His margin is shrinking, but Georgia RB Todd Gurley remains the best running back in the country ahead of a resurgent Melvin Gordon.

A healthy Gurley may be the surest bet to succeed in the NFL in all of college football, regardless of position. He can’t be blamed for playing only the first quarter in a blowout win against Troy, whereas Gordon disappeared in the second half of a loss to LSU and ran just 17 times for 38 yards against Western Illinois the following week. (Gordon apparently was dealing with a rib injury.)

Gordon’s argument is that his quarterbacks are embarrassing the program and he’s still managed to run for 253, 181 and 251 yards with defenses stacked against him.

Gordon has scored two more touchdowns overall and has a better per-carry average by 0.1 yards. But Gurley is a better receiver, and the last two weeks he’s shown an ability to be a workhorse back, rushing 28 and 25 times while remaining a factor in the passing game.

Gurley has rushed for more than 40 yards on a single carry in four of Georgia’s five games, and his long against Vanderbilt was 26 yards. That’s in spite of the fact that defenses have lost respect for QB Hutson Mason and can crowd the line.

Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska) and Duke Johnson (Miami) don’t have the hype or the highlights to match Gurley and Gordon through Week 6, but still must be considered threats for the award.

SEC STILL LOADED AT RB

Sure, Dak Prescott, Nick Marshall and Bo Wallace deserve props. But the SEC’s best collection of skill players in 2014 is at running back.

Granted, two of those quarterbacks help make their running backs look great.

Here are the 100-yard performances by SEC backs this weekend.

  • South Carolina’s Mike Davis, a part of our Top 10 before the season, is on the cusp of rejoining the list. He’s one or two big games away, but 135 and 191 total yards of offense despite lackluster play-calling the last two games has revived him as an elite runner and killed off fat Mike Davis.
  • With 114 rushing yards in a one-point win against Tennessee, Florida’s Matt Jones now has topped the century mark twice in three games.
  • Mississippi State’s Josh Robinson carried 17 times for 107 yards, gobbling up real estate whenever Prescott needed a breather against Texas A&M.
  • Running the read-option with Marshall, Auburn’s Cameron Artis-Payne has claimed 100 or more rushing yards in four of five games this season, including 126 against LSU on Saturday.
  • Alabama RB T.J. Yeldon disappeared the last few weeks, relatively speaking, but put up 130 yards of total offense against a lights-out Ole Miss defense.
  • Kentucky RB Jojo Kemp cranked out 131 rushing yards and three touchdowns running a true Wildcat as the diminutive hero in the win against South Carolina.

Nick Chubb also ran eight times for 78 yards for Georgia, giving the Bulldogs’ top three running backs a combined 1,220 rushing yards on 8.2 yards per carry.

Here are my weekly Top 10 rankings for the Doak Walker Award.

Player Buzz Previous Rank
1. Todd Gurley, Georgia Gurley has morphed into a workhorse the last two weeks, getting nearly 60 offensive touches. The advantage he enjoyed over the rest of the field is shrinking, but he’s still No. 1. 1
2. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin Gordon’s 259 rushing yards could not save Wisconsin’s barely-there College Football Playoff hopes as the Badgers fell to Northwestern. Could the rest of the year be about getting him numbers? 3
3. Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska Michigan State held Abdullah to a two-season low of 45 rushing yards. Granted, Nebraska’s pass offense doesn’t scare anyone and the Spartans have a renowned defense. But bad day. 2
4. Duke Johnson, Miami Mr. Dependable has rushed between 90 and 100 yards in five games (and 155 in the other). He also has 10 catches for 146 yards in the last three games. 5
5. James Conner, Pitt Conner has faded the last two games as defenses have successfully dared QB Chad Voytik to beat them. His numbers are eerily similar to last season. 4
6. Alex Collins, Arkansas Collins is eight carries and 152 yards behind Todd Gurley through five games, and also isn’t as productive as a receiver. But to this point he’s a Top 10 running back in the country. 6
7. Tevin Coleman, Indiana Coleman quietly put up 184 yards of total offense against North Texas to give him 968 for the season. He’s one of the most consistent star RBs. 7
8. Josh Robinson, Mississippi St. Robinson added 120 yards and two touchdowns in a blowout win against Texas A&M, an afterthought to Dak Prescott despite a huge game. He’s averaging 7.5 yards per carry. No one has noticed. 9
9. Anthone Taylor, Buffalo Taylor rushed for 441 yards and six touchdowns the last two games and is fifth in the NCAA with 798 rushing yards. —
10. D.J. Foster, Arizona State Foster would be off this list in no time if he didn’t contribute so much as a receiver. He’s rushed for just 43 yards on 19 carries the last two games (along with 141 receiving yards). 8

Dropped Out: Aaron Jones, UTEP.

Jones has fallen out of the Top 10 in rushing yards and in spite of his four catches for 49 yards against Louisiana Tech, back-to-back games of 47 and 63 rushing yards aren’t enough to keep him on the list.