Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon Sets FBS Rushing Record

Nov 15, 2014; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon (25) rushes with the football during the third quarter against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin won 59-24. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The minute Wisconsin stepped onto the field, Nebraska didn’t really have a chance on Saturday afternoon. The reason for that was running back Melvin Gordon, who continued his ridiculous 2014 campaign with the best rushing performance we have ever seen. Gordon set an FBS record with 408 rushing yards on the game, and he was pulled after the third quarter.

You didn’t read that wrong.

Perhaps college teams that have Wisconsin remaining on their schedule should give a call to Western Illinois, who held Gordon to 38 yards on 17 carries, easily his worst output of the year. In that game, Gordon averaged just over two yards per carry and didn’t have a rushing touchdown. Clearly Western Illinois could teach a thing or two to Nebraska, which allowed the most rushing yards by an individual player over three quarters that the game has ever seen.

Gordon’s odd outlier performance against Western Illinois this season is so far the only game preventing him from already having 2,000 yards rushing at this point, but with 1,909 rushing yards on the season and at least three more games left to play, Gordon will certainly eclipse that mark and possibly with this game against Nebraska has cemented his status as the Heisman Trophy favorite.

He’d have my vote.

Gordon was running wild on Saturday, but perhaps the most impressive thing I saw from him was just an extra burst to the outside that, despite having been great all year, I don’t know if we’d seen before. He was making people miss in the open field, making big runs where the play had broken down, slipping tackles like there was not even anyone after him, and it was all en route to a phenomenal performance, one that people won’t soon forget.

Certainly not those at Nebraska.

Gordon’s huge game is really a great indicator of just how good he’s been this season, and why I think he’s a sure-fire first round pick. He’s big, fast, strong, can catch the ball despite not having it thrown his way that often, and I really think his game translates well to the NFL right away.