RUSHIN’ REVOLUTION
Gordon’s game transcends rankings, makes him Heisman favorite
MADISON, Wis.— College football has become so obsessed about its playoff and committee rankings, one could wonder whether Tuesday is the most important day of the week, not Saturdays when the games are actually played.
But Wisconsin running Melvin Gordon reminded us otherwise Saturday. In his team’s 59-24 win over Nebraska, Gordon rushed for 408 yards, a single-game FBS record, breaking the 1999 mark of LaDainian Tomlinson (406 yards) of TCU.
Tuesday’s weekly unveiling of the rankings is scripted reality TV. College football is unscripted.
“You never know when you’re going to have a special day to be honest,” Gordon said. “When they do [come], it’s a great feeling.”
Not just for the players, but the fans as well.
Here’s a guarantee: The 80,539 people on hand at Camp Randall, a stadium that has seen so many great performances from running backs, will all remember Saturday.
The best part? It was a performance that came from a player on a team with no chance of making the College Football Playoff.
They don’t call what happened Saturday a Heisman-like performance. It was something better. It was a once-in-ageneration performance.
It was college football’s version of a perfect game.
To win the Heisman, a running back needs a performance like that. Since the Badgers’ Ron Dayne won the Heisman in 1999, only two running backs— Mark Ingram and Reggie Bush— have won the award.
A running back has to be otherworldly.
“Those decisions are going to be made by other people,” Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen said. “I’m just telling you if I made that decision, it’s going to this guy right here in any way, shape or form.”
If Saturday’s performance doesn’t make Gordon the frontrunner, then the Heisman is simply a quarterback award.
Heading into Saturday, Gordon was the nation’s leading rusher with 1,501 yards. The secondleading rusher, Indiana’s Tevin Coleman (1,371 yards), ran for 307 yards in a loss at Rutgers on Saturday, but was overshadowed by Gordon of course.
And Gordon did it all— including four touchdowns— in just three quarters. He didn’t play in the fourth.
“Words really can’t explain how I feel or my teammates feel,” Gordon said. “It said ‘Melvin Gordon’ and ‘408 yards’ but it should say all the offensive lineman up there.” That was the right thing to say. What would have been more apropos would be for the Badgers to have put the names of Gordon’s predecessors on their scoreboard. It would go to suggest how meaningful Saturday was to Gordon’s legacy at Wisconsin.
Dayne holds the record for most career rushing yards (7,125). Former Badger Montee Ball holds the record for most rushing touchdowns (77) and total touchdowns (83).
The student section chanted “Heisman” at Gordon who was unaware of the record until someone had mentioned it.
He was more focused on the whipping his team gave Nebraska that included 56 unanswered points after the Badgers found themselves down 17-3. With the win, Wisconsin is in control of the West Division.
“This game meant a lot,” Gordon said. “Forget about the statistics.”
We can’t. No one will.