SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of the Heisman Hopefuls Podcast, where every week we talk to the best players in the country regardless of position and regardless of program. I'm your host, Chris Houston. We've got another great show in store for you, though perhaps not as chock full of guests as is typical. That's because this week the Heisman crew is in Lincoln, Nebraska, celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Eric Crouch's Heisman triumph in two thousand one. We're making a documentary about that year, which was a very unique year in Heisman history, as it was the year that 9-11 happened, and also the year when the downtown athletic club ended its run as the home of the Heisman due to the devastation that resulted in Lower Manhattan. Also of note, it's Halloween week. And here's a fun fact for you No Heisman winner has lost on Halloween since the second year of the award back in 1936 when Larry Kelly's Yale squad fell to Dartmouth 11-7. That's 90 years of Heisman's winning on Halloween for an 11-1 overall record. So if your favorite Heisman favorites team falls on Saturday, look out. Moving on, our featured guest for this week is the nation's leading rusher, Dylan Riley of Boise State, the latest in a long line of elite Broncos running backs. I think you'll love this interview, so stick around. We'll talk to him right after the music. Every program, every position, every player. They are all Heisman Hopefuls. Our featured guest on today's Heisman Hopefuls podcast leads the nation in rushing with 963 yards through seven games, an average of one hundred and thirty-eight yards per game. He's averaging almost seven yards per carry to go with eight rushing touchdowns. He's a threat of the passing game, too, with twelve catches for one hundred and twenty-five yards and a score so far this year. He's also chipped in sixty-eight yards on kickoff returns. So it's no wonder he leads the nation in all-purpose yards as well with one hundred and sixty-five yards per game. Nickname is DX2 the Jet. An aptly named D2X. D2X, my bad. Yeah, there you go. His nickname is D2X the Jet. An aptly named as this 5'10, 203-pounder around 1076 and the 100 meter as a junior in high school. Hard to catch this guy from behind, but we caught up with him on Wednesday. He is Boise State running back Dylan Riley. Dylan, welcome to the Heisman Hopefuls Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

So first thing before we get into the rest of the interview, I want to hop into the film room and look at a couple of your runs this year. You have two 72-yard runs, which is pretty incredible. I want to start out with this first one, uh, which is against Fresno State. Okay, so we're at Fresno State early in the game, first quarter, you're doing what uh all the great Boise State running backs do, which is straight up stance. And uh let's talk about uh just this run and and and what you were going through and what it's like to once you break in the open field, what's going through your head?

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Uh yeah, so pretty much it was a wide zone play. And as I got the ball, I'm usually tracking the uh outside leg of the tackle. And so as I go through my track, uh I'm reading it down the line, and I'm kind of waiting for the backer to flow over. And so once he got caught into the block, I just put my foot in the ground and got vertical. And at that point, it's just straight speeding and run away from uh people, and then shout out to O line, like they didn't block. I think Big Lou, he blocked somebody and ended up getting two blocks, and then the wide receivers as well. As you see, they blocking up the uh stuff really well, and it's just out to the races at that point.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Yeah, I paused it right here because look at this spot, this this crease. You got a crease, you got uh two bulldogs, one of them's got he's looking at you trying to get there, the other one's completely got his back to you. Uh and you but so you gotta beat the guy on the right, and and you're just putting your heel down at this point, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, just straight speed at that point. Yeah. Nice.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

I heard something about that. You hear the sound of your footsteps when you're in the open field. What do what what does that feel like?

SPEAKER_00 4:08

What what do I hear when I'm running? Um, what do you hear?

SPEAKER_01 4:11

What's going through your head?

SPEAKER_00 4:13

So honestly, like the first thing is first nothing's going through my head, but once I kind of realize I'm in open field, I kind of look to see if there's like a further defender because nine times out of ten, as soon as I break out, it's like a a person running from a far angle from the other side. So that's the first thing that I look at and that goes through my mind. And then at that point, does he have a good angle on me? Because if he got a good angle on me, I'm about to either one cut back or two see if I can outrun him, you know? And so at that point, once I kind of figure that out, and this is all like a quick process. And once I figure that out, it's just I'm just I'm just running. You know what I'm saying? I ain't really thinking too much. I'm just running. But the only thing I hear is my breathing and my foot and my pads, like my pads going up and down a little bit, and my feet.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Nice. Well, this speaking of breaking angles, this other run against Washington State. Okay, so this other run against Washington State is a true ang angle breaker. Uh this one's to the right this time. Uh let's talk about this run. This is uh this is a big run, right? Because it's fourth, it's fourth quarter. 24-10. You got you want to put the the your foot on the throat of the opposing team, and this is what you do.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Yeah, yeah. So number 25, right here.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

So 25's got the angle. But this is where, in fact, there's two guys who are theoretically ahead of you right here, but 25's got the angle, and and this is where I think you go from your crouch, and now you're going up, you're you're starting to let loose into the track uh sprint right here, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah. Yeah, see, yeah. Uh that play, that was that was a tight zone. It had like a lock scheme to it. And uh as as Wags he came and went to go get his man, uh usually it's usually like a hash rule type of play. Like we would end up running on the hash, but as it started to develop, I seen it close down, and then I was just like, oh yeah, this is a bounce. Like, oh yeah, I'm out of here. And so once I bounced it and I seen just straight green, I already knew I was gonna have to outrun a person or two. I wasn't sure. And then once I seen that, I kind of just dug into the ground and just got on at that point. And then as I'm running, I kind of knew I knew I beat his leverage, but I knew he was gonna try to ankle tackle me like you know it always happens. So I kind of just lifted up my stance a little bit as I'm running, and then just kind of like anticipated the swipe, and then I was good at that point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

You look really confident out there, like you look like you know, once you get that that space, yeah, you look like you know what to do with it.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Yeah, at that point, it's like once I get the space, I ain't even it's it's over at that point. I ain't I ain't worried.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Well, let's talk a little bit about that Boise State running back legacy, the stable, as it's called. Yeah, we had Ashton Genty on this very show twice a couple years ago when he was the Heisman runner-up, had a monster season, breaking runs left and right, seemingly at will. You were a freshman on that squad, you contributed quite a bit. Now in year two as the starter, breaking big runs yourself. What did you learn from that experience of being behind Ashton Genty early in your career?

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Uh, really, the main thing that I learned being behind him and kind of watching his game is because, you know, at the end of the day, everybody is talented in their own ways, but the main thing that kind of separated him from everybody else was his mentality. And so as I, you know, talk to him, I still talk to him to this day, but back then I would have conversations with him. I used to room with him before games, so I had a lot of time to really speak to him and you know pick his brain with certain things. So it's just really like the mentality part of it, like you cannot be stopped and just going out there and executing your reads or something like that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah. How does it feel to have people call you the next genty, the guy you roomed with on the road, and people say this is the next Ashton Genty?

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Uh, like I I I appreciate it. You know, I I get what they're saying, but you know, I I want to be known for me because I know it's like Ashton was a the the greatest running back to step in here, and I know it's kind of like the next few running backs is gonna be the next Ashton Genty 2.0 or whatever, 3.0, but you know, it's cool. I I appreciate the compliment, but at the same time, I kind of want to be just Dylan Riley, D2X. You know what I'm saying? Yes, that's that's kind of how I look at it.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Yeah, that nickname I mangled it earlier, D2X the Jet. Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Uh that so D2X is like a little brand that me and my dad had come up with. It stands for determined to excel. And so, and then the jet part that came from, you know, me, that came from the track me. Uh, like uh, because the football me was D2X, and the track me was uh was the jet. You know what I'm saying? And so that kind of just got put together after uh uh uh after high school. And so once I got into college, it was D2X the Jet. So nice.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Well you have a clothing line, right? Tell me about that clothing line.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Yes, so the clothing line, we kind of getting it up right now, and we working on the website, getting the website better, and getting uh the manufacturers and all that, making sure we got everything ready. And so once we get that going, and then we're gonna start selling a lot more. We already did uh sold some products right now. It's going it's going little by little, but soon we're trying to get the D2X to be out there, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Nice. What kind of clothing uh is it?

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Uh it's like athletic wear, but to be honest, we're finna try to expand it and make it more than that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yeah, and in a few in a few weeks or whenever it's done, people can just Google D2X maybe and they'll find it.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Okay, very good, very good.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

You heard that, folks. Go out there, get your D2X clothing when the time comes.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

You know, one of the cool things about your story is how you and your backfield teammate Cyre Gainesy go way back to the early days, Inland Empire and SoCal. You two were teammates on the 12 and under Merino Valley Falcons in 2018. What do you remember about those days with Sire?

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Uh it was pretty much like the same way it is now. Like it wasn't too far off. Like, that's the funny part. It was he would there would be times where he was blocking for me, like because it happens now, like it's some of the same plays we've been running since we were kids. Like, he would be blocking for me. I got a few plays on my phone where we didn't score multiple times, like I'm blocking for him, he's blocking for me, you know, things like that. And then the same person he was back then is pretty much how he is now. Like, we both operate like that. Like, we've been the same people since we were kids, to be honest. We just honestly got a little bit older, taller, bigger, but we still kind of act the same a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Yeah, that must be so cool to be there with your childhood friend in the same backfield.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Yeah. Oh, yeah, it's it's amazing because we already got the connection. It's like the trust is already built from the beginning. Like, it wasn't no like, oh, I gotta see if I could trust him or things like that. And then on top of that, it's easy for us to communicate to each other. Like, nobody's taking it as oh, like he just hates me or he, you know, stuff like that. And then me and Cy, like, we're not selfish, you know. So that's another thing that I love about it too, is because we can go out there and and and this kind of includes like the whole running back room as well. Like, we can go out there and not be selfish, you know.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

And you both get a chance to eat out there for sure. Uh apparently, when you guys first met in high school, Cyra claims uh he was at Orange Vista, you're at Rancho Verde, that he ran you down from behind, claims he has the video clip to prove it. Is that true?

SPEAKER_00 11:23

At Rancho Verde, oh I he's gonna have to prove it to me because I don't remember that. I don't remember ever getting chased down.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Maybe you were maybe you were at Valley View at the time.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

It could have come. Probably, I was probably at Valley View. You oh my gosh. It was val it was Valley View, but that was not a hawk. That was not a hawk, and that was not a hawk. It it's it's for up to people to judge at the at that point.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

It is what I might have to track him down and and and drop in the video. We'll we'll judge it uh when we release this. But you know, look, as we saw in your 72-yard runs, not many people have 72 yard two 72-yard runs to their credit. You got legit track speed, 10 1076, the junior in high school, no doubt, probably had the capability to run faster, if not for football. You probably took spring track off in your uh senior year, I imagine, right? Um, you didn't, or you ran.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

I ran during my senior year.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

So was that what the 1076 was, or was that as a junior?

SPEAKER_00 12:18

I think it might have been as a junior, and then my senior year, I just got the time from like a high 1070 something to like a lower 1070, you know. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Well, how how how has your time on the track made you a better football player?

SPEAKER_00 12:33

I would say it was just more like getting the running mechanics going because I was always naturally fast, but it was just kind of like that next step. My dad kind of pushed me to run track, and he was just like, whether you like it or not, like it'll just make you a better football player. Now the workouts was crazy. Did I like it? No, I did not like the workouts. But at the end of the day, like when it came down to it, and I came back my junior year for uh football season, like I can tell like I'm just pulling away from everybody, and it's just like my form and everything is just looking a lot better. And then something that track also did teach me was kind of like on them long runs, like as I'm running for a long time to keep pumping them arms, and I can just keep the same speed without kind of dying down so fast.

unknown 13:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

What were those workouts like? Was it like just lots of 200s and 400s and and 300s and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_00 13:23

It was like, yeah, like we had our our our smooth days where it was technique, but on our work days, it it varies. Like it varies. It could be because I was also a 200 runner, a four by one runner, a hundred runner, uh a two hundred runner. I was pretty much like every type of relay race, like anything that it was, or any type of race, but um they had me kind of being like a 400, 200 slash runner, I would say, workouts. So we would be doing like 350s, 250s, 150s, then going back to 150, 250, oh like 350. It was like it was crazy stuff. Brutal, but yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

You gotta stretch before those, that's for sure. You showed some nice flashes as a freshman. You had a 96 yard kickoff return TD against Utah State, and then you broke out broke out last year with over 1100 yards rushing. But when did you first feel comfortable playing college football? When did you finally feel that confidence that you could be a big time back at this level?

SPEAKER_00 14:20

I would say that a little bit started of my freshman year, but then like as I got to my sophomore year, uh, that's when it kind of took off a little bit more as in like, all right, like I know what I can do because obviously I didn't went through my dad passing that same year last year. So that's where I was kind of like, alright, this mentally, this is about to probably be the hardest season of my life. And then as I did what I did in the like mental state that I was at, it was like it was a blessing from God for real, like it was nothing but that, you know. And it kind of just really taught like I just told myself, like, there's there's there's really a way for me to go out here and be the best out here if I was able to deal with something like that and have a pretty good season. And I already knew I was way better than what I was, like, you know what I'm saying? But it was just the the way life was going in my head, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Well, you're doing your dad proud for sure. Our condolences for your loss. Yeah, you did wear 24 as a freshman, then you switched to zero. Why'd you go over to zero?

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Yeah, um, cuz the reason why, well, first I know I had 24 because that was my high school number, like when I was a junior and all the other years before that. And my dad, he honestly liked that number 24 because that was kind of the first number I started with. But then uh this upcoming year, I honestly wanted zero because that's what I had my senior year of high school. And I don't know, it's just something about zero that just look better running down the field, it just makes you feel better, you know. It's just yeah, it's just kind of a fail thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Kind of a fast number.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yeah, yeah, most definitely.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Some numbers are slow and some numbers are fast in a weird way, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

You feel me? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Yeah, and but you know, everyone's faster on that blue turf. How do you like that blue turf?

SPEAKER_00 16:05

I love it. I'm I could look at it right now. It's amazing right here.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Yeah. What a great advantage that is. Uh great tradition in college football. You know, speaking of which Broncos are six and one heading into Saturday night Halloween night matchup against Texas State. Your winners of six straight. You guys are really clicking right now. What's the vibe like on this team?

SPEAKER_00 16:24

It's amazing right now, but you know, I know we win in a lot, but the main thing is just for us to stay consistent and you know, keep working on those little details. Like, you know, I spoke to the team earlier about us to keep going with these little details because we don't we don't need to lose sight of the main goal, you know. And I know being a team that's doing good right now with only one loss can carry some cockiness and you know, oh it's all good, we'll win because we're the Broncos. Like, no, regardless, if we played the worst team, like they're going to go out there and play their hardest because it's just it's just it is what it is. So every time we step out on the field, it's just the mindset of we're gonna dominate, we're gonna win, and do our job.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Boise, you guys always had that swagger, it's still going strong for sure. Uh speaking of Halloween, what was your favorite costume as a kid?

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Uh costume. I gotta think. I kind of like the what was it? I had a screw. I used to like dress as what is his name? Scream. Like that's that's what I used to have as a little kid. I used to have the scream mask, stuff like that. But as I got older, I honestly stopped dressing out like for Halloween. I just started kind of going out to uh like little Halloween mazes or something like that. I kind of like doing stuff like that than dressing out, you know? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Any Halloween plans uh after the game on Saturday?

SPEAKER_00 17:45

I don't even know. I gotta see because I know after the game I might be a little tired. I know I'm gonna get some food, but I don't know. I gotta see how I feel after that game because I know it's gonna be a long game, and usually I don't be feeling like hanging out after the game is over. I'll be kind of tired.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Yeah, you just want to relax. Yeah, you know exactly speaking of Halloween again. If you could dress up as a famous running back for Halloween, who would it be? Uh Marshawn Lynch.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

He's your uh idol as a running back, he's the guy you you like to watch.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

That yeah, that's that's honestly why I got 24 in the first place as well. Like when I was a kid, because I used to watch like my favorite team was the Seahawks, me and my brother's favorite team was the Seahawks, and like obviously there's no doubt about it. Marshawn was going crazy. He's the best running back, in my opinion. And it's like that's that's why I got 24 in the first place. It was like he was amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Well, give me four players for your Boise State Mount Rushmore. The four best play on the blue turf.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Uh not in order, I'll say Kellen more, uh Ash, obviously. Um to be honest, I'm gonna go with let me see. Cause I don't want to try to do all running backs because I know that'd be biased. Let me think.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Um You got Ian, right? You want to say Ian?

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Yeah, I do want to say Ian. I I gotta give it to him. I gotta say Ian, I gotta say Ian. Uh I'm just trying not to do a bunch of running backs, but Ian, I gotta give it to him. Uh who else? I honestly, I honestly, like when I was a kid, I low-key liked JL. JL Skinner, he was good too. I liked watching him. Uh, I seen he was making plays for sure, for sure. And then who else? I'm gonna go with Lawrence. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna go with him. Say that.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Finally, who's your favorite Heisman winner and why?

SPEAKER_00 19:48

I give it to Lamar. I I mess with Lamar Jackson. I say that. He was he was nice. I personally, in my opinion, that he was he was a quarterback that I'd say that's nice. Like if I was a quarterback, I'll play like him. If you ask me, but he was nice.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Good choice, for sure. Dylan Riley, thanks again for coming on the Heisman Hopefuls podcast. We appreciate you taking the time. Good luck Saturday and good luck the rest of the season.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

For sure, I appreciate you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Well, that does it for this week's episode of the Heisman Hopefuls Podcast. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and to our social media platforms at Heisman Trophy. And don't forget to make your voice heard by participating in the Heisman fan vote. Just go to hopefuls.heisman.com to vote for your favorite player. We'll be back next week with another sampling of the best of the best, and perhaps a player or two who could yet make it to New York. I'm Chris Houston, and this is the Heisman Hopefuls Podcast.