2024-10-06 15:00:03
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J.J. Post, ESPN
Junior running back Ashton Jeanty has amassed 845 rushing yards through four games of the 2024 season. He has rushed for 190 yards or more in three games, the lone exception being Boise State’s 56-14 blowout win over FCS Portland State, when Jeanty carried just 11 times and didn’t record a touch in the second half.
If his pace continues, Jeanty — and his 10.3 yards per carry — will be in exclusive company. Currently on track to end the regular season with 2,535 rushing yards, Jeanty looks likely to join a list of four college football players to have amassed over 2,000 regular-season rushing yards in the past decade.
The players he could be joining:
Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin, 2014
Gordon had 2,260 yards on the ground across 12 regular-season games in 2014, finding the end zone 26 times. By the time he finished postseason play, it was the second-most prolific rushing season by a college player.
Gordon’s Wisconsin Badgers thrived as he posted video game numbers. The Badgers shook off an opening-week loss to the LSU Tigers to win 10 of their final 11 regular-season games, highlighted by a dominant 59-24 thrashing of No. 16 Nebraska, where Gordon raced to 408 rushing yards and four touchdowns in Camp Randall Stadium.
Rashaad Penny, San Diego State, 2017
Rashaad Penny couldn’t have had bigger shoes to fill heading into his senior season with the San Diego State Aztecs in 2017.
Penny had flashed the previous year, impressing as the backup to one of the most dominant running backs in college football history in Donnel Pumphrey. Not only did Penny match Pumphrey’s production, he actually improved on it.
The senior accumulated 2027 regular-season rushing yards, averaging just under 7.5 yards per carry. After struggling in losses to Boise State and Fresno State, Penny responded with a streak of four consecutive games with 200 rushing yards or more to end the regular season.
Tevin Coleman, Indiana, 2014
The Indiana Hoosiers struggled in 2014, but their star running back Tevin Coleman still shined.
Coleman had never previously rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a season before 2014, when the junior ran for 2036 yards. Even as the Hoosiers labored, winning just one Big Ten game en route to a 4-8 final record, Coleman maintained a remarkable consistency — surpassing the 100-yard mark on the ground in every game but one.
D’Onta Foreman, Texas, 2016
As a sophomore in 2015, D’Onta Foreman carried 95 times for 681 yards. In 2016, the Texas Longhorns fed him 323 carries, which he turned into a remarkable 2028 rushing yards in an otherwise down year for Texas.
Though the 5-7 Longhorns missed out on a bowl game, Foreman enjoyed a consistent and productive year. The junior finished with eight games where he scored multiple times through the air or ground, and eclipsed the 150-rushing yard mark in seven games.
