No. 25 Boise State looking to replicate 2024 success without Ashton Jeanty ANDREW DESTINAugust 22, 2025 at 5:33 AM 1 / 2APTOPIX Raiders Seahawks FootballLas Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty looks on during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Thursda...
- - No. 25 Boise State looking to replicate 2024 success without Ashton Jeanty
ANDREW DESTINAugust 22, 2025 at 5:33 AM
1 / 2APTOPIX Raiders Seahawks FootballLas Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty looks on during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Replacing somebody that Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen said was the best player in the country in 2024 will prove challenging going into this season.
But, Madsen believes the 25th-ranked Broncos' running back room is up to the task of helping the team move on after the departure of Ashton Jeanty for the NFL.
"The room right now is better than it was last year, and I'll say that with a lot of confidence," Madsen said. "Sire (Gaines) has been amazing. He understands what it takes to be an elite running back. And then you add in a veteran football player like Malik Sherrod to kind of dig into that as well and carry the high level of leadership."
Gaines and Sherrod combined for 80 carries and 352 yards in 2024 behind Jeanty, the Heisman Trophy runner-up who led the country in rushing (2,601 yards) and ran for 29 touchdowns last season as the Broncos earned a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Gaines, however, missed most of last season with an injury and is expected to shoulder a more significant workload this fall.
Madsen, who is entering his fourth year with the Broncos, was also complimentary of reserve tailbacks Breezy Dubar and Dylan Riley, saying either one of them could play at any other school in the country. It isn't just the running backs, though, that have Madsen confident the Broncos can wear teams down like they did while averaging 240.4 yards per game on the ground last year.
Boise State returns four starters from last year's offensive line, a unit that allowed the Broncos to win hard-fought contests against the likes of Nevada and Wyoming in November on their way to a 12-1 finish in the regular season.
"I think what carried us that far was the fact that we weren't going to lose. That was our mindset," Madsen said. "We weren't going to allow ourselves to lose games. And obviously, you see late November, close football games that some teams lose, and we were able to stick through that and win those games, which is kind of where it showed the most."
The buy-in from the roster, Madsen said, was fueled in large part by the welcoming culture provided by coach Spencer Danielson. Last year was Danielson's first full season at the helm after taking over for Andy Avalos midway through the 2023 campaign.
Continuity on the coaching side has proven somewhat fleeing at Boise State in recent seasons. Madsen will be working with his fourth full-time offensive coordinator in as many years in Nate Potter. Even so, Madsen is confident in his command of the Broncos' playbook ahead of his second full season as starting quarterback.
"Just a mastery of the offense that I feel like I have," Madsen said. "I mean, that's been a point of my emphasis for myself, has been being able to share that with other guys, and I feel like it's been well done and like we're in a great spot."
It won't be easy for Boise State to replicate all its success from the 2024 campaign without Jeanty. But, having as many returners as the Broncos will on the offensive side of the ball will boost Boise State's prospects of making it back to the College Football Playoff.
"We have a bunch of guys that return that know what it takes to get to where we were. And so, that to me is a big deal," Madsen said. "But we also know the standard and what it takes in practice, as well as the simple fact of meetings, the little details and being on top of those, which will carry us into winning games all the way until January."
The schedule
The Broncos open at South Florida on Aug. 28 and visit Air Force (Sept. 20) in their Mountain West opener. There's also a trip to No. 6 Notre Dame (Oct. 4). Boise State's final season in the Mountain West before moving to the Pac-12 concludes with seven straight conference games, including a road finale against Utah State (Nov. 28).
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Source: "AOL Sports"
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