Ashton Jeanty passes the 2,000-yard mark as Boise State wins the Mountain West title

On By Littum

Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty became the first 2,000-yard rusher in the FBS since 2019 when the No. 12 Broncos kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Jeanty’s 169-yard performance helped Boise State to a 17-13 win Saturday night at Wyoming. With the win, the Broncos (10-1) earned a spot in the Mountain West championship game against either Colorado State or UNLV.

Jeanty, who had a 61-yard touchdown in the first quarter, passed the 2,000-yard mark with a 5-yard carry three minutes into the third quarter when the score was tied at 10. His season total (2,062) is 20th in FBS history, right before Rashaan Salaam’s 1994 Heisman Trophy season at Colorado.

Jeanty was sidelined later in the third quarter with an apparent leg/foot injury. Head coach Spencer Danielson told CBS Sports Network that Jeanty was “beat up,” but did not elaborate. Jeanty returned and acted immediately. After Wyoming hit a field goal to take a 13-10 lead, Jeanty rushed four times for 53 yards on the ensuing drive to set up Jambres Dubar’s game-tying touchdown run.

Jeanty, one of the top Heisman Trophy contenders, has rushed for at least 127 yards in every game. He is no. 6 on Athletics‘s latest 2025 NFL Draft Big Board.

Ashton Jeanty Urgent Stats

Opponent

Att

yds

TDs

Avg

20

267

6

13.35

25

192

3

7.68

11

127

0

11.55

26

259

4

9.96

13

186

3

14.31

31

217

1

7.00

33

128

1

3.88

31

149

2

4.81

34

209

3

6.15

32

159

3

4.97

20

169

1

8.45

The last FBS players to rush for 2,000 yards in a season were Navy’s Malcolm Perry, Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard, Ohio State’s JK Dobbins and Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor.

Boise State’s win was crucial to its playoff chances. The expanded field of 12 teams guarantees berths to the top five conference champions. The Broncos, whose only loss is by three points to No. 1 Oregon, has been the top Group of 5 team in each set of CFP rankings thus far. That doesn’t seem likely to change as long as they keep winning. Boise State also still has a chance for a first-round bye. The Big 12 has beaten itself with Colorado and BYU both losing on Saturday. The Broncos would have been No. 4 seed in last Tuesday’s rankings.

The Broncos’ rally was unfortunate for Tulane and Army, the two championship contenders in the American Athletic Conference. The AAC’s eventual champion will be best positioned to challenge the Mountain West champion for one of the playoff spots. According to AthleticsBoise State’s projection model had a 69 percent chance of making the Playoff as of Saturday night.

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(Photo: Troy Babbitt / Imagn Images)