There’s always a worry about touches when it comes to hard-running running backs. There’s a limit on how many a star running back can take before the grind of the position threatens to slow them down a bit.
That’s why Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson felt it was a great thing for running back Ashton Jeanty to get a bit of time off between the Broncos’ last game — a Mountain West Championship game victory over UNLV on Dec. 6 — and their College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31.
It’s good for a back who had rushed 344 times this season to get off his feet a bit. With that said, Danielson made it clear that even if Jeanty had to get back to it right away, he’s the type of player whose preparation and work-ethic make that kind of thing possible.
Basically, Jeanty will take the rest, but he didn’t need it.
“Ashton Jeanty is a warrior,” Danielson said in a bowl game media availability (h/t On3). “So, even on the 13-game run, how he lived in the training room, how he was able to not only play in the games where the nation was watching with the amount of carries and yards and violent hits he took, he was also doing the same thing in practice, grinding to go play his best. Just like anything, for him and his whole team, being able to have these couple of weeks to get fresh, get healthy, has been huge.”
Danielson revealed that for him, it’s important to simulate game-like physicality in practice. You obviously don’t want to risk injury as a head coach, but that’s all part of the preparation process — especially with a physical PSU team up next on the schedule.
“It is a fine balance. Obviously not playing a game decreases a lot of the violence and the physical shots our guys have been taking. But our guys have been practicing. We know the opponent we will see here in eight days and we know they will be ready and it’s our job to make sure we are, too,” Danielson said.
If Boise State is to beat Penn State and move on to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, Jeanty, the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy, is likely going to be the reason why. He averaged 192 yards per game this season for Boise State and punched it into the end zone 29 times.
