Ashton Jeanty, Boise State have Penn State defense’s full attention for Fiesta Bowl

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Tom Allen didn’t need to see much film of Ashton Jeanty to fully comprehend what Penn State’s defense is up against in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff on Tuesday.

“I’ll tell you I’ve enjoyed it — well, I don’t know if I’ve enjoyed it — but it’s been impressive to watch his film and studying him,” Allen said Friday about the Boise State running back. “He just doesn’t go down.”

For as much as Penn State wants to keep everything as normal as possible this week before departing Saturday for the Fiesta Bowl, the one person likely determining whether the Nittany Lions’ Playoff run continues is Jeanty. Boise State’s 5-foot-9, 215-pound running back is unlike anyone Penn State has played this season and is unlike anyone in the sport.

No one else averaged 192.1 rushing yards per game this season. No one else almost single-handedly carried his team into the postseason. Jeanty finished second in Heisman Trophy voting, and his 2,479 rushing yards are tops in the nation. He’s 131 yards shy of Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record set at Oklahoma State in 1988.

Fittingly, Jeanty showed up to New York City this month for a Heisman photoshoot decked out in team-issued gear instead of a snazzy suit. In his windbreaker and sweats, he looked ready to pinball off defenders and make them look silly in the process.

“We played against Derrick Henry when I was at Ole Miss,” Allen said. “He was taller but similar in regards to they’re hard to get on the ground. They’re guys that can stiff-arm you and just kind of seem to play with you. … Played a lot of good backs over the years, but he’s gonna go down as one of the greatest ones we’ve ever played against.”

Boise State credits Jeanty with wracking up 1,889 yards after contact this season. It also credits him with forcing opponents to miss 143 tackles. The statistics are jarring and the highlights are fun to watch unless you’re the ones tasked with trying to slow him down. As James Franklin pointed out this week, Jeanty would’ve been the Heisman winner in most years. He certainly was a worthy candidate this season.

“He’s a beast,” Franklin said. “He has more yards after contact than most of the elite backs in college football have in general, overall.”

Penn State’s defenders sounded well-versed in those yards after contact statistics, ones that Franklin has been mentioning publicly since Monday. The Nittany Lions rush defense is seventh nationally this season (100.36 yards per game) and is the top-ranked run defense remaining in the Playoff field.

Penn State’s defensive staff went back and looked at Oregon’s game against Boise State this season to see if there was anything to learn from Jeanty’s performance that day. Jeanty had 25 carries for 192 yards and three touchdowns in a game the Broncos lost by 3 points. Because Penn State has its Big Ten title game loss to the Ducks fresh in its mind, the coaches wanted to use that comparison as one more piece of information, one more data point to see what’s effective and ineffective against Jeanty.

“Our biggest responsibility this week is to find a way to effectively corral him and tackle him,” Allen said.

Penn State has enlisted Tyler Holzworth, a junior, to mimic Jeanty on the scout team. It’s an impossible ask, but the 6-0, 219-pound Nittany Lions back can help present some of the same looks that Boise State gives with Jeanty.

Allen’s message to his defense is that it truly will take a team effort to bring Jeanty to the ground. The coaches and players have seen countless examples of teams that have tried and failed to do so. Nittany Lions running back Nick Singleton has seen Jeanty’s highlights. Singleton said he has seen many players go for big hits only to whiff as Jeanty keeps his balance and extends the play.

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“The strike zone is so compressed because of his build that it’s hard to really get a good shot on him,” Allen said. “You’re gonna have to gang tackle him. You’re gonna have to get every possible guy on that field around him, and they obviously will make that hard per their scheme.”

Penn State’s players struggled to compare anyone that they’ve faced to Jeanty. Some pointed to teammate Kaytron Allen, who at 5-11, 220 can be difficult to bring to the ground. Middle linebacker Kobe King drew a comparison to former Michigan running back Blake Corum. Corum’s compact 5-8, 210-pound build is similar to Jeanty’s. Running behind a powerful offensive line, Corum shredded Penn State last year with a season-best 145 rushing yards on 26 carries.

While the Nittany Lions are favored in this game much like they were in the opening round against SMU, there’s perhaps no player remaining in the Playoff field who gives defensive coordinators more headaches than Jeanty. In a win-or-go-home scenario, Penn State gets Jeanty a little more well-rested than usual as Boise State is coming off a first-round bye.

“To go against the Heisman runner-up who is also the top running back in the country, that’s a treat for anybody who considers themselves a competitor,” defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said. “You see it on film the biggest challenge is just finishing tackles.”

(Top photo of Dvon J-Thomas, left, and Drew Allar: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)