James Franklin hardly has to watch the tape. He, as well as any casual college football viewer, knows what’s powered Boise State’s success in 2024.
It’s Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty, one of the most dominant running backs in the history of college football, whose 2,497 rushing yards is just 131 yards shy of Barry Sanders’ single-season record, set in 1988.
Jeanty made a compelling case at winning the Heisman Trophy, but ultimately finished second behind Colorado’s dual-threat weapon Travis Hunter. He’s now the primary factor in Penn State’s bid for the College Football Playoff semifinals and beyond. Stopping Jeanty is at the very top of Franklin’s game plan entering the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal on Dec. 31.
“It all starts and revolves around Jeanty. In any other year, I think the guy wins the Heisman, and you could make the argument that he should have won it this year,” Franklin said Monday. “He’s hard to tackle. He’s compact, he’s 5-foot-10. Has the ability to run away from you. Has the ability to make you miss. They get him involved in the pass game, they get him involved in the run game.”
Franklin has watched and coached some great running backs over his 29-year coaching career. But he’s never seen anyone who compares to Jeanty. Sure, Franklin’s developed players like Saquon Barkley and coached against weapons like Jonathan Taylor, but it’s unlikely he’s ever seen anyone handle as much of a workload as Jeanty and find such consistent success.
“When you look at his stature, you start thinking about certain backs,” Franklin said. “But I don’t know if I have somebody that jumps out in my mind, that he reminds me of when I’m watching him on tape because he really does a lot of things really well.”
Jeanty embodies everything in a great running back. His 344 carries are the most in college football this season, so opponents know the Broncos’ offensive game plan will revolve around him, but no team has been able to stop him. Despite his workload, Jeanty averages 7.3 yards per carry, which ranks No. 5 nationally.
“He can run away from you and score from a distance, breaks a ton of tackles,” Franklin said. “I think I saw or read it somewhere, like 1300 yards of his rushing yards are after contact, which is a ridiculous stat. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before. But his ability to make people miss, break tackles, finish runs, is really impressive.”
The only question mark in Jeanty’s game is his ability to succeed against one of the nation’s top run defenses, and the Nittany Lions possess that. They’ve allowed just 100.5 rushing yards per game this season, good for No. 6 in college football. Boise State has faced just two of the top-40 run defenses this season, UNLV and Oregon, which rank No. 24 and 35, respectively.
It was Penn State’s defense that stood out in a 38-10 quarterfinal win over SMU on Saturday. But stopping the running wasn’t the unit’s main focus. It was all about pressuring Mustangs’ quarterback Kevin Jennings and forcing him to make mistakes. That strategy ultimately worked, with Jennings throwing three interceptions, two resulting in touchdowns.
Jeanty will require a completely separate attack.
“Obviously, this week is a little bit different challenge. Well, not little — a very different challenge,” Franklin said. “It’s all about stopping their running back, and then all the plays and schemes that come off of that, that complement the running game and complement the running back.”
