Ashton Jeanty will have the Heisman podium to himself this weekend.
It won’t matter (probably).
Jeanty is a very distant second in the Heisman betting to Colorado’s Travis Hunter. The Buffaloes destroyed Oklahoma State on Black Friday to cap a 9-3 season, but lost the chance to get to the Big 12 title game after being on the wrong side of the tiebreakers in a four-way tie for first place at the conference.
Hunter will not play at all during conference championship weekend. But that probably won’t have any impact on his Heisman chances. The betting odds say Hunter is a shoo-in. Hunter is -10,000 at BetMGM to win the prize. Jeanty is the only other player with +2500 odds.
There are only two other players left on the board. And both can kindly be considered long-shots. Both Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel and Miami’s Cam Ward are at +25000. Gabriel will play Saturday when Oregon takes on Penn State for the Big Ten title. Miami lost its chance to play for the ACC title in the final week of the regular season when the Hurricanes blew a 21-0 lead at Syracuse en route to a 42-38 loss.
Jeanty enters the Mountain West title game on Friday with a chance to hit 2,500 rushing yards before Boise State begins its College Football Playoff journey. The Broncos are in the playoffs with a win and Jeanty has 2,288 yards through the first twelve games of the season.
Jeanty’s 2024 season already ranks fifth all-time, behind Barry Sanders (1988), Melvin Gordon (2014), Kevin Smith (2007) and Marcus Allen (2,342). If Boise State makes the playoff, Sanders will be within striking distance at 2,628 yards. There’s a chance Jeanty could have the most rushing yards in a single season in college football history.
Of course, Sanders only played eleven games when he posted his historic numbers. Jeanty could play 14 or 15 games in 2024. But Jeanty’s yards per carry average isn’t that far off the former Detroit Lions.
Sanders rushed 344 times and averaged 7.6 yards in 1988. So far, Jeanty has 312 carries and is averaging 7.3 yards per time he runs the ball.
In many other seasons, Jeanty would be a clear Heisman favorite. Derrick Henry, the last running back to win the Heisman, had 395 carries for 2,219 yards in 2015. He averaged 1.7 fewer yards per carry than Jeanty. In 2009, Mark Ingram won the Heisman with 1,658 yards rushing.
Instead, he barely has a chance thanks to Hunter’s unprecedented performances on both offense and defense. But don’t let Jeanty’s lack of a Heisman overshadow how good he’s been so far this season.
Here are the other players we’ll be keeping an eye on during Conference Championship weekend.
Colorado DB/WR Travis Hunter: Well, we’re not really watching Hunter this weekend because Colorado isn’t playing. But it’s at least worth taking another look at his stats before he likely wins the Heisman on December 14. Hunter finished the regular season with 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 TDs, while also having 32 tackles, four interceptions and 11 passes defensed.
Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel: The former UCF and Oklahoma QB will be a Heisman finalist, but nothing more. Gabriel was 16 of 23 passing for 209 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for another win in the Ducks’ blowout win over Washington in Week 14. Gabriel’s chances at the Heisman faded over the past three weeks as he already no longer threw. than 218 yards in one of these games.
