The best single-game performance by a college football running back

Grange owned this game and, really, college football. He took the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. He would quickly score three more touchdowns (67-, 56- and 44-yard scoring runs) in the first quarter. Later, he ran yet another kickoff back for a touchdown and even threw for yet another. 

The "Game of the Century" also had "The Run." Down 20-14 and facing a third-and-7 on their own 36-yard line, the Trojans audibled to a Simpson run, which he broke for the game-winning touchdown. Simpson ran for 177 yards and two TDs with "The Run," a 64-yarder, that is immortalized in an Arnold Friberg oil painting. 

Dorsett ran for 303 yards against the Irish in front of a national audience, setting records for most rushing yards for a Pitt player as well as most yards any player gained against Notre Dame. He also caught a screen pass that went for 49 yards and a touchdown. 

Sometimes it isn't what you do but whom you do it against. Billy Sims ran for 247 yards against Nebraska's No. 1 ranked "Blackshirts" defense in a rivalry game that determined the Big Eight champion. Sims didn't score, but his effort got the Sooners the 17-14 win and the conference title. 

This is kind of a greatest three-game stretch. Kelvin Bryant opened the 1981 season by rushing 19 times for 211 yards and six touchdowns against East Carolina. The following week against Miami-OH, he ran for five more scores. The week after that against Boston College, he popped off four more touchdowns, giving him the best two- and three-week stretch in FBS history. Still, included in that 56-0 blowout against East Carolina is one of the finest performances by a running back.

Allen was shredding defenses during his Heisman Trophy season of 1981, but his outing against Washington State may be his finest day. Allen ran for 289 yards and three TDs in the win over the Cougars. The next week, he'd run for 243 yards against California to break Tony Dorsett's single-season rushing record. 

Sanders had what is arguably the best college football season ever, in 1988. His best game of that year may be his effort against Tulsa, when he rushed 33 times for 304 yards and five TDs. He would break the school record for rushing yards in that game, a feat he'd break two more times as the season went along. 

Thompson's 1989 season was magical. Against Wisconsin, he rushed for 377 yards on 52 carries in a 45-17 rout of the Badgers — both were FBS records at the time. Thompson would go on to finish second in the Heisman voting and set the career touchdown record.

The freshman Faulk wasn't even the Aztecs' starter when this game began. But Faulk, filling in for the injured T.C. Wright, busted open for 386 yards and seven TDs in this blowout victory. This game vaulted Faulk into a 1,400-yard rusher for the season with 23 total touchdowns. 

How about this for a workload: Tony Sands carried the ball 58 times against Missouri back in 1991. Sands, who stood all of 5-foot-6, broke the single-game rushing yardage record (since broken) with 396 yards. What makes it all better is Kansas crushing its rival, Mizzou, 53-29. The 58 carries is still an FBS record.

Not only did Davis run for 378 yards but also for a 40-yard touchdown romp that broke open the game against the Tigers and lifted the Cyclones to the 45-31 win. That year, Davis would finish a close second to Danny Wuerffel in the Heisman voting.

Whatley busted out for 373 yards against Eastern Michigan, breaking the school record for rushing yards in a game by 98 yards. Whatley, the Golden Flashes all-time rushing leader, led Kent State to a second-half comeback to pull out the win, 41-38.

Ricky Williams' 2008 season was spectacular. Against Rice, he would rush for 318 yards and six touchdowns in a 59-12 dismantling of the Owls. The previous week, he was held to just 43 yards against Kansas State but unloaded in the next couple of games. After his performance against Rice, he ran for 350 yards and five TDs the next week against Iowa State.

Dayne's Rose Bowl performance is one of the best ever. He ran for 246 yards, just a yard short of Charles White's Rose Bowl record, and tied the record for four touchdowns in the game. All of it was needed, as UCLA and Wisconsin traded the lead throughout the game. Dayne won the game's MVP Award.

Prentice's 376 rushing yards against Akron set the school and MAC record for a single game. Miami-OH needed every yard in the 32-23 win over the Zips. He would eventually set the career rushing touchdown mark that has since been broken by Wisconsin's Montee Ball.

L.T. simply went off against UTEP, setting the single-game rushing mark. He had touchdown runs of 70 and 63 yards in the final quarter to sail to the FBS record of 406 yards. He had 43 carries on the day and scored six touchdowns. His rushing record would last for 15 years until Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon broke it against Nebraska.

Peterson's 249 yards rushing against Oklahoma State sure is impressive, but what he did in the third quarter of the game was magical. A.P. ran for 161 yards in the third quarter alone. One of those runs included an 80-yard scamper for his lone touchdown. 

Carey set the Pac-12's single-game rushing mark with his 366 yards against Colorado. His five touchdowns set an Arizona school record. The Wildcats were without starting quarterback Matt Scott, so Carey took it upon himself to carry the load. Arizona blew out the Buffs, 56-31.

We'll get to another Gordon game in a bit, but this game was amazing in its own right. Gordon carried the ball just 13 times but gained 253 yards and scored five TDs against Bowling Green. Just a 19.5 yards per carry average ! But he wasn't the only Badger who took off on that day. Tanner McEvoy gained 158 yards rushing, Corey Clement rushed for 111 yards and Dare Ogunbowale rushed for 94 yards. Wisconsin as a team rushed for 644 yards against the Falcons on that day.

Gordon went crazy against the Cornhuskers, rushing 25 times for 408 yards and four TDs. And he did all of this in just three quarters of work. The 408 yards broke LaDainian Tomlinson's 15-year-old record for rushing yards in a single game. 

One week after Melvin Gordon broke the single-game rushing mark, Perine broke it again. He rushed for 427 yards and six TDs in the 44-7 win over the Jayhawks. While Perine's mark is the highest, many viewed what Gordon did against Nebraska as the more impressive feat.

Elliott had a magnificent College Football Playoff championship game. With a national championship on the line and the Buckeyes leading Oregon, 21-20, late in the third quarter, Elliott had three touchdown runs to blow the game wide open. Elliott ran for 246 yards and four TDs in the 42-20 win and another (yet most unlikely) Ohio State national championship.

In one of college football's better shootouts, Ballage tied an FBS record with eight TDs in the Sun Devils' 68-55 win over Texas Tech. Ballage ran for 137 yards and seven touchdowns while receiving another score. The touchdown mark ties that of Illinois' Howard Griffith, who set the mark in 1990.

McCaffrey did a little bit of everything in the Cardinal's 45-16 blasting of Iowa in the 2016 Rose Bowl. He carried the ball 18 times for 172 yards, had four receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown and even had a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown. On the first play from scrimmage, McCaffrey caught a 75-yard pass for a TD. 

Taylor went wild in the 47-44, triple-overtime win over Purdue on a cold, rainy day late in the 2018 season. He rushed for 321 yards and three touchdowns in the victory, including an 80-yard touchdown run and the walk-off touchdown in the third overtime. Diving into this even further, 247 of those rushing yards came after halftime. He had eight runs that went for at least 10 yards and three that went at least 20.