Wisconsin Football: Ranking Melvin Gordon's Season vs. the Badgers' Best Ever
When it comes to the best running backs in Wisconsin football history, two Heisman Trophy winners and others that line the NCAA record books stick out. One name that is quickly entering into the conversation to become one of the greatest in school history is Melvin Gordon.
Alan Ameche was a Heisman winner, but for the purposes of this, by virtue of playing in an entirely different era, the statistical comparisons between him and everyone else will be stilted toward those in the modern era. So with a caveat, let's look at some of the greatest running backs in school history.
Ron Dayne begins this list of the best backs in school history. No list of Wisconsin running backs starts or ends without looking at Dayne. Dayne was a bruising back, and each of his four seasons saw him finish in the top three of the Big Ten in rushing touchdowns and feature at least 1,450 yards.
In the 21st century, the Badgers became a mill for 1,000-yard rushers, featuring at least one every season since 2005 and 15 since 2000, the first season post-Dayne.
With Dayne holding the Big Ten rushing touchdown record, it only made sense that another Wisconsin running back would come in and swipe that crown. Montee Ball ended his career with 77 rushing touchdowns, which gave him the NCAA career rushing touchdown record.
Through this, we will look at how Melvin Gordon's 2014 season stacks up compared to Dayne, Ball and the rest of the top performances by running backs in school history. We'll look at the number of carries the backs had, how many rushing yards and touchdowns the backs ended with and their receiving stats.
Gordon is set to play in three regular-season games plus a bowl game. He and the Badgers also have a chance to make the Big Ten Championship Game. Because of that, I'll include two sets of projections, projecting out by using his averages and adding them to the total over either four or five games.
Carries
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Melvin Gordon: 308 Carries with Big Ten Championship Game; 286 Carries without
As of right now, Melvin Gordon is at 198 carries, putting him just eight carries shy of his total from last season. In 2013, after his first 100 or so carries, he looked to tire as the Badgers went into the month of November before looking reenergized in the team's bowl game when all else failed.
This season, as he quickly approaches 200 carries, he has averaged 22 carries a game and looks better week in and week out. It will be something to watch as he breaks the 250-carry mark as to how well he holds up, particularly as the defenses get stingier and stingier.
In terms of how this season compares, let's say he gets up to the 308 carries he's averaging to hit if Wisconsin plays in the Big Ten Championship Game. That would be the eighth-most in a single season by a Badger, one ahead of Montee Ball's 307 in 2011.
The most in a season, for those interested, is Ball's 356, which he logged in 2012 as the Badgers cycled through three quarterbacks (Danny O'Brien, Joel Stave and Curt Phillips). Gordon's efficiency with this many carries has been impressive, but he won't come close to the single-season record of carries.
Rushing Yards
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Melvin Gordon: 2,335 with Big Ten Championship Game, 2,168 without
Gordon's 166.8 rushing yards per game is incredibly impressive and is all the more impressive when you just look at how he's done against FBS teams. Taking out the woeful performance against FCS Western Illinois, Gordon is averaging 182.9 rushing yards per game, good for the 55th-best team in the country.
Gordon leads the NCAA in rushing with 1,501 yards, which already would be good for 13th in school history. Even if the Badgers don't make the Big Ten Championship Game, Gordon is in line for 2,168 rushing yards after the bowl game.
If he were to get that many yards, he would become the school's all-time leading rusher, jumping ahead of Ron Dayne's freshman year when he logged 2,109 rushing yards. Even if Gordon tails off a bit, he has a very good shot at 2,000 yards, a feat achieved only by Dayne in his freshman and senior seasons.
Gordon is a back unlike any previous Wisconsin running back, as he can run between the tackles or set the edge. As a freshman, he was used almost exclusively on the outside, particularly on the end-around. His marquee moment that season came in the Big Ten Championship Game, when he took nine carries for 216 yards.
As a sophomore, the team used James White on the inside more while Gordon still took most of the outside runs. While he developed as an inside runner, his electrifying speed made him more useful on the pitches and sweeps while trying not to burn him out.
This season, Gordon has shown an ability to run people over and use his incredible stiff-arm to knock defenders on their backs while also beating them in the open field. Conversely, Ball and Dayne both were between-the-tackles runners who preferred to bowl over people as opposed to shake them.
From a pure yardage standpoint, Gordon's season this year will go down in the books as one of the best—if not the best—ever in school history.
Rushing Touchdowns
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Melvin Gordon: 29 touchdowns with Big Ten Championship Game, 27 touchdowns without
Through nine games this season, Melvin Gordon has 19 rushing touchdowns, including a score in each of his last seven games. His touchdown numbers are a bit inflated by the Bowling Green game, where he notched five touchdowns on the ground, and the Illinois game, where he took four to the house.
In the record books, Gordon is currently sixth for single-season rushing touchdowns behind two seasons of Ron Dayne, two seasons of Montee Ball and Brian Calhoun's 2005 season. Ball holds the single-season record for the team with 33 in 2011, with the next highest total coming from Ball and Calhoun at 22.
I don't think Gordon will actually get to 29 touchdowns whether or not the Badgers make the Big Ten Championship Game, but for the sake of consistency and math, that's the number I have projected. If they can make it to Indianapolis, a final tally of 25 sounds about right, which would be an average of 1.2 touchdowns per game.
If he can get at least one touchdown in each of the team's remaining games regardless of whether or not it makes it to Indianapolis, when all is said and done, he will be in second place for the team's single-season touchdown record, which would be an incredible achievement for the Kenosha, Wisconsin, native.
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Receiving Stats
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Melvin Gordon: 17 receptions for 128 yards with Big Ten Championship Game, 16 receptions for 120 yards without
Gordon's receiving totals have been a bit all over the place, as he's recorded a reception in only five of the team's nine games. Furthermore, seven of his 11 receptions, 66 of his 83 receiving yards and both of his receiving touchdowns have come in just two of those games—Western Illinois and last week against Purdue.
Gordon looked really good in the passing game last week, catching three balls for 44 yards and adding a receiving touchdown. Is this a sign of things to come? Only offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig knows, but if the key is to get Gordon into space, then using him in the passing game seems like a no-brainer.
Gordon has rapidly improved as a pass-blocker in his three seasons as a Badger. Whereas last season, he would be taken out for James White on passing downs, this season, he doesn't need to be spelled by Corey Clement in passing situations, as he's a good blocker and displays good hands in the passing game.
Dayne's best season as a receiver was his freshman year, when he logged 14 receptions for 133 yards, but he only had 17 more receptions for the rest of his career. Montee Ball had his best season as a receiver in 2011, catching 24 balls for 306 yards and six touchdowns.
Gordon probably won't even come close to what Ball achieved with Russell Wilson as his quarterback, but Gordon has shown huge strides in the passing game. This will help immeasurably when it comes to next year's NFL draft.
Conclusion
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When all is said and done, four seasons can be compared to Gordon's this year. The stats used below are as of Nov. 8.
| Player (Year) | Carries | Rushing Yards | Rushing Touchdowns | Receptions | Receiving Yards |
| Ron Dayne ('96) | 325 | 2,109 | 21 | 14 | 133 |
| Ron Dayne ('99) | 337 | 2,034 | 20 | 1 | 9 |
| Montee Ball ('11) | 307 | 1,923 | 33 | 24 | 306 |
| Montee Ball ('12) | 356 | 1,830 | 22 | 10 | 72 |
| Melvin Gordon ('14) | 198 | 1,501 | 19 | 11 | 83 |
With Gordon on pace to break the team's single-season rushing record whether or not the Badgers play in the Big Ten Championship Game, his season falls in line with Dayne's freshman season and Ball's junior year as the three best in school history.
Gordon is also already at eight 100-yard rushing games, just two shy of the single-season record for most in a season. With four or five games left in the year, Gordon seems like a fairly safe bet to grab that record as well.
Dayne won the Heisman Trophy in 1999 and capped off the season with a Rose Bowl victory. In both Ball's junior and senior seasons, the team won the Big Ten Championship Game and made the Rose Bowl, which makes those seasons all the more impressive.
Gordon will almost certainly not win the Heisman barring total meltdowns from both Dak Prescott and Marcus Mariota; however, with the season he is having, an invitation to New York certainly seems well within the realm of possibility.
Overall, comparing seasons over time is always a tricky proposition, but it is safe to say that Gordon has entered himself in the conversation as having one of the best—if not the best—seasons in Wisconsin football history for a running back.
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