Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon had his fifth 200-yard game of the season and his third in a row Saturday, helping the Badgers down Iowa, 26-24. In the process, Gordon became the fastest in FBS history to reach the 2,000-yard plateau.
Gordon had 200 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries Saturday and reached the 2,000-yard mark on his 241st carry of the season; the previous record was held by Penn State's Larry Johnson, who reached 2,000 yards on his 251st carry in 2002. Gordon has rushed for 2,109 yards this season -- tying the Big Ten single-season rushing record set by Wisconsin's Ron Dayne in 1996 -- and is the 17th player in FBS history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
Gordon is averaging 191.7 yards per game and has at least two games remaining this season; if the Badgers beat Minnesota next week, they win the Big Ten West Division title and will play in the Big Ten championship game, which means Gordon might have three games left. If so, he is on pace for 2,684 yards. The FBS single-season rushing mark is 2,628 yards, set by Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders in 1988.
Gordon's TD runs included a 23-yarder that gave the Badgers a 26-17 lead with 7:44 left in the game. His 241st carry of the season went for 88 yards and came midway through the third quarter, setting up a short field goal that gave the Badgers a 19-3 lead.
Gordon rushed for 408 yards last week to set a FBS single-game record -- a mark that was broken Saturday by Oklahoma's Samaje Perine. He has rushed for 813 yards and seven touchdowns on 81 carries in the past three games.
His 2,109 yards have come on 254 carries, meaning he is averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. He also has scored 26 rushing touchdowns and is seeking to become just the fifth player with at least 30 rushing touchdowns in a season. The others: Sanders (37 in '88), Wisconsin's Montee Ball (33 in 2011) and Colorado State's Kapri Bibbs and Navy's Keenan Reynolds (both had 31 last season).
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
