It's strange for a quarterback to complete 18-21 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, engineer a clutch drive on the last possession of the game to win it and lose ground in the Heisman Trophy race, but that's exactly what happened at Autzen Stadium Saturday.
Dillon Gabriel's team was the winner, 37-34, but national attention fixated on sensational Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, who carried the ball 25 times for 192 yards and three scores, including an electric 70-yard scoring run in the 4th quarter.
Enter "Heisman" in your search bar on X, and 8 of the first 10 posts you see will be about the 5-9, 215-pound dynamo from Jacksonville, Florida. Through two games, the Bronco senior has amassed 459 yards on 45 carries with 9 TDs, 10.2 yards per carry. That's on pace for 2,754 rushing yards & 54 TDs in a full season, a blistering pace, but Jeanty's fast enough, powerful enough and explosive enough to do exactly that.
His nine touchdowns are the most in the FBS for a running back over the first two games since Ricky Williams of Texas in his Heisman-winning season of 1998, who also had 9 that year. Willliams finished that campaign with 2,124 yards and 27 TDs.
Scary thought: Jeanty's next game is against Big Sky opponent Portland State, the start of a three-game home stand for BSU. It's a night game on FS1. The Bronco tackle buster could run for 400 in that one if Spencer Danielson elected to pour it on.
He follows that by hosting Washington State, one of the two refugees from the old PAC-12. Another big performance against the 2-0 Cougs would accelerate his credibility and momentum, particularly if WSU upends Washington in Pullman this weekend, which could happen. (They're 4-point underdogs.)
The Washington State at Boise State tilt is on Fox, a regional game. November 29, right as Heisman ballots are sent out, the Broncos play a home game against Oregon State, Black Friday at 9:00 A.M. Pacific.
All the detail about future schedules and television coverage is important, because it points to Jeanty's only problem as a Heisman candidate. He's an exciting runner, but only rarely has a player from a non-blueblood program gotten serious consideration for the Stiff-Arm Trophy. But why not give it to the player with the best stiff-arm in the game, regardless of stadium size?
Jeanty's up against the hype and high profile of some other great candidates. It's a crowded race for the Heisman thus far this year and so far the leading candidates are a couple of the usual suspects, quarterbacks with big wins in big games, SEC stars and coming up on the outside in lane 9, preseason favorite Dillon Gabriel of the Ducks.
The current odds from Bet MGM:
Quinn Ewers (Texas)
+500
Cameron Ward (Miami Florida)
+750
Carson Beck (Georgia)
+850
Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss)
+950
Jalen Milroe (Alabama)
+1000
Dillon Gabriel (Oregon)
+1200
Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee)
+1200
Where's Jeanty? According to Bet MGM, he's gone from off the board to +4000, a big leap after two games. Racking up stats while showing out in his TV games are his route to climbing up the board, but it's essential that the Broncos win out. A Group of Four player from a non-playoff team probably has no chance.
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