OU’s Perine breaks NCAA rushing record

Former TCU running back LaDainian Tomlinson held the NCAA single-game rushing record for roughly 15 years. Wisconsin junior running back Melvin Gordon, who took it from him, held the record for only a week.

Neither a lightning delay nor the Kansas defense could stop Oklahoma freshman running back Samaje Perine just Saturday, as Perine surpassed Gordon’s mark of 408 rushing yards with 427 yards on the ground in the 44-7 win over Kansas. Perine had five rushing touchdowns as well — all from at least 27 yards out. 

The back-to-back record-setting games for Gordon and Perine come after Tomlinson was the only running back to rush for over 400 yards in college football history.

Rudolph gets the start for Oklahoma State

After junior quarterback Daxx Garman suffered concussion-like symptoms against Texas on Nov. 15, there were a number of questions about whether he would be ready to play or if freshman Mason Rudolph would get his first start at Baylor. That question was answered pretty quickly, as Rudolph trotted out with the offense on the Cowboys’ opening possession against the Bears, and, even though the result was a loss, he had a pretty solid debut. Rudolph finished the night 13-of-25 with 281 passing yards and two touchdowns against the top defense in the conference. His stats were also good enough to be the best first career start for a quarterback in Oklahoma
State history.

Tech defense down on safeties

To say the Texas Tech defense has had it rough this season might be the understatement of the year. First, its defensive coordinator was fired just a few weeks into the season. Then, said defensive coordinator allegedly gave away the defensive signals to Tech’s opponents. And now, the Red Raiders are down to their last two players at safety. Three safeties went down in Texas Tech’s 34-31 win over Iowa State on Saturday and another didn’t make the trip to Ames, Iowa, forcing freshman safety Derrick Dixon and junior defensive back John White into the game — the last two players who could play the position. There’s no word yet on the severity of those three injuries, but Tech’s odds against Baylor this Saturday just got a lot longer.

Minnesota helps out TCU with close win

In the ongoing debate between Baylor and TCU, Horned Frogs fans have pointed to two arguments that make their case: their 14-point win at West Virginia and their slightly better non-conference schedule, thanks to a win at home against Minnesota. On Saturday, that argument got a little better as Minnesota picked up a big 28-24 win over Nebraska to keep the Golden Gophers in the Big Ten West race and added to the Horned Frogs strength of schedule. So far, the selection committee has said Baylor and TCU’s résumés are not equal — making the head-to-head matchup irrelevant — with the assumption that TCU’s win over Minnesota is better than Baylor’s non-conference wins against SMU, Northwestern State and Buffalo. Each team will get one more “showcase” game to impress the committee, with TCU playing at Texas on Thanksgiving Day and Baylor facing Kansas State on Dec. 6.