It was a relatively quiet week for running backs around the college landscape, but not enough to keep me from writing 3200 words covering pretty much every player you care about and several that you don’t. Enjoy:

With this huge screen play adding to 104 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, Brooks was in the middle of yet another dominant performance when he left the game after a fairly inconspicuous looking tackle against TCU, and we later learned that the Texas runner tore his ACL. The injury obviously sucks for Brooks, whose fantastic season was putting him in contention for the RB1 spot in the upcoming draft class. He ends the year with a 30.6% Dominator Rating (which lands in the 72nd percentile among historical draftees) and a 128.1% Box-Adjusted Efficiency Rating (74th percentile).

As when Blake Corum hurt his knee late last November, I would assume this injury will result in Brooks’ returning back to school for a fourth season. We’ve seen other running backs make opening-day returns on similar recovery timelines in recent years (Corum just did it), so there’s a chance we see healthy Brooks back in the lineup by the time the Longhorns kickoff their inaugural SEC campaign next August. Who knows what sort of role will be available for him when that time comes, though, as CJ Baxter will now (presumably) step into the lead back spot, and he’s talented enough that we can’t be shocked if he never gives the job back.

This also means bad things for the 2024 class. Brooks was tracking to be a top-three player for me in that group, and his absence slims the already slim pickings of near-elite talent at the top of the crop.

The Central Florida Knights, who entered this weekend having given up an average of 212 rushing yards in their first nine games, easily the most of any defense in the Big 12, did what nobody has been able to do since September 16th: keep Ollie Gordon from rushing for 100 yards. They actually held him to just 25 rushing yards and another 27 receiving yards, leaving the Oklahoma State back with just a 14-yard lead over Omarion Hampton as the nation’s top rusher. Gordon will look to bounce back against Pro Football Focus’ 94th-ranked rushing defense in Houston next week.

Ray Davis also had a down game, catching five passes for 32 yards but improving upon Gordon’s rushing line by just one yard on 12 carries, though he did score two goal-line touchdowns. It’s worth pointing out that this performance came at the hands of the stout Alabama defense, though it’s probably also worth pointing out that Davis has just one 100-yard rushing game and is averaging fewer than four yards per carry since his September 30th blow-up against Florida. Kentucky’s mediocre offensive line (they rank 94th in run-blocking according to PFF) certainly bears some blame for that, but it’s yet again worth pointing out that Davis’ 89.8% BAE Rating indicates that he’s not really rising above his blockers’ level of incompetence.

While it felt more like how Jakob Sanderson described it than like a legitimately close contest, Michigan’s 24-15 victory over Penn State finally gave Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards some legitimate competition and non-blowout game script against and in which they could operate. It couldn’t have gone any better for those of us hoping for a running back exhibition, as the Wolverines ran these guys a combined 36 times and didn’t even attempt a pass in the second half of the game. Edwards took the opportunity to look easily as good as he has all season, with 52 yards on 10 carries that included this explosive touchdown:

Blake Corum played well too, with a 25-145-2 line that included an explosive touchdown of his own:

On the other side of that matchup, Kaytron Allen went 12-for-72 and looked pretty good for a team that couldn’t really get anything going on offense. The efficiency split between he and Nick Singleton continues to grow, as the latter gained just 43 yards on his own 13 carries in the game.

I think I’m ready to officially accept Trey Benson into the land of guys whose performances this season would justify their declaring for the NFL Draft. After some early struggles, he has four games of at least 97 yards from scrimmage and is averaging 7.29 yards per carry in his last six appearances, and he’s become a near-guarantee to rip off a long touchdown each week:

Devin Neal notched his third 100-yard rushing day in the last six games this Saturday against Texas Tech, with a 19-137-1 line that included one of the better highlight runs of the weekend:

Tahj Brooks nearly matched him with 133 yards and a score on 33 attempts in the game.

Georgia has two notable draft-eligible backs on their roster, and both Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton had their way in a dominant victory over Ole Miss this week. As he has all season, Edwards led the backfield in opportunities and turned 14 touches into 78 yards and two scores, while Milton had the best game of his career. He scored on a tough goal-to-go play and on a long-distance sprint while setting a personal best with 127 rushing yards on just nine carries.

It was Bucky Irving’s turn to rip apart the USC defense this weekend, and the 161 yards that he gained on 24 touches were a nice way for the Trojans to ring in the post-Alex Grinch era. Especially with Ashton Jeanty out, Irving is probably the best dual-threat running back in the country, and the Ducks benefitted from his positional versatility on this jet sweep touchdown:

MarShawn Lloyd didn’t post gaudy numbers in his return to action for USC, but he did show off his short-area quickness and some power on this goal-to-go touchdown.

We talked a little about RJ Harvey after he went 20-164-3 against Cincinnati last week, and the redshirt senior was even better versus Oklahoma State this week. He clearly outshined Ollie Gordon by going 24-206-3 in the contest, including this 92-yard score:

I’m just throwing this half-baked comp out there so I can victory-lap if it ends up looking good in a few months, but Harvey strikes me as a very Trayveon Williams-ish player and prospect from where things sit here in November.

An even bigger game was had by Cody Schrader on Saturday, as he turned 32 carries into 205 yards and a touchdown while adding five receptions for 116 yards. The performance made him the first player in SEC history to go for 200+ on the ground and 100+ through the air in the same game:

He’s a pretty unconventional prospect given his four-year career at Division-II Truman State and the fact that he’ll turn 25-years old right around when week one of the NFL season rolls around next September, but a 29.4% Dominator Rating on an 8-2 squad with a top-five SEC offense (by yards per game) is nothing to sneeze at for a player of any age. There are only 30 such qualifying seasons in my college production database, but Schrader’s current level of production easily ranks as the best among all sixth-year backs since 2009 (and the three guys directly trailing him in that area are Jordan Mims, Xazavian Valladay, and Khalan Laborn, who all received NFL opportunities as UDFAs).

Dillon Johnson had yet another quality game for the Washington Huskies, going 23-104-1 with two catches for 28 more yards in a win against Utah. The only runners in the Pac-12 who have more rushing yards than him on the season are Damien Martinez, Jaydn Ott, Bucky Irving, and MarShawn Lloyd.

DJ Giddens notched his fifth game of 100+ yards from scrimmage on the season against Baylor this week, with 115 yards on 18 carries to go with 19 yards and a touchdown on two receptions. He has now out-touched and out-produced Treshaun Ward in three straight contests after running behind the fifth-year senior in back-to-back games against Texas Tech and TCU.

Corey Kiner has been a beast for Cincinnati this year, and he most recently ran for 129 yards and scored two touchdown on 23 carries versus Houston. I will let you decide if you’re impressed by the speed he showed on this jaunt:

Are we hearing the winds of changing blowing through Clemson, South Carolina? Phil Mafah dominated as Will Shipley missed last week’s game, prompting Dabo Swinney to commit to a hot hand approach in the backfield going forward, and with Shipley back in the lineup this week, Mafah out-touched him 18 to 14 and out-gained him 115 to 107. To be fair to Shipley, that performance represents his most efficient rushing outing against any FBS opponent so far this season, but I would anticipate a pretty even split between these two backs the rest of the way.

Jarquez Hunter has also now run for 100 yards in three straight games after going for 109 yards on 16 attempts versus Arkansas. As with Trey Benson, I am now ready to welcome Hunter into the land of guys whose performances this season would justify their declaring for the NFL Draft, as he has now eclipsed the six-yards-per-carry threshold and has more rushing yards on the year than any SEC back who hasn’t played in more games than him.

No shade to these draft-eligible young men at all, I just don’t anticipate them mattering much for NFL fantasy football in the future. The first of them is Jordan Waters, who put together his third 100-yard rushing game of the season in an overtime loss to North Carolina on Saturday. His 20-113-2 line included this nifty touchdown:

The 200-pound Devin Mockobee had his best game of the year against Minnesota, running for 153 yards and a score on 17 carries. Sixth-year hybrid player Tyrone Tracy posted his own 15-122-2 line on the ground while also hauling in a 52-yard reception in the victory.

It didn’t even occur to me that Kaden Feagin’s increased workload over the last month was the temporary result of an injury, but fourth-year man Reggie Love undertaker.gif-ed his way back into the lineup and put 24-140-2 on Indiana on Saturday. Feagin was relegated to backup duties once again, gaining 43 yards on seven touches.

Quinshon Judkins had a harder time facing the Bulldogs defense. He scored a couple touchdowns, but his inefficient season continued with just 75 yards on 22 carries. Despite having run the ball more times than all but seven collegiate backs on the year, Judkins ranks just 33rd in the country in rushing yards.

Trevor Etienne scored three times and ran for 99 yards on 18 attempts in a loss to LSU. He navigated traffic very smoothly on this slick touchdown run:

Omarion Hampton continued his banger of a season with 216 yards from scrimmage against Duke, a performance consisting of 31-169-1 on the ground and 8-47 through the air. His efficiency numbers remain elite and -- with Ollie Gordon’s down week and Jonathon Brooks’ injury -- Hampton is in prime position to make a late-season run at the Doak Walker Award.

Jonah Coleman is a beast. He went for 179 yards against Colorado this weekend and showed impressive speed and balance for a 225-pounder on this long run:

Jaydn Ott became the first Berkeley back since Patrick Laird to eclipse the 1000-yard threshold in a single season this week during a 167-yard performance against Washington State that also saw him catch three passes for 18 yards and a score.

Damien Martinez also went over 1000 yards on Saturday, his benchmark coming in the middle of a 146-yard, four-touchdown day against Stanford. Martinez is one of the more interesting prospects in the 2025 class as a 232-pounder who can absolutely move in the open field:

I had never heard of Justin Marshall before researching for this article, but the Colorado State freshman ran for 119 yards and a score on 18 attempts in what appears to have been his season debut against San Diego State on Saturday. He’s only 175 pounds so who knows if he ever matters for NFL fantasy purposes but this was a pretty nice run:

Another guy I’d never heard of before this week is Abu Sama, a true freshman who entered Saturday’s matchup against BYU with just 250 yards from scrimmage on the season. Count me intrigued, as Sama made several highlight plays (see 1, 2, 3) and finished with 110 yards and two scores on just eight rushing attempts. The Cyclones have gotten just 4.49 yards per carry out of their Eli Sanders and Cartevious Norton combination thus far in 2023, so perhaps this breakout performance will inspire the coaching staff to let Sama cook during the home stretch.

Marcus Major dressed down and warmed up for Oklahoma prior to their clash with West Virginia this weekend, but sophomore Gavin Sawchuk operated as the team’s RB1 for the second week in a row. This time out, he turned 22 attempts into 135 yards to notch yet another rushing yardage career-high, and I’m not sure why the Sooners would go back to Major atop the backfield pecking order given how well Sawchuk has played.

It’s possible that I’m overlooking someone, but I believe Makhi Hughes is now the owner of the nation’s longest active streak of 100-yard rushing games. He’s gone over 150 only once in this stretch, but the 19-131-1 line he dropped on Tulsa this weekend gives him six straight over the century mark and puts him just above the 1000-yard threshold on the year.

Peny Boone posted his third-lowest rushing total of the season with just 52 yards on 11 carries last week, but he scored three times on the ground and added four receptions for 116 yards in Toledo’s victory over Eastern Michigan. The relatively subdued rushing production brought his seasonal BAE Rating all the way down to 187.3%.

Rasheen Ali had his best game since September in the win over Georgia Southern this week, rushing for 165 yards and three touchdowns on 24 attempts. He is very explosive:

Frank Gore Jr.’s late-season surge continues, as he carried the ball 33 times for 158 yards and two touchdowns against Louisiana while adding two receptions for another 12 yards and a score for good measure. With 536 yards in his last three games, I am now happy to welcome Gore into the land of guys whose performances this season would justify their declaring for the NFL Draft (though his team-relative efficiency numbers are still much worse than the level his volume stats would indicate he’s been playing at).

Terion Stewart missed last week’s game against Kent State, leaving the door open for Ta’ron Keith to step into increased opportunity. Keith ended up running the ball just nine times, but he turned those carries into 103 yards and a score and also caught eight passes for another 130 yards and a touchdown. He’s been overshadowed by Stewart’s awesome season, but Keith’s 35 receptions, 389 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns are all team-leading marks for Bowling Green.

Yet another big game from a guy I’d never heard of: Hahsaun Wilson ran for 198 yards and three scores on 24 attempts in an overtime loss to a quality Memphis team this week. He entered the game with zero touches on the season and only one touch in his entire career, but given that Charlotte’s top three runners are averaging a collective 3.87 yards per carry this season, I see no reason why the 190-pound redshirt sophomore wouldn’t be given an opportunity to lead this backfield the rest of the way.

On the other side of that matchup, Blake Watson did his usual thing by totaling 124 yards from scrimmage and scoring three times, twice on the ground and once through the air.

Ashton Jeanty returned to practice yesterday, but he missed his second straight game on Saturday. George Holani once again carried the load in the sophomore stud’s absence, going 16-95-2 on the ground and adding another 43 yards on two catches.

After being held to no more than 61 rushing yards in three straight games, Jalen Buckley posted his second 100-yard rushing outing in a row against Central Michigan last Tuesday. His 23-117-2 line included this beast mode of a touchdown:

Marion Lukes had a nice game for the Chippewas in that matchup, going for 147 yards and a score on his 21 carries.

The Pony Express was in full effect in SMU’s 45-21 victory over North Texas this weekend, as Jaylan Knighton went 17-29-1, LJ Johnson went 20-106-1, and Camar Wheaton added 7-51-1. The Mustangs are 8-2 and, thanks to their talented trio of running backs, have probably the best rushing attack in the American Athletic Conference (at least outside of Navy and their gimmicky offense).

Rashad Amos was responsible for all of the offensive touchdowns scored in Miami’s 19-0 win over Akron last Wednesday, as he turned 15 carries into 118 yards and two scores. Amos is a South Carolina transfer who stands 6’2 and weighs 234 pounds.

When Rahsul Faison rushes for over 100 yards, he rushes for over 100 yards. The 22-181-1 line he put up on Nevada this weekend was his first game over the century mark this season as well as his first over the century mark at the FBS level, as he spent last season at Snow College (where Jaylen Warren once played) after bouncing around between Stony Brook, and Lackawanna College, and Marshall in the few years immediately following his high school graduation back in 2019.

Western Kentucky lost to New Mexico State this weekend, but Elijah Young went for over 80 yards both on the ground and through the air. He now has a 72-yard receiving touchdown and a 43-yard receiving touchdown in the last three weeks that together represent 69% of his total receiving yards on the year.

La’Damian Webb got back on track after a 15-53 line by going for 195 yards and a score on 32 touches in a victory over Arkansas State on Saturday.

Lastly, Kairee Robinson ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns on 19 attempts versus Fresno State. He’s now at four straight 100+ yard rushing games and is just two yards behind Ashton Jeanty on the Mountain West leaderboard.