With bowl season upon us, let’s check in on the national leaders in the major statistical categories.
LSU’s Leonard Fournette ranks first in rushing with 158.3 yards a game, the lowest average for a leader since Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey was at 148.4 in 2012. Heisman Trophy front-runner Derrick Henry of Alabama has the most rushing yards, with 1,986 in 13 games, and is second to Fournette with 152.8 a game.
Washington State’s Luke Falk, who hasn’t played since sustaining a concussion in the third quarter against Colorado Nov. 21, remains the passing yards leader at 387.8 yards a game, well ahead of Bowling Green’s Matt Johnson (361.5). Falk has completed 71 percent of his passes and thrown 36 touchdowns against eight interceptions.
TCU’s Josh Doctson, who missed the last two regular-season games with a wrist injury, tops the receiving chart at 132.7 yards a game. Tulsa’s Keyarris Garrett is second at 120.9.
Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey is the all-purpose leader (268.9 ypg) and Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech is first in total offense (397.3 ypg).
A look at some of the best performances this past weekend:
HE DID IT ALL: Stanford’s McCaffrey broke Barry Sanders’ single-season record for all-purpose yards with a virtuoso performance against Southern California in the Pac-12 championship game. McCaffrey had 32 carries for 207 yards and a touchdown – the best rushing performance of the week – and also had 105 yards receiving and 149 return yards. His 461 all-purpose yards were a Stanford record and the most this season. His season total of 3,496 bettered Sanders’ 3,250 yards in 1988, though McCaffrey took two extra games to do it.
CARRYING THE LOAD: Alabama’s Henry ran 44 times for 189 yards in the SEC championship game against Florida. That heavy load followed a 46-carry, 271-yard outing against Auburn on Nov. 28. Henry’s 1,986 yards this season broke the SEC record of 1,891 by Georgia’s Herschel Walker in 1981. Henry’s 23 touchdowns tied the SEC record.
BIG PASSING DAYS: Western Kentucky’s Brandon Doughty, Georgia State’s Nick Arbuckle and Troy’s Brandon Silvers had the weekend’s best passing days. Doughty was 34 of 52 for 410 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception, in the Conference USA title game against Southern Mississippi. Arbuckle passed for 346 yards and three TDs against Georgia Southern. Silvers was an efficient 22 of 28 for 320 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions against Louisiana-Lafayette.
BREAKING UP NOT SO HARD TO DO: Houston’s William Jackson broke up seven passes in the American Athletic Conference title game against Temple. That’s most in the nation this season. Jackson has a school-record 21 breakups.
TACKLE AFTER TACKLE: Kansas State linebacker Charmeachealle Moore became the third player to make 16 solo tackles in a game, doing it against West Virginia.
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AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org
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