No player has led college football in rushing in back-to-back seasons this century. Cam Cook has a chance to change that after he transferred to one of the most run-heavy offenses in the country.
The race for the rushing title last season came down to a difference of 10 yards. Cook ran for an FBS-best 1,659 yards at Jacksonville State, and his jump to West Virginia could produce even bigger numbers this fall. Missouri's Ahmad Hardy came up just short with 1,649 yards. Hardy stayed with the Tigers, but his status is in doubt after he was shot at a concert in May.
The running back position is in a great place across the country with so many of the leading rushers returning for another season. Hardy, Cook and Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy, who finished third with 1,567, are all back for 2026. Six of the top 10 rushers will return. Though, like Cook, a few of them changed teams in the offseason.
That much stability in the backfield should make for a competitive race for the rushing title. Cook finished with the fewest yards for a leader since the shortened 2020 season. Can the 2026 champ top that total?
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Cook's consistency makes him a viable threat to repeat. He cracked 100 yards in all but two games and led the country with 54 runs of 10-plus yards. Rich Rodriguez's Mountaineers offense was missing a workhorse last season, and now it has one.
When Hardy will return to the field remains a mystery. But he was the model of efficiency with an average rush of 6.4 yards and explosiveness with an FBS-best 11 runs of 30-plus yards. The Tigers are uniquely positioned to weather any absence for Hardy with Jamal Roberts behind him in the backfield.
Lacy, who played with Hardy in 2024 at Missouri, broke out last season for the Rebels. He was less consistent than his counterparts atop the leaderboard with three games under 50 yards and two with more than 150. But Lacy also led the country with 306 rushing attempts and can expect to shoulder a similar workload next season.
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Florida's Jadan Baugh, who finished third in the SEC in rushing with 1,170 yards, could assert himself as one of the best backs in the country this season. He ran for a whopping 266 yards in the Gators' finale and made the most of his opportunities in a balanced offense. New offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner may lean on Baugh more often.
Caleb Hawkins is another top rusher who changed teams in the offseason. He led the American and finished fifth nationally with 1,434 yards as a true freshman at North Texas. And he followed coach Eric Morris and quarterback Drew Mestemaker to Oklahoma State, which has produced two of the past seven rushing leaders.
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BYU's LJ Martin paced the Big 12 in rushing with 1,305 yards. He's gotten better with each season and he'll benefit from familiarity heading into Year 4 with the Cougars. There's a bit more projection involved for Louisville's Isaac Brown. He missed four games due to injury, but his 8.8 yards per carry led the country among players with 100-plus attempts. Brown also ran for over 1,000 yards in 2024 on exceptional efficiency, so a larger workload could net a considerable yardage bump.
There's no shortage of viable options without even mentioning players like Miami's Mark Fletcher Jr., Rutgers' Antwan Raymond and UCLA transfer Wayne Knight. Can any one of them beat out Cook to be the rushing champ?
Make your pick here, and back it up in the comment section below, especially if your personal choice didn’t make the final cut.
