![Jonathan Taylor went over the 2,000 yards rushing mark for the season on Thursday. [Image Source: Flickr | Bin Bug]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/12/28/660x290/b_502x220x82/jonathan-taylor-went-over-the-2000-yards-rushing-mark-for-the-season-on-thursday-image-source-flickr-bin-bug_2171913.jpg "Jonathan Taylor went over the 2,000 yards rushing mark for the season on Thursday. [Image Source: Flickr | Bin Bug]")
In Thursday’s Pinstripe Bowl, Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor rushed for 205 yards in a 35-3 blowout victory over Miami. That gives the sophomore 2,194 rushing yards for the season. According to ESPN, he became the third Wisconsin player after Melvin Gordon and Ron Dayne to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
That is the seventh-most rushing yards in a year by a player in FCS history. Here are the six players that ended a college season with more rushing yards than Taylor.
(Note: Bowl stats did not count towards a player’s stats until the 2002 season.)
Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State - 2,628 yards (1988)
Sanders' historic season saw him average nearly 239 yards rushing an outing. He rushed for no less than 154 yards in every game and scored 37 touchdowns on the ground. His incredible season culminated in his winning of the Heisman Trophy.
Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin - 2,587 yards (2014)
The 2014 season saw Gordon take home Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors. His 408 yards rushing on November 15 of that year against Nebraska was a FBS-record until it was broken the following week by Oklahoma's Samaje Perine who finished with 427.
Kevin Smith, UCF - 2,567 yards (2007)
Smith finished eighth in Heisman voting for the 2007 season, a year which he set a FBS-record with 450 rushing attempts. The workhorse back received at least 33 carries in eight of his 14 games that season.
Marcus Allen, USC - 2,427 yards (1981)
The 1981 Heisman Trophy winner, Allen is just one of three players in FBS history to average over 200 rushing yards per game in a season. A 2012 article on Bleacher Report named Allen's 1981 year as the best individual season in Pac-12 history.
Rashaad Penny, San Diego State - 2,428 yards (2017)
The 2017 Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year, Penny finished fifth in last year's Heisman Trophy voting. He ended his superb season with at least 203 yards on the ground in each of his last five games.
Derrick Henry, Alabama - 2,219 yards (2015)
Henry won the Heisman Trophy in 2015, a season that Alabama won the National Championship. Not only did he run for a ton of yards, but he had at least one rushing touchdown in every game and at least two in nine of his 15 appearances.
