Ashton Jeanty will head into the U.S. college football playoffs with added incentive after being snubbed in the Heisman Trophy voting.
Canadian safety Ty Benefield and the Boise State Broncos plan to follow the star running back's lead.
Third-seeded Boise State (12-1) will face either Penn State or SMU in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, its first game of the expanded playoff bracket. The Nittany Lion and Mustangs meet Saturday.
Jeanty finished behind Colorado's Travis Hunter in voting for the Heisman, presented annually to American college football's outstanding player. Hunter accumulated 2,231 points, just ahead of Jeanty (2,107) in the closest margin of victory since 2009.
Jeanty felt he should've received the honour and planned to channel that disappointment to the football field.
"All of us feel and know he should've won it," Benefield told Canadian reporters this week. "But now that the whole thing is over 鈥� he (Jeanty) can just focus on himself, the Fiesta Bowl and running over whoever steps in his way.
"We're mad about it still but the beautiful thing about this whole college football thing is you (must) have a short memory."
Hunter was certainly a worthy candidate as a standout performer at receiver and on defence. But so was Jeanty, who has rushed for 2,497 yards and is chasing Barry Sanders' single-season mark (2,628).
However, Benefield said there's more to Jeanty's game than just running with the football.
"This dude can do it all," Benefield said. "He asks a lot of questions in team meetings, he's that leader for us 鈥� in practice, just the way he runs the ball, just the way he picks up anybody coming in blitzing for pass protection.
"When he runs routes it's like he's a receiver. This dude can explode off one cut anywhere and go north-south, go wherever he wants. I can't really explain it, you've got to see him to just really feel what type of player he is."
The 2024 season has also been a stellar one for the six-foot-two, 204-pound Benefield. After starting five games last season as a true freshman, the 19-year-old Vancouver native leads the Broncos in tackles (73), solo tackles (53) and interceptions (two) while also registering five tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and two recoveries.
His father, Daved, played linebacker and defensive end over 13 CFL seasons with Ottawa (1992-94), 小蓝视频 (1995, '97-01), Winnipeg (2002-03) and Saskatchewan (2004-05) and spent the 1996 season with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. In 1995, he tied a CFL record with five sacks in a game against Birmingham.
"I didn't get to be in the locker room when I was little because he stopped playing to be there for me and my mother 鈥� he wanted me to have a father figure there all the time," Benefield said. "(The more) I uncover about him, he was that dude on the field.
"All I know is he's my inspiration, he's what I (model) my play after."
Benefield credits his father with shaping him into the player he is today, though he admits he didn鈥檛 always appreciate or understand his guidance it growing up.
"He just pushed me every day 鈥� he coached me hard," Benefield said. "But now looking back at those times, I'm like I needed that, I just was too young and too stupid to understand.
"If I had a good performance, he was like, 'Yeah, you did good but this is what you could do better.' I hated that but now that's how I am. He has really put that mentality into me and just done an unbelievable job bringing me up."
In today's American college football, there's plenty of players annually going to the transfer portal to play elsewhere. Benefield doesn't plan on leaving Boise State and said earning an opportunity to play football professionally remains a long-term goal.
"I am where my two feet are," he said. "I just see myself working hard every single day, putting my faith in God and trusting His plan, trusting the coaches' plan 鈥� just really being able to get the opportunity to go to the (NFL) combine, then get drafted to play professional football, wherever that may be.
"That's the beautiful thing, I don't care where I go as long as I am playing."
The lone blemish on Boise State's record is a 37-34 loss to top-seeded Oregon on Sept. 7 despite leading 20-14 at halftime. Benefield said while the Broncos' focus remains firmly on the Fiesta Bowl, they'd relish another shot at the Ducks for the national championship.
"That's a matchup that was unfortunate, we let that one creep out," Benefield said. "We'd definitely love another shot at them, for sure.
"But as of right now 鈥� we get to handle what's in front of us and if they do what they're supposed to then we'll see them."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2024.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
