ESPN Stats & Information 9y

Perine breaks a not-so-long-standing record

Melvin Gordon’s single-game FBS rushing-yards record lasted one week.Oklahoma freshman Samaje Perine broke that mark by rushing for 427 yards and five touchdowns in the Sooners’ 44-7 rout of Kansas.

Gordon had set the record with 408 yards on Nov. 15 against Nebraska. The man whose record Gordon broke, LaDainian Tomlinson, had held the record for 5,474 days.

Perine’s progression through the record books went like this …

First he broke Greg Pruitt’s 43-year-old school record for rushing yards in a single game with 294. Next was the Big 12 record (378), set by Troy Davis of Iowa State against Missouri in 1996.

Then came the freshman record of 386 yards, set by Marshall Faulk of San Diego State against Pacific in 1991.

Last, but certainly not least, was Gordon’s mark.

This marked the second time that the FBS record was broken twice in the same season. The last instance was in 1991, when Faulk rushed for 386 and Tony Sands of Kansas topped that with 396 yards against Missouri.

Perine also became the first FBS player to rush for more than 200 yards in both halves.

Stat of the day: yards in big chunks

Perine had eight 20-yard runs for the game, one more than Gordon.

Perine had more 20-yard rushes on Saturday (eight) than 19 FBS teams have had all season.

^ Back to Top ^