As the 2024 college football season progresses, junior running back Ashton Jeanty is making headlines with his remarkable performance. After four games, he has accumulated an impressive 845 rushing yards, achieving 190 yards or more in three of those games. The only exception was during a dominant 56-14 victory against FCS Portland State, where Jeanty had just 11 carries and did not see the ball in the second half.
If he maintains this pace, Jeanty, who averages 10.3 yards per carry, is on track to finish the regular season with 2,535 rushing yards. This would place him among a select group of only four college football players to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a regular season over the last decade.
The elite players Jeanty could potentially join include:
Melvin Gordon from Wisconsin, who rushed for 2,260 yards during the 2014 season and scored 26 touchdowns. His remarkable season included a standout game where he tallied 408 rushing yards and four touchdowns against No. 16 Nebraska.
Rashaad Penny of San Diego State, who, in 2017, rushed for 2,027 yards during a senior season where he took over the role from former standout Donnel Pumphrey. Penny averaged nearly 7.5 yards per carry and ended the season with a streak of four straight games, each with over 200 rushing yards.
Tevin Coleman played for Indiana in 2014 and made his mark by rushing for 2,036 yards, despite the Hoosiers’ struggles that season. Coleman achieved over 100 rushing yards in all but one game.
D’Onta Foreman of Texas encapsulated his 2016 season with 2,028 rushing yards on 323 carries, even as his team finished with a disappointing record. Foreman recorded multiple touchdowns in several games and consistently exceeded the 150-yard mark.
As the season continues, Jeanty’s pursuit of these impressive records will be closely watched by college football fans and analysts alike.