It's time to start Jarek Broussard's All-America campaign

BOULDER – Jarek Broussard did it again.

He put up 187 rushing yards one month ago in his first collegiate game, then followed the performance up with a pair of “paltry” 120-yard performances. In a way, you could say Saturday was his breakout.

Jarek Broussard ran for 301 yards on 25 carries.

That’s a mind-boggling number.

Only three Buffs had ever run for 300 yards in one game: Charlie Davis, Rashaan Salaam and Chris Brown.

Arizona had never given up a 300-yard performance.

Broussard set the Buffs’ record for rushing yards in a single quarter, with 155 in the second.

Broussard’s 184 first-half rushing yards were the second most in any half by a Buffalo.

His three 50-plus-yard runs set a new school record.

His 733 rushing yards are the most through the first four games of a season in Colorado history, edging out the start of Rashaan Salaam’s Heisman-winning campaign by six yards. (Salaam did it on eight fewer carries.)

His four consecutive 100-yard games to start his career are tied for the fourth-most ever to begin a career. If he does it again next week, only Adrian Peterson–one of the greatest running backs in the history of the sport–will have had a longer streak.

So why can’t Jarek Broussard be an All-American?

All-America teams are supposed to list the best college football players in the country. Can you really make an argument that Jarek Broussard–who has more rushing yards per game than all but one player in the country, and more rushing yards per game than every Power 5 player in the country–isn’t deserving of one of the running back spots?

You could say that Jarek Broussard hasn’t played enough games. And that the four games he played were against inferior opponents, meaning that the running lanes available to Broussard were massive, making Broussard’s job easier.

Well, the stats haven’t been updated yet, but we do know that Jarek Broussard has carried the ball 115 times this season and, before today, only 13 players in the nation could make that statement. Only three of those players had bested Broussard’s 6.37 yards per carry, and one of those three is a quarterback.

So, sample size isn’t a problem.

But the level of competition…

Let’s start here: The Buffs are playing in a Power 5 conference. That’s a nice starting point.

To add to that, one of CU’s four opponents is above .500 in said Power 5 conference. That includes a loss to Colorado.

Another of CU’s opponents took down the No. 22 team in the country on Saturday.

Another of CU’s opponents is a top-10 scoring defense in the country.

And the last opponent is Arizona… and yeah, the Wildcats aren’t great.

If that doesn’t convince you that Jarek Broussard did enough good work to earn national recognition, maybe this will:

The Buffs’ offensive line deserves a boatload of credit for its contributions to Broussard’s success, but it’s not like any old running back could do what Broussard has done. And we can actually see how other running backs have fared in Broussard’s exact same situation.

While Broussard dropped 301 yards on 25 carries, good for 12 yards per attempt, the rest of the Buffs’ running backs managed just 3.23 yards per run on Saturday.

In CU’s previous game, the Buffs’ other running backs averaged 1.4 yards per run.

In the game before that, the Buffs’ other running backs averaged 2.33 yards per run.

And in the season-opener, the Buffs’ other running backs averaged 1.58 yards per carry.

So yeah, Broussard isn’t just benefitting off of his situation. He’s actually tripling what the rest of the running backs have done, in terms of efficiency. And running back is supposed to be one of the deepest and most talented position on the Buffaloes’–excuse me, undefeated Colorado Buffaloes’–roster.

All-American.

And don’t get me started on Nate Landman…