NCAA Football Single Game Rushing Record

Samaje Perine, with 427 Yards on 34 rushes and six touchdowns against Kansas, set the NCAA FBS rushing record.

In 2014, Just a week after Melvin Gordon’s historic performance of setting the NCAA single-game record with 408 rushing yards, Perine, a freshman running back from Oklahoma, stepped up and topped it.

At the end of the first year as a running back, Perine finished his freshman season with 1,713 rushing yards on 263 carries with 21 touchdowns.

From 2014 to 2016, Perine attended and participated in college football at the University of Oklahoma. Following his college career, he was selected by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

In addition, Perine finished his 2015 and 2016 college football seasons for Oklahoma with 1,349 and 1060 rushing yards, respectively.

Jaret Patterson became the second all-time single-game rusher with 409 yards against Kent State in 2020.

Similarly, Jaret Patterson and Howard Griffith tied the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision record for most rushing touchdowns in a single game with eight.

Jaret played college football at Buffalo as a running back before joining with Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent in 2021.

As a freshman season in 2018, Patterson rushed for 1,013 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. He was recognized as the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year and named to the ALL-MAC Second team.

Buffalo Bills running back Patterson has numerous records, including the most rushing yards in a single game and in a single season and the most rushing touchdowns in a single season with 19.

College Football stud Melvin Gordon ran for 408 yards in a 2014 game against Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Besides that, Gordon became the second all-time single-season rusher in FBS history with 2,587 yards, falling 41 yards shy of Barry Sander’s record of 2,628 yards set in 1988.

He was honored with multiple awards during his professional football career, including Graham-George Offensive Players of the Year and Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year in 2014.

Likewise, Gordon holds the NCAA Division I FBS records such as the fastest player to reach 2,000 yards, the most rushing yards by teammates 3,536 yards along with Corey Clement, and the Highest average rushing yards per carry, a career 7.79.

Additionally, Gordon was born and grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and attended Mary D. Bradford High School, where he was a two-sports star for the Red Devils in both football and track. 

NCAA Rushing Record in a single game for 406 yards, a 43 carry, and 6 touchdowns were made by LaDainian Tomlinson against the UTEP Miners Football team.

Tomlinson completed his TCU journey with 5,263 rushing yards and ranked sixth in NCAA Divison I history. TCU retired his No.5 in 2005 during a halftime game against UNLV.

Ladainian earned unanimous All-American honors and won the Doak Walker Award as the best college running back.

Tomlinson was named to five Pro Bowls in 2002, 2004, and 2007, was a first-team ALL-Pro three times and won consecutive rushing titles in 2006 and 2007.

As an American Former professional football player, Tomlinson played 11 seasons as a running back in the NFL, primarily with San Diego Chargers and college football with TCU Horned Frogs.

With 396 yards in 1991, Tony Sands held the college rushing record for eight years until Tomlinson broke it.

In the same game, he also holds the all-time Football Bowl Subdivision record for the most rushing attempts in a single game with 58 carries. Both records set by Sands were during the game against Missouri.

At the end of the final season as a senior, Sand achieved an impressive total of 1,442 yards and nine touchdowns and due to his performance, he was recognized as the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year.

Presently, Sands holds the second position in the school record book for career rushing yards and rushing attempts. Throughout his professional career, he ran more than 100 yards 17 times.

Marshall Faulk had 37 carries, 386 yards, and seven touchdowns game against the University of the Pacific in 1991.

The remarkable performance against Pacific sparked one of the most exceptional freshman seasons in NCAA history with 1,429 yards rushing, 23 total touchdowns, and 140 points scored.

Faulk completed his NCAA Career with 5,562 all-purpose yards and 62 career touchdowns, which is the 8th most in the history of the NCAA.

The Hall of Famer completed his journey in the National Football League with 12,279 total rushing yards and 100 touchdowns from 1994 to 2005.

Marshall played professional football as a running back for 13 seasons with Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest running backs ever.

Troy Davis gained 378 yards in a single game against Missouri Tigers Football. Davis led the NCAA in rushing yards in 1995 and 1996.

He had more than 2000 yards each time. In 1996, he ran 2,185 yards and 21 touchdowns in a single season. Similarly, he gained 2,010 yards and 15 touchdowns in 1995.

Devis played college football at Iowa State University, where he became the Heisman finalist and twice earned All-American honors.

Professionally Davis played football for the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Edmonton Eskimos, and Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

Anthony Thompson record of 377 yards on 52 carries and scored four touchdowns for Indiana University Hoosiers Football in 1989.

Thompson established a new college record for career touchdowns with a total of 65 touchdowns, and the stat remained unbroken until 1998 when Ricky Williams surpassed it.

Thompson Played college football for Indiana, where he was granted for Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in 1989. Moreover, Anthony finished his college journey with 5,299 rushing yards and 67 touchdowns.

Adrian Peterson with 296 yards and was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He became the fifth-fastest NFL player to run for 5,000 yards in 2010.