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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 423629, member: 289"] 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 [/QUOTE]

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