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2013 College Football rushing stats

Below are rushing stats for 2013's FBS rushers. They are what will appear in my 2014 previews when they begin next week (!!!), so let's talk about them a bit.

By Bill C.
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the categories you'll find both below and in the Google Doc spreadsheet linked at the bottom of the post:

2013 Position and Class. Position is the player's listed position from when the rosters were pulled in August; they could have changed.

Rushes, Yards, Yards per Carry. Self-explanatory.

Highlight Opportunities, Highlight Yards, Highlight Yards per Opportunity. Highlight yards are a concept I first discussed at Football Outsiders in 2010.

A few months ago, FO introduced the idea of "Second Level Yards" and "Open Field Yards" for NFL running backs. These were the remaining yards that were left after each break in the baselines for Adjusted Line Yards. I've done the same thing here for college backs, with two differences. First, we're adding together both "Second Level" Yards (5-10 past the line) and "Open Field" Yards (11+ past the line). Second, we're counting only half the Second Level Yards, just as the line gets half credit for these yards. We'll call this stat "Highlight Yards," because these longer runs are the ones that show up on the highlight shows. A three-yard run gets zero Highlight Yards. A 70-yard run gets 63 Highlight Yards. The more Highlight Yards, the more explosive the runner was, and the less his overall yardage and POE totals were due to the offensive line blocking for him.

Highlight Opportunities, meanwhile, signify the number of opportunities a runner got at least five yards downfield. If Line Yards deem the line mostly responsible for the first few yards (and 50% responsible for the few yards that follow), then quantifying "opportunities" basically tells us how many times the line did its job. I am using Opportunities for the Highlight Yardage average, which is different than what you may have seen in the past (when I used Highlight Yards per Carry).

Opportunity Rate. This is the ratio of Highlight Opportunities to carries, or the percentage of a player's carries that gained at least five yards. We know intuitively that the first five yards aren't ONLY the line's responsibility, so this helps differentiate players from teammates a bit. It also helps to give us both explosiveness (Highlight Yards per Opp) and efficiency (Opp Rate) aspects to a runner's profile.

Team Opportunity Rate. This is the Opportunity Rate for the player's entire team.

I'm kind of at an in-between point with rushing stats. Adj. POE (explained in the same FO link above) has been a go-to of sorts through the years, but I've concluded that it's just not good enough to use any further. It doesn't do a good enough job of quantifying line impact, and it's just terribly inconsistent from year to year. I don't have a replacement yet, however, so for this year's SBN previews, I'll just be sharing the raw highlight yardage and opportunity rates and going from there. If somebody wants to jump in and help create a more comprehensive rushing stat, bring it on.

One thing you'll notice: Quarterbacks have, on average, much higher Opportunity Rates than running backs. This makes sense considering the element of surprise for most quarterbacks. Even designed quarterback rushes often have a secondary, "fooled you" vibe, and a lot of QB rushes (scrambles) aren't planned at all. So players like Johnny Manziel, who tended to only choose to run when things were wide open as he got banged up later in the 2013 season, have a really high Opportunity Rate, and it wasn't really the line's doing.

Anyway, here you go. Enjoy. The Top 100 rushers according to Highlight Yards are listed below, and here's a Google Spreadsheet with everybody's stats. Download, tinker, create, etc. (In the file, the "Rank" listed for each player is for only the 252 players with at least 84 carries.)

Receiver stats coming later this week.

Offense Player Position Class Rushes Yards Yds/
Carry		 Hlt Opps Hlt Yds Rk Hlt/
Opp		 Opp Rate Team Opp Rate
Boston College Andre Williams RB SR 355 2177 6.13 133 1063.7 1 8.00 37.5% 38.1%
Northern Illinois Jordan Lynch QB SR 282 1980 7.02 140 868.0 2 6.20 49.6% 49.3%
Wisconsin Melvin Gordon RB SO 206 1609 7.81 110 782.2 3 7.11 53.4% 48.8%
Colorado State Kapri Bibbs RB SO 281 1741 6.20 113 770.7 4 6.82 40.2% 40.9%
Washington Bishop Sankey RB JR 327 1866 5.71 138 751.2 5 5.44 42.2% 41.9%
Western Kentucky Antonio Andrews RB SR 267 1730 6.48 128 709.8 6 5.55 47.9% 43.4%
Wisconsin James White RB SR 221 1444 6.53 95 700.5 7 7.37 43.0% 48.8%
BYU Taysom Hill QB SO 209 1573 7.53 113 690.9 8 6.11 54.1% 42.3%
Nebraska Ameer Abdullah RB JR 281 1690 6.01 123 667.9 9 5.43 43.8% 42.5%
Ohio State Braxton Miller QB JR 150 1201 8.01 79 662.9 10 8.39 52.7% 55.7%
Bowling Green Travis Greene RB SO 279 1594 5.71 125 648.1 11 5.18 44.8% 45.6%
Arizona Ka'Deem Carey RB JR 350 1889 5.40 143 636.2 12 4.45 40.9% 42.7%
LSU Jeremy Hill RB SO 203 1401 6.90 92 627.9 13 6.83 45.3% 42.6%
Auburn Tre Mason RB JR 317 1816 5.73 140 600.3 14 4.29 44.2% 48.4%
Ohio State Carlos Hyde RB SR 208 1521 7.31 119 598.2 15 5.03 57.2% 55.7%
Stanford Tyler Gaffney RB SR 329 1700 5.17 123 597.5 16 4.86 37.4% 39.4%
Baylor Lache Seastrunk RB JR 158 1170 7.41 80 577.2 17 7.22 50.6% 43.0%
Missouri Henry Josey RB JR 174 1166 6.70 72 573.2 18 7.96 41.4% 45.5%
Auburn Nick Marshall QB JR 153 1193 7.80 86 566.7 19 6.59 56.2% 48.4%
Indiana Tevin Coleman RB SO 131 958 7.31 47 562.0 20 11.96 35.9% 42.0%
Boise State Jay Ajayi RB SO 249 1425 5.72 100 558.1 21 5.58 40.2% 39.5%
Navy Keenan Reynolds QB SO 283 1466 5.18 112 551.1 22 4.92 39.6% 46.0%
Buffalo Branden Oliver RB SR 310 1535 4.95 120 541.8 23 4.52 38.7% 37.2%
Utah State Joey DeMartino RB SR 221 1221 5.52 84 537.8 24 6.40 38.0% 37.3%
Alabama T.J. Yeldon RB SO 207 1235 5.97 87 531.8 25 6.11 42.0% 48.0%
Offense Player Position Class Rushes Yards Yds/
Carry		 Hlt Opps Hlt Yds Rk Hlt/
Opp		 Opp Rate Team Opp Rate
Army Terry Baggett RB JR 141 1113 7.89 82 522.1 26 6.37 58.2% 41.2%
South Carolina Mike Davis RB SO 203 1183 5.83 82 514.2 27 6.27 40.4% 40.8%
BYU Jamaal Williams RB SO 217 1233 5.68 80 509.9 28 6.37 36.9% 42.3%
San Diego State Adam Muema RB JR 256 1244 4.86 93 503.5 29 5.41 36.3% 36.1%
Oregon Marcus Mariota QB SO 78 856 10.97 52 486.4 30 9.35 66.7% 49.0%
Rice Charles Ross RB SR 211 1280 6.07 102 484.0 31 4.75 48.3% 41.7%
Tulsa Trey Watts RB SR 268 1329 4.96 103 479.4 32 4.65 38.4% 34.6%
Central Florida Storm Johnson RB JR 213 1139 5.35 75 476.8 33 6.36 35.2% 37.9%
Michigan State Jeremy Langford RB JR 292 1422 4.87 126 475.0 34 3.77 43.2% 40.9%
West Virginia Charles Sims RB SR 208 1095 5.26 72 470.6 35 6.54 34.6% 34.9%
New Mexico Kasey Carrier RB SR 189 1119 5.92 78 465.8 36 5.97 41.3% 46.5%
Minnesota David Cobb RB JR 237 1202 5.07 81 464.1 37 5.73 34.2% 38.9%
Wyoming Brett Smith QB JR 99 742 7.49 45 463.5 38 10.30 45.5% 40.1%
Arizona B.J. Denker QB SR 164 1023 6.24 82 454.4 39 5.54 50.0% 42.7%
UNLV Tim Cornett RB SR 264 1284 4.86 90 452.5 40 5.03 34.1% 35.3%
Toledo David Fluellen RB SR 166 1114 6.71 77 452.1 41 5.87 46.4% 46.0%
East Carolina Vintavious Cooper RB SR 230 1193 5.19 91 450.2 42 4.95 39.6% 38.2%
Georgia Tech Robert Godhigh RB SR 79 744 9.42 44 449.7 43 10.22 55.7% 44.1%
Louisiana Tech Kenneth Dixon RB SO 151 917 6.07 68 447.8 44 6.59 45.0% 44.0%
Eastern Michigan Bronson Hill RB JR 195 1093 5.61 78 446.1 45 5.72 40.0% 38.4%
North Texas Brandin Byrd RB SR 202 1075 5.32 71 443.5 46 6.25 35.1% 35.2%
UL-Lafayette Elijah McGuire RB FR 103 853 8.28 51 440.6 47 8.64 49.5% 43.9%
Oklahoma Brennan Clay RB SR 175 957 5.47 67 438.3 48 6.54 38.3% 41.8%
Marshall Steward Butler RB SO 87 765 8.79 41 435.9 49 10.63 47.1% 40.6%
Oregon Byron Marshall RB SO 168 1038 6.18 78 433.3 50 5.56 46.4% 49.0%
Offense Player Position Class Rushes Yards Yds/
Carry		 Hlt Opps Hlt Yds Rk Hlt/
Opp		 Opp Rate Team Opp Rate
UCLA Brett Hundley QB SO 125 949 7.59 68 432.7 51 6.36 54.4% 39.9%
Tennessee Rajion Neal RB SR 215 1124 5.23 83 428.8 52 5.17 38.6% 44.3%
Florida State Devonta Freeman RB JR 173 1016 5.87 73 426.3 53 5.84 42.2% 47.5%
Kansas State John Hubert RB SR 198 1048 5.29 87 422.1 54 4.85 43.9% 43.1%
Miami-FL Duke Johnson RB SO 145 920 6.34 63 409.6 55 6.50 43.4% 42.5%
Marshall Essray Taliaferro RB SR 221 1140 5.16 82 408.6 56 4.98 37.1% 40.6%
Air Force Anthony LaCoste RB SR 135 890 6.59 56 405.7 57 7.24 41.5% 42.3%
USC Javorius Allen RB SO 134 774 5.78 52 403.5 58 7.76 38.8% 38.4%
New Mexico Cole Gautsche QB SO 115 872 7.58 63 400.6 59 6.36 54.8% 46.5%
Kansas James Sims RB SR 230 1110 4.83 91 398.5 60 4.38 39.6% 37.2%
Arkansas Alex Collins RB FR 190 1026 5.40 80 398.0 61 4.98 42.1% 42.5%
Mississippi State Dak Prescott QB SO 126 897 7.12 63 395.5 62 6.28 50.0% 40.4%
Wyoming Shaun Wick RB SO 166 979 5.90 68 395.2 63 5.81 41.0% 40.1%
Indiana Stephen Houston RB SR 112 753 6.72 51 394.4 64 7.73 45.5% 42.0%
Rutgers Paul James RB JR 156 881 5.65 63 384.6 65 6.10 40.4% 36.1%
Clemson Roderick McDowell RB SR 189 1025 5.42 86 377.6 66 4.39 45.5% 42.5%
Baylor Shock Linwood RB FR 128 881 6.88 61 377.1 67 6.18 47.7% 43.0%
Georgia Todd Gurley RB SO 165 989 5.99 76 375.1 68 4.94 46.1% 39.5%
Arkansas Jonathan Williams RB SO 150 900 6.00 62 373.3 69 6.02 41.3% 42.5%
Texas State Robert Lowe RB SO 164 945 5.76 68 369.0 70 5.43 41.5% 41.2%
Maryland C.J. Brown QB SR 118 736 6.24 44 368.2 71 8.37 37.3% 37.2%
Arizona State Marion Grice RB SR 191 996 5.21 81 365.4 72 4.51 42.4% 41.5%
Northern Illinois Cameron Stingily RB JR 203 1119 5.51 98 363.1 73 3.71 48.3% 49.3%
Akron Jawon Chisholm RB JR 188 892 4.74 60 359.7 74 6.00 31.9% 37.0%
Florida State Karlos Williams DB JR 91 730 8.02 48 357.6 75 7.45 52.7% 47.5%
Offense Player Position Class Rushes Yards Yds/
Carry		 Hlt Opps Hlt Yds Rk Hlt/
Opp		 Opp Rate Team Opp Rate
Auburn Corey Grant RB JR 66 647 9.80 38 357.4 76 9.41 57.6% 48.4%
UAB Jordan Howard RB FR 145 881 6.08 64 354.8 77 5.54 44.1% 42.3%
Arkansas State Michael Gordon RB SO 112 754 6.73 46 354.0 78 7.70 41.1% 42.7%
Ball State Jahwan Edwards RB JR 212 1110 5.24 89 353.8 79 3.98 42.0% 39.6%
San Diego State Donnel Pumphrey RB FR 125 752 6.02 46 353.2 80 7.68 36.8% 36.1%
Michigan Devin Gardner QB JR 131 748 5.71 62 351.2 81 5.66 47.3% 34.5%
South Florida Marcus Shaw RB SR 156 765 4.90 46 349.7 82 7.60 29.5% 27.3%
Florida Atlantic Jaquez Johnson QB SO 152 870 5.72 68 347.0 83 5.10 44.7% 35.0%
Syracuse Jerome Smith RB JR 200 914 4.57 61 342.8 84 5.62 30.5% 36.8%
LSU Terrence Magee RB JR 86 626 7.28 39 338.1 85 8.67 45.3% 42.6%
Virginia Kevin Parks RB JR 227 1031 4.54 73 337.8 86 4.63 32.2% 34.8%
Louisville Dominique Brown RB JR 163 825 5.06 63 335.4 87 5.32 38.7% 42.6%
Maryland Brandon Ross RB SO 166 776 4.67 65 335.3 88 5.16 39.2% 37.2%
UAB Darrin Reaves RB JR 202 934 4.62 70 332.4 89 4.75 34.7% 42.3%
Toledo Kareem Hunt RB FR 137 866 6.32 66 332.0 90 5.03 48.2% 46.0%
Texas A&M Johnny Manziel QB SO 124 899 7.25 80 330.1 91 4.13 64.5% 51.4%
Ohio Beau Blankenship RB SR 204 910 4.46 58 326.8 92 5.63 28.4% 34.6%
Illinois Josh Ferguson RB SO 141 779 5.52 55 323.9 93 5.89 39.0% 40.7%
Arizona State Taylor Kelly QB JR 134 784 5.85 56 316.0 94 5.64 41.8% 41.5%
Pittsburgh James Conner RB FR 146 799 5.47 60 313.9 95 5.23 41.1% 43.5%
Oregon Thomas Tyner RB FR 115 698 6.07 50 313.0 96 6.26 43.5% 49.0%
Ball State Horactio Banks RB SO 95 595 6.26 36 306.7 97 8.52 37.9% 39.6%
Oklahoma State Desmond Roland RB JR 176 811 4.61 58 304.2 98 5.24 33.0% 37.8%
Kansas State Daniel Sams QB SO 150 823 5.49 70 303.2 99 4.33 46.7% 43.1%
New Mexico Crusoe Gongbay RB JR 97 592 6.10 34 298.2 100 8.77 35.1% 46.5%

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