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Ashton Jeanty wins Doak Walker, Maxwell awards ahead of Heisman Trophy ceremony
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Ashton Jeanty captured the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back, and that was only the beginning for the Boise State junior star on Thursday night.
Later in the night, Jeanty became the first running back since 2015 to win the Maxwell Award, given to the Player of the Year in college football.
And on Saturday night, Jeanty will go for the hat trick as 1 of 4 finalists for the Heisman Trophy.
Jeanty had a season for the ages for the College Football Playoff-bound Broncos. He carried the ball 344 times for 2,497 yards and a whopping 29 touchdowns this season, leading the country in all 3 statistics. He is 4th on the FBS all-time single-season rushing list, trailing only Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders (2,628 yards in 1988), Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon (2,587, 2014) and UCF’s Kevin Smith (2,567, 2007).
The 5-foot-9, 215-pound bulldozer of a back is just 132 rushing yards from breaking Sanders’ record. Jeanty and the Broncos (12-1) will face the winner of the first-round Playoff game between SMU and Penn State in a quarterfinal game on New Year’s Eve at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.
The other 3 Heisman finalists who will try to prevent Jeanty from winning the Doak Walker, Maxwell and Heisman in the same season are Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Colorado 2-way star Travis Hunter and Miami quarterback Cam Ward.
Jeanty is the 3rd non-quarterback to win the Maxwell in the past 10 years, joining DeVonta Smith (wide receiver, Alabama) in 2020 and Derrick Henry (running back, Alabama) in 2015. Henry was the last running back to win the Maxwell before Jeanty added his name to the list on a special Thursday night.
Jeanty’s 2024 season could get even more special come Saturday night.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
