Sports
Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty Building Impressive Heisman Campaign
Barry Sanders put together a Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1988. To this day, it rates on a level largely its own.
Near the midway point of the 2024 season, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is putting up numbers at a pace to challenge the legendary Sanders.
BSU shared a graphic on its social media channels offering a side-by-side comparison of Oklahoma State’s No. 21 and the Broncos’ No. 2. Through five games in 1988, Sanders had 1,002 rushing yards on 130 carries and scored 17 touchdowns; Jeanty has 1,031 yards on 95 carries with 16 touchdowns.
It’s not a one-to-one comparison. Sanders also returned a punt and kickoff for touchdowns through the Cowboys’ first two games. However, the context of Jeanty’s performance makes his start to 2024 uniquely special.
Jeanty’s eye-popping stats are being produced during competitive games. He’s never around when the game is out of reach. He has yet to carry the ball more than 26 times in any of Boise State’s five games and spent much of the third and fourth quarters on the sideline in blowouts against Portland State and Utah State.
Coach Spencer Danielson could choose to manufacture even more impressive statistics for his star running back, but Jeanty’s role for the Broncos is more significant than merely impressing award voters.
“Ashton Jeanty is the best player in the country,” Danielson said following the 62-30 rout of Utah State in the Broncos’ Mountain West Conference opener on October 5. On a day when Jeanty carried just 13 times but accrued 186 yards, Danielson added, “I am proud of all the rest of our guys being able to step up. When [opposing defenses] load the box, [quarterback Maddux Madsen] was able to get the ball to playmakers.”
The result of that balance keeps defenses—including No. 3-ranked Oregon—off balance. Boise State is scoring more than 50 points per game, No. 1 in the country.
Both the collective team output and Jeanty’s contribution are even more impressive considering the Broncos’ offensive line is missing starters and preseason All-MW honorees Mason Randolph and Roger Carreon.
This context adds another layer to Jeanty’s Heisman candidacy. Averaging more than 206 yards per game, Jeanty is on pace to eclipse Rashaad Penny’s Mountain West record of 2,248 yards gained in 2017—and to do so in one fewer game.
With a projected total of 2,475 yards through 12 games based on his current output, Jeanty would achieve regular-season rushing numbers not seen since Marcus Allen in 1981 and Sanders in 1988 (2,342 and 2,628 yards, respectively, each in 11 games).
Like Sanders, who garnered 559 first-place votes to Rodney Peete’s 70 in 1988, Allen was a runaway Heisman winner. He finished with 441 first-place votes to runner-up Herschel Walker’s 152.
Sanders and Allen also won the Heisman in an era that, frankly, showed running backs more respect. It’s been almost a decade since Derrick Henry became the last running back to claim college football’s top individual honor.
Surely, historically significant production gets Jeanty into the conversation. But how does he overcome the dual handicap of playing for a program outside the autonomy conferences and playing a position that is often undervalued at the ballot box?
Well, Week 6 offered a template for at least one necessary step in the blueprint: Jeanty needs would-be frontrunners from the power conferences to suffer high-profile stumbles.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe became an early Heisman favorite with his performance in a win over Georgia, but a loss the following week to Vanderbilt stunted his odds. Colorado two-way sensation Travis Hunter and Miami quarterback Cam Ward head into Week 7 looking like leading contenders.
Hunter’s candidacy relies on his dizzying snap totals from playing on both sides of the ball. The season-long feasibility of him continuing to do so at a high level just isn’t favorable given the natural attrition.
A lot of football remains, so presumably another frontrunner will emerge. However, should the race come down to Ward and Jeanty, there’s another step for the Boise State running back to consider, based on the last time the Heisman race featured a Miami quarterback and a non-power conference running back.
In 1992, Gino Torretta beat out San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk for the prize, thanks in part to the Hurricanes beating the Aztecs head-to-head. The outcome of that game—a 63-17 romp for The U—was less significant than Faulk missing the marquee showdown with a sprained knee.
As basic as it might seem, there’s a line of coach speak that fits Jeanty’s Heisman roadmap: availability is the best ability. Staying healthy and remaining at the forefront of Boise State’s pursuit of a College Football Playoff berth is paramount—and in a way, it makes Danielson’s decision not to pile unnecessary carries on Jeanty’s workload to pad the stat sheet far more valuable to the back’s Heisman case in the long run.
The last and perhaps most obvious step for Jeanty is to keep producing. Continuing on a Sanders-like pace means Jeanty must do even more down the stretch, given Barry had three regular-season games of 312 yards or more in the back half of Oklahoma State’s 1988 season.
That’s a lofty standard to expect Jeanty to match—the loftiest, if you consider Sanders’ ’88 the sport’s gold standard. But so far, No. 2 has stacked up nicely against No. 21’s standard.
Sports
Red Sox tackle Blue Jays to secure sixth straight series win
Jul 26, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images Boston Red Sox starter Ranger Suarez and four relievers combined to shut down the visiting Toronto Blue Jays in a 6-1 win Sunday.
Boston, which has won 17 of its last 19 games, won a sixth straight series.
Suarez, pitching for the first time since July 5 due to a groin strain, was taken out after four scoreless innings and 64 pitches. The southpaw allowed four hits with no walks and struck out six.
Greg Weissert (3-2), Tyron Guerrero, Justin Slaten and Ryan Watson scattered five Blue Jays hits the rest of the way.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman (4-10) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. The right-hander walked one and struck out six in 98 pitches.
Toronto has lost eight straight Gausman starts, and the 35-year-old has not won since May 22.
Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third when Andruw Monasterio led off with a single off the Green Monster. He scored on a two-out single by Ceddanne Rafaela.
The Red Sox added two more in the fourth when Willson Contreras led off with a walk and Caleb Durbin singled. Romy Gonzalez laid down a bunt to sacrifice the runners to second and third, and Jarren Duran drove them both in with a single to center for a 3-0 lead.
Suarez, meanwhile, kept the Blue Jays off balance.
His only trouble came in the fourth inning when Alejandro Kirk and George Springer hit back-to-back one-out singles. Suarez, however, induced Daulton Varsho to hit into a fielder’s choice and then struck out Kazuma Okamoto looking to end the threat.
The Red Sox scored three more in the seventh.
Duran led off with a single and Monasterio walked. Carlos Narvaez bunted them over and pinch hitter Jahmai Jones doubled them both in with a drive off the wall in center.
Jones came home when Wilyer Abreu broke an 0-for-20 streak with a double off the wall in left.
The Blue Jays finally broke through in the ninth with three hits. Andres Gimenez drove in Varsho with two outs for their lone run.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Birthday boy Ryan O'Hearn leads Pirates past Cubs
Jul 26, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe (left) and designated hitter Bryan Reynolds (10) greet first baseman Ryan O’Hearn (29) crossing home plate on a grand slam home run against the Chicago Cubs during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Ryan O’Hearn celebrated his 32nd birthday by belting his second grand slam of the season and fourth of his career as the host Pittsburgh Pirates held on for an 8-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
Pittsburgh’s Shawn Ross launched a two-run homer in his second MLB game while rookie Esmerlyn Valdez also went deep and added an RBI single
Brandon Lowe collected three hits and two runs as the Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak in the finale of the three-game series.
The offensive explosion proved just enough for Braxton Ashcraft (10-4), who allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings.
Carmen Mlodzinski bridged the gap to Mason Montgomery, who surrendered Seiya Suzuki’s two-run homer in the ninth before retiring the next two batters to secure his second save.
Pete Crow-Armstrong ripped an RBI triple and Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner and Pedro Ramirez each had an RBI single for the Cubs.
Swanson opened the scoring in the second with an RBI single, but that slim advantage didn’t last long.
Valdez sent a 1-1 cutter from Jameson Taillon (2-6) over the left center wall to lead off the second inning. Valdez’s homer was his 14th of the season and eighth in his last 13 games. After O’Hearn walked, Ross deposited a 3-2 cutter over the wall in left.
The Pirates loaded the bases in the third before O’Hearn deposited a 0-1 fastball from Taillon over the wall in center to stake his team to a 7-1 lead. The homer by O’Hearn was his 17th of the season and first since he went deep three times — highlighted by a grand slam — in a 12-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves on July 7.
Taillon permitted seven runs on six hits in four innings to fall to 0-5 in his last eight outings.
Chicago scored three times in the fourth before Valdez’s broken-bat RBI single off Ryan Rolison extended Pittsburgh’s advantage to 8-5 in the fifth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jerry Kelly holds on to win 'indescribable' Senior Open title
Jerry Kelly hits out of a bunker on hole No. 14 during round 3 of the Kaulig Companies PGA Championship, July 11, 2026, at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Jerry Kelly turned a clutch bunker shot on the final hole into a birdie and won the ISPS Handa Senior Open by two shots on Sunday in Auchterarder, Scotland.
Kelly, 59, delivered his third consecutive round of 2-under-par 68 on The King’s Gleneagles course and finished at 10-under 270 to win the fifth and final major tournament of the season.
Matt Gogel, Darren Fichardt of South Africa and Cameron Percy of Australia all finished two shots back in a tie for second place.
With a one-shot lead on the par-5 closing hole, Kelly found the bunker with his second shot. The Madison, Wisc., native put the bunker shot to within 4 feet and made the putt for his first Senior Open title and his third major victory on the Champions Tour.
“It’s indescribable to win it,” said Kelly, who now has 15 overall victories on the Champions Tour. “The senior Claret Jug is the trophy that I’ve wanted as an over-50 golfer other than any other. To do it in Scotland, at the home of golf … I mean, I’m absolutely speechless.”
Tied for the lead with Percy at the start of the final round, Kelly was 2 under through five holes before his first bogey of the day at No. 6. He bounced back by birdieing the par-3 eighth. Kelly also had a bogey at No. 11 before he reeled off six consecutive pars that led into his birdie at 18.
“My brain, actually, was the most successful part of my game,” Kelly said. “In the past I would have gotten down that I wasn’t striking it the way I’d like to strike it. But instead of worrying about that, I just went and took care of the next shot.
“I learned a lot about myself today, and I wish I would have learned it about 20, 30 years ago.”
Gogel worked his way into contention with a 7-under 63 in the final round as he shot a 4-under 30 on the front nine. He also had birdies at Nos. 10 and 12 to close the gap, then wrapped his round with his seventh birdie of the day at No. 18.
“Certainly by 10, when I had a two-putt birdie there, I was thinking, ‘Geez, we keep this thing going, we have a chance to get a high finish,'” Gogel said.
Percy (even-par 70) had a rocky ride in the final round and was at 2 over the front nine. He had his first birdie of the day at No. 10 before another bogey at No. 11. He gathered himself down the stretch for two more birdies but was unable to collect another at the 18th.
Percy missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have put more pressure on Kelly.
Fichardt shot a 4-under 66 to close in on Kelly. He started his round with a bogey on the first hole, but had a strong finish with birdies at Nos. 14, 15 and 18.
Kely remained undaunted with his one-putt birdie to win it.
“To be on this trophy, to be a part of this trophy, to be a part of the R&A — I just love it over here, I really do,” Kelly said. “It brings it full circle that I didn’t do what I wanted to in the Open Championship but to get it done here, I mean, I’m over the moon.”
–Field Level Media
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Red Sox tackle Blue Jays to secure sixth straight series win
