Donnel Pumphrey in hot pursuit of Ron Dayne

Two Saturdays ago in Logan, Utah, Donnel Pumphrey rushed for another 223 yards against Utah State. During that game, he moved from 8^th on the all-time rushing list past Cedric Benson, Travis Prentice, and Charles White, to reach 5741 career yards and 5^th place on the all-time list. He didn’t even play in the fourth quarter, and San Diego State rolled Utah State 40-13.

John Baron II, the Aztecs’ kicker, contributed 16 points- outscoring the entire Utah State team.

Last Saturday, at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego State played its homecoming game against Hawaii. The game was dedicated to SDSU great and NFL Hall-of-Famer Marshall Faulk, who was also in attendance. The Rainbow Warriors’ only defensive strategy seemed to be stopping Donnel Pumphrey. While many have failed, Hawaii kept Donnel to 112 yards.

During the game, Donnel played decoy as frequently as he ran the ball. Since he is a constant target the strategy is effective, and helped the Aztecs shut down Hawaii 55-0. At the end of the game, his new yardage total was 5853, and he remained in the 5^th place position.

Here is a schedule of where the remaining all-time rushing leaders stand:

Rank Player Team (seasons) Total rushing yards

1 Ron Dayne Wisconsin (1996–1999) 6,397

2 Ricky Williams Texas (1995–1998) 6,279

3 Tony Dorsett Pittsburgh (1973–1976) 6,082

4 DeAngelo Williams Memphis (2002–2005) 6,026

5 Donnel Pumphrey San Diego State (2013–) 5,853

Donnel now needs just 173 yards to reach the 4^th all-time position; 229 yards to reach the 3^rd all-time spot; 426 yards for the 2^nd all-time spot, and 544 yards to become the #1 all-time NCAA career rushing leader, and the most prolific rusher in NCAA history.

For the season, Pumphrey has managed 1581 yards so far, and will likely exceed 2000 yards. Donnel is also tracking to become a top-20 all-time single-season rush leader.

It would take a Herculean effort to come anywhere near Barry Sanders’ single season NCAA rushing record of 2628 yards, although it included yardage in bowl games.

San Diego State looks forward to three additional regular season games against Nevada, Wyoming and Colorado State. As the West Division champs, the Aztecs will contine on to play in the Mountain West Championship, and will then appear in a bowl game- possibly the Cotton Bowl.

There has been no word yet of an invitation to the Heisman Trophy presentation.

Stay tuned- things are getting interesting.