Ashton Jeanty’s record-breaking season will make a trip to New York.
The Boise State running back was named one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy on Monday; he will be in attendance when the winner is announced on Saturday at New York City’s Lincoln Center.
Jeanty will be joined by Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Miami quarterback Cam Ward as finalist for college football’s most prestigious individual award.
“I was a little bit nervous, there were butterflies in my stomach,” Jeanty told ESPN’s SportsCenter about waiting to hear his name called. “It’s just amazing to have this opportunity and for my name to be mentioned with all these other great players in the nation.”
Jeanty passed up an opportunity to jump in the transfer portal just over a year ago to return to the Broncos (12-1) for their magical 2024 season.
On Sunday, Boise State was selected as a No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff, just two days after beating UNLV 21-7 to win its second straight Mountain West Championship.
Boise State will play either SMU or Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31 in the CFP quarterfinals.
Jeanty was a big reason for the Broncos’ success this year.
He enters the College Football Playoff fourth on the NCAA’s all-time single-season rushing leaders list, with 2,497 yards, just 131 yards away from the NCAA record of 2,628 yards set by Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State in 1988.
For Jeanty, that mark could very well be toppled in the Fiesta Bowl. He has averaged 192.1 yards per game, with at least 127 yards in all 13 games the Broncos have played in this season. He’s surpassed the 200-yard mark six times this season, including a 209-yard performance in the Mountain West Championship game win.
This season, he’s set school single-season records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns (29), 100-yard rushing games and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (both 13). He’s also three carries shy of the school record and is on track to break the yards-per-game and yards-per-carry records. He also set single-game school records in the season opener at Georgia Southern for rushing yards (267) and rushing touchdowns (6).
“If I got to sit down in my office, close the door for two days and call every Heisman voter, not to lobby for Ashton, but to make sure they just give him the time watching the film, who he is as a person,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said on Sunday, “I truly believe when all these voters do that, I don’t think it should be close. I know I’m biased, I’m around him every day. But for what he’s done for me personally, what he’s willed our team to do as a leader, my shot to everybody is just please watch the film.”
Jeanty will be the second Bronco to head to New York as a Heisman finalist in program history. In 2010, Bronco quarterback Kellen Moore finished fourth in the Heisman voting, the highest a Bronco has ever finished in the voting up until this point.
“It would mean the world to me,” Jeanty told SportsCenter about the prospect of winning. “Not only just for myself but having this underdog story being at a Group of Five school and us being overlooked all the time. I think it would be big, not just for me, but for the community of Boise, all my teammates and this program, it would be tremendous.”
The winner will be announced during ESPN’s broadcast of the Heisman ceremony, which begins at 6 p.m. Mountain Time on Saturday evening.