1000 yards

[SWC75]

Jerome Smith just became our 11th 1000 yard rusher, (they've done it 16 times). I brought to mind this post I did last year. I'm not going to update it yet because Jerome's performance in the bowl game will count, too. He's currently averaging 84.9 yards per game.

1000 Yards

Antwon Bailey just became the tenth Syracuse running back to gain 1000 yards rushing in a season, (they’ve done it a total of 15 times). It’s an impressive feat, especially considering that he had to carry virtually the whole load for the team in providing a running attack and most of his carries were between the tackles when he’s the sort of back who operates best “in space”.
But 1000 yards doesn’t mean what it used to mean. In a 12 game season, that’s 83 yards per game. In an 11 game season it’s 91 yards per game. In a 10 game season it’s 1000 yards a game. In a 9 game season, it’s 111 yards per game. In an 8 game season, (such as Jim Brown’s senior year), it’s 125 yards per game. That’s quite a difference. It seems obvious that football needs to be evaluated on a “per game” basis just as basketball is, not with season totals.

The SU Media guide lists the top ten players in average rushing yards per game in the school’s history. I decided to a bit beyond that and list all the players who have averaged 80 yards per game. In doing this, I’m considering the length of season. I haven’t researched if a player missed a game due to injury or suspension. Also: Delone Carter’s 2010 totals include the Pinstripe Bowl. I did look up the bowl totals for the other players on the list and included them. (This added the following 1000 yard seasons to the list: Jim Brown, 1956, Jim Nance, 1964, Floyd Little 1966, David Walker, 1991, Malcolm Thomas, 1996, making it 14 players doing it 20 times). A further consideration is that during the one platoon era, the first team would play perhaps half the game and play on both offense and defense. That would have impacted both Jim Brown and Ernie Davis, (although not necessarily George Davis, as split platoons were allowed in 1949). From the 1987 team through about Curtis Brinkley’s senior year, we tended to alternate backs, rather than have a feature back, except for James Mungro’s and Walter Reyes’ senior years. Finally, the numbers are only available since 1945.

Joe Morris 127.25 in 1979
Jim Brown 125.33 in 1956 (that would be 1504 yards in 12 games and he would have scored 21 touchdowns)
Larry Csonka 112.70 in 1967
Walter Reyes 112.25 in 2003
Joe Morris 108.55 in 1981
Floyd Little 106.50 in 1965
Larry Csonka 102.36 in 1966
Malcolm Thomas 99.27 in 1996
James Mungro 98.62 in 2001
Ernie Davis 97.44 in 1960
Curtis Brinkley 97.00 in 2008
Delone Carter 94.85 in 2010
Walter Reyes 94.58 in 2002
Michael Owens 94.17 in 1989
Floyd Little 93.36 in 1966 (the only year we had two guys average 80 yards per game: Floyd averaged 79.45 in 1964 and Larry 79.50 in 1965)
Jim Nance 92.82 in 1964
Joe Morris 91.00 in 1978
George Davis 89.40 in 1949
Antwon Bailey 87.58 in 2011
Ernie Davis 87.55 in 1961 (Ernie ran for 13 TDs in 11 games that year playing both ways)
David Walker 85.75 in 1991
Delone Carter 85.08 in 2009
Jim Brown 83.25 in 1955

 

[rrlbees]

Yards per game don't mean a lot either if you either aren't a running team or if the offense is designed for multiple backs.

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[upperdeck]

really shows how special joe morris was.. he really should have done it all 4 years and would have been one of the first to do so..

 

[SWC75]

Yards per game don't mean a lot either if you either aren't a running team or if the offense is designed for multiple backs.

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One platoon football also matters. The same group played offense and defesne and then would be repalced by another group that played both ways and maybe a third team. Brown and Davis didn't get the carries per game they would get now.

Ultimately the test of a stat is: are the right names at the top? I'd say they are here.

 

[SUskibum]

Yards per game don't mean a lot either if you either aren't a running team or if the offense is designed for multiple backs.

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Also doesnt include pass recieving yards as more and more backs are given touches on screens, wheel routes, etc to get them out in space. Yards from scrimmage and YPC are really the best measures. But certainly rushing YPG is better than Total Rushing yards.

Not to say i dont appreciate SWC still doing more than most when giving us perspective on our Orange!

 

[rrlbees]

One platoon football also matters. The same group played offense and defesne and then would be repalced by another group that played both ways and maybe a third team. Brown and Davis didn't get the carries per game they would get now.

Ultimately the test of a stat is: are the right names at the top? I'd say they are here.

If you discount total yards for specific reasons, you have to discount yards per game for specific reasons. Yards per carry with some min number if carries gets it to the basics.

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[SWC75]

If you discount total yards for specific reasons, you have to discount yards per game for specific reasons. Yards per carry with some min number if carries gets it to the basics.

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I'll add that in when I update it. I think you'll see the same names at the top. All statistics have asterisks next to them. But the fact that Jim brown never poassed the 1000 barrier, (and neither did Ernie Davis), while Jerome Smith did required a different perspective.