It’s been a while since a Boise State football player has garnered as much attention as wide receiver Ashton Jeanty has over the past few days.

Jeanty vaulted to the top of the college football conversation last weekend when he rushed for 267 yards and six touchdowns in a 56-45 victory over Georgia Southern. Both stats were good enough to break program records, and the performance put Jeanty at the top of the early Heisman Trophy conversation.

And the accolades came from all sides. Jeanty was named the Mountaineers Offensive Player of the Week and won CBS Sports College Football’s Week 1 Game Ball. He was featured on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” as one of two Whadd Players of the Week and was featured on the official Heisman Trophy podcast, released Wednesday.

And that doesn’t include countless mentions on television across the country, including prime-time pregame shows like the one before the Florida State-Boston College game on Monday night.

When was the last time a Boise State player received this kind of national recognition? We asked Bronco Nation that question and got some expected and unexpected answers.

Moore-Kellen …

Let’s start with the obvious: Kellen Moore.

The most decorated player in Boise State history, Moore became the Broncos’ first Heisman finalist in 2010, finishing fourth in the voting when Cam Newton won. He finished seventh in the Heisman voting in 2009 after leading the team to a 14-0 record.

Boise State finished the season ranked sixth in the AP Top 25 and defeated undefeated TCU in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, 17–10. Moore led the Broncos in the fourth quarter with a 78-yard touchdown run.

Moore led Boise State to a 12-1 record and a 26-3 victory over Utah in the 2010 Las Vegas Bowl.

Moore was named a first-team All-American by several publications, and his national recognition peaked before the 2011 season when The Sporting News named him the No. 1 player in college football, ahead of Stanford’s Andrew Luck. Moore was a key player during Boise State’s football heyday.

Moore went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft and never made much of an impression on the league as a player, but he has been an offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers and now the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jared Zabransky

Zabransky officiated the biggest game in Boise State history: the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

Zabransky was named offensive MVP as No. 9 Boise State capped an undefeated season by defeating No. 7 Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime. Zabransky threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns and completed the pass that started a game that lives in college football legend.

The Broncos scored a touchdown on fourth down in overtime, and the game was decided by Zabransky’s famous pass to quarterback Ian Johnson that set up the Statue of Liberty.

Overtime was preceded by an even more famous hook-and-ladder miracle, when Zabransky completed a pass to Drisan James on fourth-and-18. James passed to Jerard Rabb, who streaked down the left sideline for a game-tying touchdown late in regulation.

But perhaps the height of Zabransky’s media frenzy and a sign of things to come for Boise State? He appeared on the cover of EA Sports’ NCAA Football 08 video game.

Ian Johnson

Speaking of Johnson, there are a few reasons he makes this list.

Johnson was a Heisman Trophy dark horse heading into the 2006 season, but a collapsed lung sidelined him in November and forced him out of the race. Despite that, he finished the year as a third-team AP All-American after rushing for 1,713 yards and 25 touchdowns.

But he was thrust back into the spotlight after the 2007 Fiesta Bowl — and not just for his game-winning run and 101-yard rush. After the victory, he proposed on national television to his girlfriend, BSU cheerleader Chrissy Popadics.

Johnson finished the 2007 season with 1,041 yards rushing, 312 yards receiving and 17 touchdowns.

Kyle Brotzman

Not every reason to draw attention at the national level is necessarily a good one.

Sorry, Mr. Brotzman.

Brotzman has many reasons to be fondly remembered by Bronco Nation, and one of them is his fourth-down pass from the kickoff that led to the winning touchdown for Boise State in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl.

But there are also those he misses when trying to score the decisive goal from the field.

As mentioned in the Moore section, Boise State finished the 2010 season with a 12–1 record, with its only loss coming in late November in overtime to No. 19 Nevada. Brotzman had a chance to win the game, but missed a 26-yard field goal attempt late in regulation and then missed a 29-yard field goal attempt in overtime before Nevada won 34–31.

This led to attention that Brotzman and the Broncos didn’t want.

Jay Ajayi

Not every player who enjoyed national fame came from Chris Petersen’s “golden era.”

Jay Ajayi led the Broncos to another Fiesta Bowl victory in 2014, Bryan Harsin’s first year as coach, finishing with 134 all-purpose yards — including a 56-yard touchdown run — and three touchdowns in a 38-30 victory over Arizona.

However, his performance throughout the season also attracted national attention; he finished the year with a school-record 1,823 yards rushing and ranked second in the nation in touchdowns with 28, behind Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon.

The Miami Dolphins selected Ajayi in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, and he won Super Bowl LII while playing for the Philadelphia Eagles.

J.L. Skinner

The national attention need not last long.

Safety JL Skinner quickly gained fame in 2021 for stopping a train on Oklahoma State wide receiver Brennan Presley. As Presley sprinted, Skinner slammed his shoulder into the chest of the wide receiver on the Blue, standing strong and sending the Cowboy into a tailspin.