Western Michigan · W 32-7
No carries.
Utah State · W 37-18
No carries.
Texas State · W 46-45
No carries.
Gaines has carries in 5 of Boise State’s 8 games: none against Western Michigan, Utah State and Texas State.
Dashed line: 100 yards.
“Definitely sucks not having Gaines but the backup doesn’t look too bad”
No bar in a game where the team had under 100 rushing yards: a share of that little says nothing.
Share of the team's total this season.
Each line is one carry: taller means more yards, and a line pointing down lost yards. Black lines are touchdowns. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside each lane the carries are lined up shortest to longest, not placed. Of his carries with a spot in the play text: left 9, middle 52, right 13. His longest went for 25 yards.
Sire Gaines
Just keeps getting the ball, series after series. Third year in the same backfield at Boise State. Named Mountain West Freshman Player of the Week two seasons running, most recently in 2025. On tape: 120 rushing yards and 1 reception against Fresno State, Week 6, 2026.
418 rushing yards · 4 rushing TD · 75 carries
Play style
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Fans first named Sire Gaines at Oregon.
Sports IllustratedNov 1Sports IllustratedOct 29Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Boise State | 75 | 418 | 5.6 | 4 | 25 |
| 2025 | Boise State | 161 | 812 | 5.0 | 8 | 46 |
| 2024 | Boise State | 20 | 156 | 7.8 | 1 | 38 |
| Career | 256 | 1,386 | 5.4 | 13 | 46 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Boise State | 10 | 77 | 7.7 | 1 | 38 |
| 2025 | Boise State | 11 | 72 | 6.5 | 1 | 20 |
| 2024 | Boise State | 3 | 44 | 14.7 | 1 | 17 |
| Career | 24 | 193 | 8.0 | 3 | 38 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 5 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 27-34@ No. 2 Oregon | 11 | 39 | 3.5 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 2 | W 38-20vs Memphis | 17 | 93 | 5.5 | 1 | 18 | |
| Wk 3 | W 38-24vs South Dakota | 17 | 102 | 6.0 | 1 | 25 | |
| Wk 6 | W 38-31@ Fresno State | 20 | 120 | 6.0 | 1 | 17 | Season-high 120 yds |
| Wk 8 | W 31-10@ Washington State | 10 | 64 | 6.4 | 1 | 20 | |
| Total | 75 | 418 | 5.6 | 4 | 25 |
Oct. 24 · W 31-10 at Washington State, play by play
10 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 3 passes for 19 yards.
20-yard run. Second quarter, up 7-0.
1-yard catch on 3rd and 3. Third quarter, up 10-7.
1-yard run on 3rd and 3. Third quarter, tied 10-10.
20 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown, his most this season. In the fourth quarter, with Boise State ahead by one score, he carried 6 times for 33 yards. 5 of his 20 carries went 10 yards or more; the longest went 17.
2-yard touchdown run on 3rd and 2. Second quarter, made it 22-13.
0-yard catch on 3rd and 6. Third quarter, up 25-20.
17-yard run. Third quarter, up 28-20.
10-yard run. Fourth quarter, up 35-28. Fans named him again and again right after: the most-talked-about moment of his game.
“Damn Gaines…”Boise State fan, r/CFB game thread
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
17 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown. He converted a 3rd and 2 with the score tied 24-24. He also caught 3 passes for 10 yards.
1-yard run on 3rd and 2. First quarter, down 7-0.
No gain on 4th and 1. First quarter, down 7-0. Turnover on downs.
5-yard run on 3rd and 3. Second quarter, down 14-7. Converted.
25-yard run on 3rd and 2. Fourth quarter, tied 24-24. Converted.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
17 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown.
The per-play feed is missing a 1-yard loss in the third quarter (the play drew a penalty), which the play text shows; the chart draws the 16 carries it has.
18-yard run on 3rd and 3. First quarter, tied 0-0. Converted.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
11 carries for 39 yards. He converted a 3rd and 1 with Boise State down 27-24.
38-yard touchdown. Second quarter, made it 14-7.
9-yard run on 3rd and 1. Fourth quarter, down 27-24. Converted. Fans named him again and again right after: the most-talked-about moment of his game.
“Gaines please be ok”UCLA fan, r/CFB game thread
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
Week 1 · 2026
L 27-34
at Oregon
The plays that mattered most
123rd in rushing yards, among all 1,551 FBS players with a rushing row this season, any position
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -14 to +17 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
54%74 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds5.6 yds/carry on 75 carries · 15% explosive (10+ yds) · 54% success rate.
3 seasons under Spencer Danielson, all run-leaning offenses — 28-8 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 97.5 | 5.8 | 1.0 |
| Road3g | 74.3 | 5.3 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 88.5 | 5.2 | 0.8 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 64.0 | 6.4 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Spencer Danielson
Pass share
41.9%
235 pass / 326 run
Plays / game
70.1
8 games
Team sack rate
2.4%
252 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
More touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
Recognition
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-Pac-12
Based on 2025: #8 of 34 Mountain West RBs — his program moves to the Pac-12 for 2026
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%). It was measured on players who stayed in the same conference and is not adjusted for the move to the Pac-12.
2026 is in progress.
Honored in a first season.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Spencer Danielson.
CBS Sports College Football
