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Tracking the Top Rushing Performances of the 2016-2017 Bowl Season

By Zach Bigalke

Dec 20, 2016; Boca Raton, FL, USA; Western Kentucky Hilltoppers running back Anthony Wales (20) runs the ball against the Memphis Tigers during the first half at FAU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 20, 2016; Boca Raton, FL, USA; Western Kentucky Hilltoppers running back Anthony Wales (20) runs the ball against the Memphis Tigers during the first half at FAU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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Which running backs are putting up breakout games in this year’s bowls? Check in regularly as we track the top rushing performances of the postseason.

The beauty of the college football bowl season is that sublime performances can happen anywhere and come from anyone. A huge rushing game could be around any corner, in the biggest or smallest of bowl games.

Last year’s Heisman winner Derrick Henry posted 158 yards and three touchdowns in Alabama’s biggest game of the season against Clemson. Fellow Heisman finalist Christian McCaffrey notched 172 yards against Iowa in the Rose Bowl. Ezekiel Elliott, currently tearing it up in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, piled up 149 yards and four touchdowns in his final college game against Notre Dame. Yet none of the three came anywhere close to the biggest rushing numbers of the 2015-2016 postseason.

Instead it was Baylor’s Johnny Jefferson who posted the biggest rushing performance of last year’s bowls. Jefferson racked up 299 yards and burned North Carolina for three touchdowns in the Bears’ win in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson offered a preview of his Heisman campaign with a 226-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance in the Music City Bowl against Texas A&M. Along with LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Indiana’s Devine Redding, and Western Michigan’s Jamauri Bogan, these were the five who amassed 200 or more yards in their bowl games in 2015-2016.

Through the first two dozen bowl games played as of December 28, there have already been four 200-yard rushing performances. Nobody has passed Jefferson’s mark yet from last season yet. But with some of the nation’s top backs still waiting to play in New Year’s Six contests there is still plenty of time. The potential is there for this year’s postseason to eclipse the number of 200-yard rushing games from last year.

We will be tracking every rushing effort of 100 yards or more throughout the rest of the 2016-2017 bowl schedule, so check back regularly to see if there have been any more monster showings from some of the nation’s top runners.

Despite guys like McCaffrey and Fournette not playing in bowl games, there’s no denying that there were some impressive outings from running backs this bowl season.

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