Can Ashton Jeanty break Barry Sanders' record?

Even by the program’s high standards, Boise State’s 2024 college football season was a memorable one.

The Broncos enter Friday’s Mountain West championship game against No. 19 UNLV with an 11-1 record and No. 10 in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and the College Football Playoff Selection Committee rankings. With a home win against the Rebels, Boise State advances to the 12-team playoffs, where it will be well-positioned to secure a first-round bye and an automatic berth in the national quarterfinals.

This success was made possible by a wider team effort, but one player in particular stood out.

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Running back Ashton Jeanty was an offensive force for coach Spencer Danielson’s team, leading a Broncos offense with a performance achieved by only a select handful of players in college football history. As the FBS’s leading runner by a wide margin, Jeanty is widely considered Travis Hunter’s main competition for the Heisman Trophy.

In reality, Jeanty is chasing more than just the Heisman and a playoff spot.

With his performance this season, Jeanty is within reach of one of the most famous benchmarks in the history of the sport – Barry Sanders’ FBS single-season rushing yardage record.

Here’s a closer look at Jeanty’s 2024 season, where he’ll be in the FBS record books and whether or not he can surpass Sanders:

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College football single-season rushing record

Nearly 40 years after his legendary 1988 season, Barry Sanders remains the all-time rushing yardage leader in FBS history.

As a junior at Oklahoma State University in 1988, Sanders rushed for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns while averaging 7.6 yards per carry.

There is a strong argument that these already impressive numbers should be even higher. The NCAA did not consider bowl statistics as part of a player’s official yardage total until 2002, meaning Sanders’ 222 rushing yards and five touchdowns in a Holiday Bowl win over Wyoming were not part of his record-breaking total. This game brings Sanders’ season totals to 2,850 yards and 42 touchdowns. Sanders also achieved his accomplishments during an 11-game regular season (college football now has a 12-game regular season).

With Jeanty now in the top five alongside Sanders, here’s a look at the highest single-season rushing totals in FBS history:

1. Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State (1988): 2,628 yards
2. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin (2014): 2,587 yards
3. Kevin Smith, UCF (2007): 2,567 yards
4. Marcus Allen, USC (1981): 2,342 yards
5. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State (2024): 2,288 yards
6. Rashaad Penny, San Diego State (2017): 2,248 yards
7. Derrick Henry, Alabama (2015): 2,219 yards
8. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin (2018): 2,194 yards
9. Troy Davis, Iowa State (1996): 2,185 yards
10. Andre Williams, Boston College (2013): 2,177 yards

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Ashton Jeanty stats

Entering Friday’s game against UNLV, Jeanty has rushed for 2,288 yards and 28 touchdowns while averaging 7.3 yards per carry in a standout junior season at Boise State.

He also has 18 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Jeanty comfortably leads all FBS players in rushing yards, with the next closest player, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton, trailing him at 628 yards. Jeanty has rushed for at least 127 yards in each of his team’s 12 games this season. His low point of the season came in a 56-14 win against Portland State on September 21, in which he did not record a carry in the second half.

Given this performance, it is possible that Jeanty will break Sanders’ record.

He enters the Mountain West championship game 340 yards behind Sanders’ official mark from 1988. It’s highly unlikely he’ll do it against the Rebels, who had him pass for 128 yards and 3.9 in a Boise State win on Oct. 25 Yards per carry held, but if the Broncos win on Friday and clinch a playoff spot, he would have one more game left to add to his already proud tally. If Boise State loses and misses the playoffs, it’s possible that Jeanty, a projected first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, could be eliminated from a bowl game.

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Can Ashton Jeanty break Barry Sanders’ record?

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