Melvin Gordon's big day moves him into the record books ... for now, at least
Melvin Gordon now holds a lofty perch in college football history. The question now becomes if he can keep it.
The Wisconsin RB ran for a staggering 253 yards and five touchdowns on just 13 carries in the Badgers' 68-17 blowout win against Bowling Green on Saturday. The incredible 19.5 yards per carry means Gordon now has the most yards per carry of any running back in college football (min.: 300 carries).
Entering the game the career leader was Glenn Davis, who played at Army from 1944-1946. While partnering with FB Doc Blanchard, the two formed a Mr. Outside (Davis) and Mr. Inside (Blanchard) combination. For his career, Davis averaged 8.26 yards per carry.
With his monster game, Gordon, a junior, currently has 2,759 career yards on 321 carries, an average that works out to approximately 8.6 yards a carry. Before the game, Gordon's average was 8.13.
While two of Gordon's TDs were two and three yards each, he made up for them with TD runs of 21, 50 and 69 yards. It's crazy to think, but his average could have been better too. He also had a carry for no gain and a carry for a loss of a yard.
Here's the 50-yard score.
And here's the 69-yard TD.
Yes, it's still early, but Gordon is still firmly in the Heisman Trophy race, especially with the likely elimination of Florida State QB Jameis Winston after his suspension against Clemson. While Wisconsin did lose in week one to LSU, Gordon was a nonfactor in the second half because of a hip flexor injury. If Wisconsin keeps winning, the Badgers' struggles without Gordon (and his importance) will be magnified. He certainly looked completely healthy Saturday.
Gordon will have some serious work to do to keep ahead of Davis. If he averages 7.5 yards per carry over his next 100 attempts, his average will be just north of 8.3 for his career. But based off his incredibly productive junior season, it's possible. He ran for 1,609 yards on 206 carries, an average of 7.8 yards per rush in 2013.
If he can hold on to the record throughout the entire season, he'll garner some serious Heisman attention. Breaking a record that has stood for almost 70 years isn't taken lightly.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
