feeling super fresh, we’ve seen what I did. Hopefully not just me, but the whole offense and defense, we can all play our best game.” 

On a left elbow injury that impacted him the second half of the season

“That’s completely healed up. I’m glad that it is so I can be closer to 100 percent. … It made it more challenging. Obviously wearing that big elbow brace, you can’t hold … I mean I’ve got big biceps, so I couldn’t hold the ball the way I wanted to. I think against Nevada, I had a fumble because I couldn’t secure it properly.”

On Penn State’s defense

“They’ve got some really good players. Their front seven is elite. Great linebackers, great D Line. They do a lot of blitzes, pressures, moving the D Line, stunts and all that. They are a single-high team, so we know for sure we are going to get some seven, eight-man surfaces. And that’s just natural from all the defenses we’ve seen. We’re going to have to play a great game, stay ahead of the chains. They are one of the best teams on third-and-longs, so we want to stay out of those situations.” 

On embracing the underdog role

“It’s nothing new. Nobody had us picked to come to the playoffs. They had us picked to win the conference like they do every year, but in terms of going against I guess what you would call the Power 4, the more ‘elite’ teams per se, nobody ever has us picked to win. So just the same mentality with what we’ve been doing. We’ve already proved people wrong, but we’ve still got that chip on our shoulder and we’re still fully aware that people count us out.”

On seeing Barry Sanders give shout-outs on social media

“I think the first one was before the Mountain West Championship, I saw that one. I didn’t respond, was just focused on balling and stuff. Then he Tweeted again kind of just in support of breaking his record. I think it’s pretty cool to have support from the person who has the record right now, and is obviously considered the best or one of the best ever to play the position. So obviously I told him ‘Thank you for the support.’ It’s great to have the support of a legend.”

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Bob Lundeberg
BOB LUNDEBERG

Bob Lundeberg is a reporter for Boise State Broncos On SI. An Oregon State graduate, Bob has lived in Idaho since 2019 and is an avid hiker and golfer.

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