San Diego State to make strong push for Donnel Pumphrey to break NCAA record
With history at stake, San Diego State coach Rocky Long has indicated he’ll give Donnel Pumphrey every chance to break Ron Dayne’s NCAA career rushing record against Houston in Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium.
“This is the one time in our program that we would consider how he’s doing in the game,” Long said. “He’s going to get the ball plenty of times to have a good chance to break the record.”
Pumphrey, a Canyon Springs High School product, needs 108 yards to break Dayne’s mark of 6,397 yards. With several games in hand in the second half this season, San Diego State rested the senior running back during the fourth quarter, but has no plans to do so in his final game.
“We’ve taken him out in the past to save him for the next game,” Long said. “We’ve taken him out because he’s a little beat up and sore at the time.
“The main concern with him up until this point was for us to win the conference championship. Since it doesn’t mean the conference championship, I think he will get plenty of carries.”
Pumphrey, second in the country in rushing yards per game (155.2), was held to season lows in rushing and carries in back-to-back losses to Wyoming (76 yards on 17 carries) and Colorado State (53 yards on 18 carries) before gaining 110 yards on 25 carries in a 27-24 win over Wyoming in the Mountain West title game.
He’ll have to earn the record against Houston’s stout rushing defense, which is ranked No. 3 in the country, allowing an average of 97.9 yards per game.
“Our team wants to do everything they can so he can get the record, but we’re playing a great team that’s going to do everything they can to keep him from getting the record,” Long said.
PULLING FOR PUMP
The humble Pumphrey’s teammates might want him to break the record more than he does.
“Oh, man, that would mean everything to me, to be able to tell my kids later on that I played with the No. 1 leading rusher,” senior safety Malik Smith said. “I hope he gets it. I know he wants it. We all want it for him.”
Senior left tackle Kwayde Miller said he wants Pumphrey to break the record “pretty bad.”
“That way we can always have that with us and always brag about it when we’re older,” he said. “That we blocked for him, and he got the record with us.”
HOUSTON, WE DON’T HAVE A MOTIVATION PROBLEM
The 6-foot-7-inch, 315-pound Miller, who will play with a broken hand, said the Aztecs’ offensive line has embraced the challenge up front against the Cougars.
“We’re excited to see how they deal with an offense like ours because they haven’t really seen an offense like ours that will just hit them in the mouth right away,” he said.
Besides the push for Pumphrey, Miller said San Diego State (10-3) is motivated to prove it’s on the same level as fellow Group of Five power Houston (9-3), which beat two top-five teams this season in Oklahoma and Louisville.
“Houston has all the recognition as the non-Power Five school that beats everybody and has all the notoriety,” Miller said. “So beating them puts us more on the map as well.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
