Melvin Gordon's streak of 175-yard games ended at four, but he still rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns Saturday as Wisconsin thrashed Maryland, 52-7.
Gordon's output was part of the Badgers' 311-yard day on the ground, but the defense really was the star of the show, holding Maryland to just 175 total yards.
Gordon's outing was his fifth 100-yard game in a row and his sixth of the season; it also was his third game with at least three rushing touchdowns. He has five such games in the past two seasons, two more than any other Power Five conference player.
He went into the weekend as the nation's leading rusher at 174.3 yards per game; his average has dropped to 166.9, which should put him second nationally, behind Indiana's Telvin Coleman (170.3). Coleman and IU were off Saturday.
All three of Gordon's touchdowns came in the first half; he scored on a 6-yard run in the first quarter, and added runs of 1 and 3 yards in the second quarter as the Badgers built a 24-0 halftime lead.
Gordon had 45 yards on 13 carries in the first half, and he sat out the fourth quarter with the game well in hand. An AFC team executive recently told NFL Media analysts that Gordon "is better than any of the runners from the last draft class."
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.