Which 10 Players Have The Most Single-Game Rushing Yards in FBS History?

The college football world will debate who the best running back in the history of the sport is and who had the best Heisman Trophy season for eternity. But what about a factual ranking of the best individual games by a running back?

Here are the 10 players with the most rushing yards in a single game in FBS history.

10 Players With The Most Single-Game Rushing Yards in FBS History10. Miami (OH) RB Travis Prentice: 376 (1999)

Prentice had himself a day against Akron, rushing for 376 yards and three touchdowns. He helped the RedHawks get a tough 32-23 home victory. Two of Prentice's rushing scores went 70-plus yards, while he finished the game with 411 combined yards from scrimmage (376 rushing yards, 35 receiving yards).

T-8. Indiana RB Anthony Thompson: 377 (1989)

Indiana cruised to a 45-17 road win over Wisconsin thanks to a monumental performance from Thompson. Given the call on the run 52 times, Thompson rushed for 377 yards and four touchdowns. This came in a season where Thompson was the runner-up for the 1989 Heisman Trophy.

T-8. Central Michigan RB Robbie Mixon: 377 (2002)

Central Michigan had its way with Eastern Michigan on a November day in 2002, dominating on the ground en route to a 47-21 road victory. Mixon rushed for 377 yards and four touchdowns on 8.8 yards per carry.

7. Iowa State RB Troy Davis: 378 (1996)

Iowa State defended its home turf against Missouri, 45-31, and Davis rushed for 378 yards and four touchdowns in that game. Davis rushed for a nation-best 2,185 rushing yards and a Big 12-high 21 touchdowns in the 1996 season, earning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors.

6. San Diego State RB Marshall Faulk: 386 (1991)

The Aztecs handed the ball off to Faulk, and he did the rest. Rushing for 386 yards and seven touchdowns, Faulk, who was playing in just his second career collegiate game, helped SDSU get a 55-34 win at home over the University of Pacific. In his 1991 freshman campaign, Faulk rushed for 1,429 yards and 21 yards on 7.1 yards per carry, which each led the Western Athletic Conference.

5. Kansas RB Tony Sands: 396 (1991)

Kansas put up a 50 spot on Missouri, getting a 53-29 home victory. In what was the 100th all-time meeting between the two programs in neighboring states, Sands ran away with the spotlight — literally — rushing for 396 yards and four touchdowns in what would be his last collegiate game. Sands finished the season with a Big 8-high 1,442 rushing yards.

4. TCU RB LaDainian Tomlinson: 406 (1999)

The two-time WAC Offensive Player of the Year led TCU to a resounding, 52-24 home victory over UTEP. Tomlinson rushed for 406 yards and six touchdowns, with two of those scores going for 60-plus yards. In what was his junior season, Tomlinson rushed for 1,850 yards and 18 touchdowns on 6.9 yards per carry in 1999, which all led the WAC.

3. Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon: 408 (2014)

There were a whopping 108 combined passing yards in this ranked Big Ten matchup between Wisconsin and Nebraska. One reason for that was snow. Another reason was a running back on the winning team rushing for 408 yards. Indeed, Gordon rushed for 408 yards and four touchdowns on an astounding 16.3 yards per carry. Gordon, who rushed for a nation-best 2,587 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2014, and the Badgers earned a convincing 59-24 victory.

2. Buffalo RB Jaret Patterson: 409 (2020)

Buffalo scored 70 points on Kent State and threw for just 148 yards. How could that be? The answer is Jaret Patterson, who rushed for 409 yards and EIGHT touchdowns on 11.4 yards per carry. Patterson went on to rush for a MAC-high 1,072 yards and 19 touchdowns on 7.6 yards per carry in six games in 2020 (the 2020 college football season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic), helping him earn MAC Player of the Year honors.

1. Oklahoma RB Samaje Perine: 427 (2014)

It poured, and it didn't matter: Kansas couldn't stop Perine. The Oklahoma running back rushed for an FBS-record 427 yards and five touchdowns, with each of his rushing scores going for at least 25 yards. Oklahoma, which only threw for 39 yards, got a thumping, 44-7 home victory. In the 2014 season, Perine, a freshman, rushed for 1,713 yards and 21 touchdowns, which each led the Big 12, on 6.5 yards per carry.

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