College Football 2017: Ranking each conference by its running backs
By Dana Becker
1. Go west, young man
When you feature the top-ranked rusher in the nation, it’s pretty easy to say you sit at No. 1.
Stanford’s Bryce Love has put together an incredible month-plus of running the ball. He has 1,387 yards on just 135 carries this year with 11 touchdowns. That equals out to 10-plus yards per carry and 198 yards per game.
This past weekend, Love broke free for almost 150 yards in the first quarter and hardly saw the ball after that as the Cardinal dominated Oregon.
Speaking of the Ducks, they were given a huge boost when Royce Freeman decided to return for his senior season. Freeman sits ninth with 797 yards on the ground this season, averaging over 100 per game. While not quite on Love’s level, Freeman has scored 10 touchdowns.
Southern Cal’s Ronald Jones has battled injuries and a deep backfield of highly-ranked recruits to record 640 yards in six games with eight touchdowns. Jones appears to be healthy for the moment, which is a huge addition for Sam Darnold and the Trojans.
Myles Gaskin gets overshadowed by quarterback Jake Browning and wide receiver Dante Pettis, but the Washington back continues to churn out yards. He has 626 on the year with eight touchdowns.
One name that continues to remain under the radar is Oregon State’s Ryan Nall. The junior has been hit with injuries for much of his Beaver career, but has had a strong year so far with 513 yards on just 86 carries and seven TDs.
Even including quarterbacks, all of those players rank inside the Top-50 in the nation for yards rushing.