Barry Sanders wishes Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty good luck on breaking rushing record
By the end of the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday, Barry Sanders may no longer hold the NCAA single-season rushing record.
And the former Oklahoma State running back seems excited at the possibility.
Prior to the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game between No. 3 Boise State and No. 6 Penn State, Sanders went to X (formerly Twitter) to wish Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty good luck as he entered Tuesday's game 132 yards shy of surpassing him his NCAA single-season rushing record, which he set in 1988.
"Got my popcorn ready @AshtonJeanty2 — Good Luck!" Sanders wrote on X.
Sanders' message included a Fox Sports graphic of the top five single-season rushing seasons in college football history, on which Jeanty entered Tuesday's game No. 4. The Heisman Trophy runner-up had a rough start to Tuesday's Fiesta Bowl, as Penn State's defense held Jeanty to just 20 rushing yards on eight carries in the first quarter.
After getting his longest run, a 12-yard gain, thus far on the night during Boise State's third drive of the night, Jeanty fumbled the ball along the sidelines giving Penn State the ball back.
Assuming Jeanty does surpass Sanders' record Tuesday, he will do so in the postseason — which the NCAA did not count towards Sanders' record. If the NCAA did count bowl games as official stats during Sanders' time at Oklahoma State, his record would be 2,850 yards instead of 2,628 yards.