Three weeks into the 2026 college football season, the rushing race already has a clear name at the top. Duke sophomore Nate Sheppard isn’t just leading the country - he’s separating himself.
Sheppard has piled up 176 rushing yards per game, a margin that sits more than 23 yards ahead of anyone else in the nation. His 528 rushing yards are the most of any player, even when compared with those who have already logged an extra game. Through three games, he has also scored eight total touchdowns.
He kept the production rolling in Week 3, going for 154 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in Duke’s 35-7 win over Stanford. He also added a receiving touchdown. After a true freshman season that included 1,132 rushing yards and 11 scores, Sheppard is tracking toward an even bigger 2026.
The rest of the top 10 saw plenty of movement after last weekend, with several new faces breaking into the national leaderboard.
BYU’s LJ Martin entered the top 10 for the first time this season after a huge showing in the Cougars’ 41-23 win at Colorado State. He ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns, opening the game with a 56-yard scoring burst in the first minute. Martin, who rushed for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, has 328 rushing yards and three scores through three games for No. 9-ranked BYU, averaging 7.8 yards per carry.
Iowa State’s Aiden Flora also cracked the national top 10 after taking over as a major part of the Cyclones’ offense. The redshirt sophomore and former walk-on had totaled just 111 rushing yards over his first two seasons, but he now has 328 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries, good for 8.6 yards per rush.
His best game came Saturday, when he ran for a career-high 194 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries in a 55-7 win over Bowling Green. He also added 10 receiving yards and scored three different ways, including touchdown runs of 61 and 42 yards and a 66-yard punt return touchdown.
Nebraska true freshman Jamal Rule is another newcomer making noise. He has rushed for 329 yards at 8.7 yards per carry through three games, while adding 82 receiving yards and six total touchdowns. In Week 3 against North Dakota, he finished with 119 rushing yards and two scores on 15 carries, plus two catches for 35 yards.
Texas State running back Torrance Burgess Jr. is also in the mix after a career day against North Texas. The fifth-year back has 397 rushing yards through three games, already his second-best season total behind the 620-yard year he put together at UTEP in 2023. On Saturday, he had the best game of his career, going for 214 yards on 25 carries in Texas State’s 49-35 win.
Florida’s Jadan Baugh turned loose in the SEC opener and made the most of it. After being held to 14 carries in each of the Gators’ first two non-conference games, the junior got 26 carries at Auburn and turned them into 162 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-39 road win. He now has 458 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 8.5 yards per carry, building on his 1,170-yard, eight-touchdown breakout last season.
Boise State’s Dylan Riley stayed on the national leaderboard after another big Week 3 performance. He ran for 198 yards and two touchdowns on a season-high 26 carries in the Broncos’ 38-24 win over South Dakota.
Riley has 454 rushing yards and two touchdowns through three games, with 404 of those yards coming over the last two weeks. He followed a breakout 2025 season that featured 1,125 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Navy quarterback Braxton Woodson remains in the race on a yards-per-game basis despite the Midshipmen having played only two games. He has 296 rushing yards and four touchdowns so far.
Woodson left Navy’s last game two weeks ago with an ankle sprain and was considered week to week. Navy returns to action Friday night at UAB.
UCLA’s offense has taken off under new coach Bob Chesney, and former James Madison star Wayne Knight is driving much of it. The Bruins are averaging 286.7 rushing yards per game, fifth-best in the country, and Knight has fit right in with 345 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 8.8 yards per carry during UCLA’s 3-0 start.
His biggest game came in Saturday’s 52-38 win over Purdue to open Big Ten play, when he rushed for a season-high 177 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and added 23 receiving yards. Knight rushed for 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns, while also catching 397 yards and one score, in James Madison’s College Football Playoff run last year.
Memphis running back Jaylin Carter held onto his spot in the top 10 by the narrowest of margins after a quieter day against UT Martin. He had 62 yards on 12 carries in the Tigers’ 45-21 win, his least productive game of the season, though he did score on a 17-yard receiving touchdown.
In Other News...
BYU's Hot Start Just Got Overshadowed By A Very Strange Bear Bachmeier Story
BYUs undefeated start has been one of the early college football stories worth watching, with sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier helping keep the Cougars on track after a successful previous season. The attention should have stayed on the field during Week 2 against Arizona, where Bachmeier continued to be part of the reason BYU has opened so strongly and now heads into a Week 4 matchup with TCU still unbeaten.
Instead, a very odd off-field story followed him out of that game and into the national conversation. During the Fox Sports broadcast, Robert Griffin III referenced a bizarre family anecdote involving Bachmeier that reportedly came from the quarterback himself before kickoff, and the comment quickly became the kind of unexpected detour that can overshadow even a hot start. For BYU, the football matters most, but this is the sort of strange footnote that lingers until the Cougars get back on the field. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs Ceiling Just Got A Lot Bigger Than Fans Expected
Several media outlets are starting to treat BYU as more than just a feel-good story in the playoff picture. Based on current performance and season-long analysis, projections have begun placing the Cougars in the College Football Playoff conversation, with some brackets even putting them in position to host a first-round game.
The range of possible matchups says plenty about how high the ceiling suddenly looks. Depending on the projection, BYU could be lined up against LSU, Alabama or Penn State at home, or sent on the road to face Indiana or Ohio State, a reminder that the path from being in the bracket to actually advancing would still be a brutal one. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs Holy War Dream Could Rise Or Fall On One Early Test
BYUs 2026 Holy War is already drawing plenty of attention, but the path to that November matchup being truly special is a narrow one. For both BYU and Utah to arrive unbeaten and ranked among the nations best, each team would have to clear a difficult opening stretch, and the numbers suggest the Utes are much more likely to get there than the Cougars. Utahs odds of sitting at 8-0 before the meeting are estimated at about 32.5 percent, while BYUs are closer to 6 percent.
For BYU, the biggest early hurdle may be the Notre Dame game, which stands out as both a major threat to an undefeated start and an important piece of any College Football Playoff resume. Put those chances together, and the dream of a November 7 showdown with both rivals unbeaten shrinks to roughly 2 percent, which is why the seasons first big tests could end up shaping the stakes of the Holy War long before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]