Dalvin Cook Breaks Warrick Dunn's FSU Single-Season Rushing Yards Record

Sophomore running back Dalvin Cook cemented his place in Florida State history Saturday against North Carolina State by surpassing Warrick Dunn's school record for most rushing yards in a single season. 

Dunn previously held the record with 1,242 yards set back in 1995, but Cook claimed the top spot with an 11-yard run in the first quarter against NC State.

Fittingly, per Safid Deen of the Tallahassee Democrat, Cook's record-breaking run came right before he gave Florida State the lead:

Cook entered Saturday's contest just 12 yards away from besting Dunn's mark, along with a yards-per-carry average of 8.3 and 12 rushing touchdowns to his credit in just eight games. For the sake of comparison, Dunn needed 11 games to set his Seminoles mark.

With two regular-season games left plus Florida State's bowl game, his current pace of 153.9 yards per game means he could finish 2015 with just over 2,000 yards on the ground. 

When asked about the record leading up to the NC State game, Cook discussed how much passing a player of Dunn's caliber meant to him, according to Deen.

"It's a blessing," Cook said. "Warrick Dunn, that's one of the greats that you always look and watch when I was growing up. To be mentioned to break his record, that's a blessing from God. It's an honor just to be mentioned with him."

In addition, he revealed that he had spoken to Dunn about the impending milestone, per Deen.

"He was very encouraging, told me to go get it," Cook said. "[Dunn said] 'It's meant to be broken, that's why it's there.' That's what it is. I guess it's there to be broken."

Cook has been one of the most dominant running backs in college football this season and has been in the Heisman Trophy discussion with Leonard Fournette of LSU and Alabama's Derrick Henry.

While he may be considered an underdog in comparison to them, he may deserve greater consideration, as evidenced by these stats courtesy of Orlando Sentinel writer Brendan Sonnone:

For as good as Cook has been, there is room for him to get even better next season when he returns to FSU for his junior campaign.

With another strong year, he has a chance to be among the top running backs selected in the 2017 NFL draft, which is something Dunn did in 1997 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him with the No. 12 overall pick in the first round.

Dunn went on to have a spectacular 12-year NFL career with the Bucs and Atlanta Falcons that saw him rush for 10,967 yards and make three Pro Bowls.

Cook is already pushing Dunn down the list in Florida State's record books, and based on his remarkable skill set, he has a chance to be as good as or perhaps even better than Dunn at the NFL level.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.