Top 5 Running Back Performances of Week 11 College Football: Damien Martinez, RJ Harvey, more

Justin's NCAA college football top running backs from Week 11 of the 2023 season. Top RB performers include Damien Martinez and RJ Harvey.

Week 11 of the college football season is over. It was a fun day of football and included some good performances from running backs, with 12 backs rushing for 150 or more yards. Three running backs ran for over 200 yards in their game.

Many of these players are mentioned below, but a quick shoutout to the 150-plus yard rushers who didn't make this week's top five: Kairee Robinson (San Jose State), Rahsul Faison (Utah State), Jonah Coleman (Arizona), Omario Hampton (North Carolina), Jaydn Ott (California), La'Damian Webb (South Alabama), Frank Gore Jr. (Southern Miss), and Devin Mockobee (Purdue).

Below are the top five running back performances from Week 11 of the college football season. These are judged through a combination of statistics, fantasy scoring, and game context, with consideration also given based on the team's offensive systems. Let's take a look at this week's top performances.

5. Rasheen Ali - Marshall

Marshall's Rasheen Ali had another big showing this week, carrying the ball 24 times for 165 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught three passes for nine yards as the Thundering Herd won 38-33.

One of those touchdown runs was a 55-yard fourth-quarter run that put Marshall ahead. He followed that up with another run later in the quarter to put the game out of reach. This was the fourth game this season in which Ali has run for over 100 yards and the sixth game in which he's had multiple touchdown runs. Ali opened the year with multiple rushing scores in four consecutive games.

Ali led the NCAA in touchdowns in 2021 and while he isn't leading all of FBS this year, he's the Sun Belt leader in touchdowns with 15. It's been a huge season for Ali, who missed 10 games last season with an injury. Otherwise, he'd likely be near the top of the touchdown leaderboard in three consecutive seasons.

4. Hahsaun Wilson - Charlotte

Charlotte running back Hahsaun Wilson was the biggest surprise of the week. With starting running back Terron Kellman sidelined by an ankle injury, the 49ers turned to Wilson, who hadn't had a rushing attempt since Oct. 29...of 2022. He gained four yards on that carry against Rice, which was his only collegiate rushing attempt until this week.

The 49ers gave the ball to Wilson often on Saturday against Memphis though, as he carried the rock 24 times. Wilson finished with 198 yards and three touchdowns. He scored twice in goal-to-go situations but also added a 23-yard score in the second quarter.

Honestly, I have no idea what to think about Wilson going forward. It's not often that a guy playing in his 17th college game with exactly one offensive touch coming in has this kind of breakout. Charlotte plays Rice next Saturday.

3. Cody Schrader - Missouri

Missouri defeated Tennessee on Saturday, blowing the Volunteers out by a 36-7 score. The Tigers are now 8-2 on the year, the first eight-win season since 2018 for the team. That was also the last time the team finished over .500 for a season. It's been a good year at Mizzou.

Running back Cody Schrader has been a key part of that good year. He leads the SEC in rushing attempts and rushing yards and sits third in the conference in rushing touchdowns with 11.

Only one of those touchdowns came against Tennessee, but Schrader piled on the yards in this one. He had 35 carries for 205 yards, but he wasn't done there as he also caught five passes for 116 yards. His previous season-high in receiving yards came against Kentucky when he caught three passes for 15 yards.

2. RJ Harvey - UCF

Before we talk about RJ Harvey, let's just talk for a second about this weird UCF/Oklahoma State game, which UCF managed to win 45-3.

Oklahoma State managing just three points is wild. The Cowboys entered this game on a five-game winning streak, scoring at least 27 points in each of those games. UCF had allowed at least 26 points in six straight. OSU running back Ollie Gordon looked like the best running back in college football with six consecutive 100-yard games, including a pair of 200-yard games in that span.

Well, Gordon was held to 25 yards this week and for the first time in months wasn't the best running back on the football field. That honor goes to Harvey, who had a dominant day for UCF.

Harvey carried the ball 24 times for 206 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. He's been really good all season, but he's been especially good over the past two games, with 370 yards and six touchdown runs over the past two weeks.

1. Damien Martinez - Oregon State

Oregon State's Damien Martinez opened the season with three 100-yard games in a row but was then held under that mark in five consecutive games. He finally got back over 100 yards last week in a win over Colorado, finishing with 115 on 21 carries.

This week, Martinez was even more unstoppable in a win over Stanford. He carried the ball 15 times, gaining 146 yards and scoring four touchdowns. It was the first time this season that Martinez has scored multiple touchdowns. The last time that happened was against Arizona State last season.

Martinez has now eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the season, rushing for 1,024 yards and seven touchdowns through his team's first 10 games. He's averaged 6.6 yards per carry, good for fifth in the Pac-12.

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