Ashton Jeanty makes final case to win Heisman Trophy over Travis Hunter

Ashton Jeanty knows the odds aren’t exactly in his favor.

But that hasn’t stopped the talented Boise State running back from making one final media blitz in an effort to become the 90th Heisman Trophy winner during Saturday night’s ceremony on ESPN.

Based on the latest betting odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook, Jeanty has the second-best odds to win the award at +800, well behind Colorado cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter, the overwhelming favorite at -2000. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (+35000) and Miami quarterback Cam Ward (+50000) are the other two longshot Heisman finalists invited to New York City for Saturday’s ceremony.

In the meantime, Jeanty made his most definitive case to the Heisman voters during a recent appearance on Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parson’s The Edge podcast, citing his absolute dominance over every team he played this season.

“First of all, all the Heisman finalists are all great players. I’ve watched multiple of their games, and obviously got to play against Dillon Gabriel, see him live, so they’re all great players. But I just think for me, you go week-by-week and watch the film, by Week 4 I wasn’t seeing anything less than an eight-man box. That means the whole defense, every single week, is geared to stopping me and they still couldn’t,” Jeanty told Parsons. “Some might have slowed me down, but I wouldn’t even say that because I just didn’t play my best, which is human nature. But I feel like there’s that, and for the people that want to talk about conferences, OK, whatever. But when I played in games against ranked teams, I put up big numbers against them and proved that it doesn’t matter who I’m playing against, I’m a great player on the field. And then, just for us to win the conference, not only that, but (also) make history and bring Boise State to their first-ever Playoff appearance, I feel like there you go. That was the final checked box, you know what I’m saying.

Ashton Jeanty makes his Heisman case:

'The whole defense, every single week, is geared toward stopping me and they still couldn't.'

(via The Edge with Micah Parsons) pic.twitter.com/peCYFAIuvy

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 10, 2024

“Being a leader and a captain on this team, I’m not out here to toot my own horn, but I have put a lot of work in and helped lead this team to the success that we have right now. A lot of other great players and teammates have as well, but a big part of that was on me, since the bigging of the year, the pressure was on me to lead the team and help us get to where we need to be.”

With a NCAA-leading 2,497 rushing yards through 13 games this season, Jeanty stands just 132 yards shy of eclipsing Barry Sanders‘ once-considered-unbreakable NCAA single-season rushing record of 2,628 yards (set in 11 regular season games in 1988). Jeanty’s 209 rushing yards in last Friday’s Mountain West Conference Championship Game against UNLV was his sixth game over the 200-yard mark this season. By comparion, North Carolina‘s Omarion Hampton, the NCAA’s second-best rusher this season (1,660 yards), had two 200-yard games.

To Jeanty’s point about facing elite competition, the Boise State running back racked bup 192 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries in a 37-34 loss against Gabriel and No. 1 Oregon on Sept. 7. He also combined for 485 rushing yards and five touchdowns against Pac-2 – formerly the Pac-12 – programs Oregon State and Washington State, while adding a combined 337 yards against 24th-ranked UNLV.

Suffice it to say, no one since Barry Sanders has flat-out dominated opponents on the ground as soundly as Jeanty. And if not for Hunter’s unicorn season as college football’s first true two-way threat since Desmond Howard, Jeanty would be the runaway favorite to hoist the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night.