Entering the season, the SEC and Big Ten both looked loaded at running back.

The Big Ten is headed toward a historic season, while things haven’t come together for the SEC.

Tevin Coleman (Indiana), Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin), Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska) and David Cobb (Minnesota) are the only four backs with more than 1,000 yards through Week 8. (Only two other power conference backs have more than 816 yards.)

Meanwhile, Todd Gurley has missed two games due to suspension. Inconsistent offensive line play and splitting carries has limited T.J. Yeldon. Alex Collins has fallen off the last two weeks. An early-season injury and some stubborn play-calling held back Mike Davis early. Leonard Fournette and Derrick Henry have shown their youth at times. Cameron Artis-Payne is no Tre Mason. Missouri’s offense has labored.

Nick Marshall and Dak Prescott, two of the SEC’s best runners, are quarterbacks.

At this point, Mississippi State running back Josh Robinson is the SEC’s best chance at a Doak Walker Award finalist, though he’s not even the best ball-carrier on his own team (see the previous sentence). South Carolina’s Davis is coming strong and is just 27 yards behind Robinson for second in the SEC in total rushing. Both of them will surpass Gurley assuming the latter continues to be held out.

Right now, Melvin Gordon is the Doak Walker Award frontrunner, with Coleman and Abdullah strong challengers.

RECAPPING SATURDAY’S SEC 100-YARD RUSHERS

Five SEC running backs reached the 100-yard benchmark on Saturday.

  • Nick Chubb ran for 202 yards and two touchdowns against Arkansas. Georgia is treating him like he’s a disposable asset, as Chubb has 73 touches in two GAMES. Gurley had 105 touches in five games, or 21 touches per game compared to Chubb’s 36.5.
  • Mike Davis (111 rushing yards) and David Williams (110 rushing yards) each played well against Furman on Saturday.
  • T.J. Yeldon ran for 114 yards on just 13 carries Saturday, though putting up those numbers against Texas A&M’s defense isn’t much of a step above Furman.
  • Terrence Magee racked up 127 rushing yards on just seven carries for LSU, as the Tigers continue to play a game of running back roulette.

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

Player Buzz Previous Rank
1. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin Boy, does that 17 carries for 38 yards against Western Illinois early in the season look out of place. Assuming a bowl game, Gordon needs to average 136.2 rushing yards to break 2,000. 1
2. Duke Johnson, Miami Like Gordon, Johnson’s team didn’t play Saturday. Unlike Gordon, Johnson has 17 catches for 187 yards this season. 2
3. Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska Abdullah joined the 1,000-yard club this weekend as one of four to pass the benchmark in 2014 — all from the Big Ten. He rebounded well from one of the worst performances of his career against Michigan State. 3
4. Tevin Coleman, Indiana The NCAA rushing leader is making a strong case to move up this list. Despite playing against the Spartans and playing with a third-team quarterback, Coleman got his — 132 rushing yards. 4
5. James Conner, Pitt Conner and WR Tyler Boyd are a two-man offense, and guess who defenses prioritize? Still, Conner managed a respectable 95 yards of total offense vs. Virginia Tech while also playing as a defensive end. 5
6. Josh Robinson, Mississippi State Dak Prescott helps Robinson’s numbers, but also puts a governor on the perception of Robinson. All the running back can do is continue to produce. 6
7. Jarvion Franklin, Western Michigan Franklin leads the country with 16 rushing touchdowns and earned his third MAC West Division offensive player of the week award this season with 149 yards in an upset win against Bowling Green. 9
8. Anthone Taylor, Buffalo Taylor and Buffalo didn’t play Saturday, but he’s rushed for nearly 700 yards in his last four games. 8
9. Mike Davis, South Carolina It’s taken him all season to earn back a ranking after a poor, injury-fueled performance in the opener. But Davis has three consecutive 100-yard rushing games and more than 550 yards of offense in the last four outings. —
10. D.J. Foster, Arizona State Foster isn’t good enough as a running back (612 yards, 6.3 ypc). But He’s the most prolific receiver in the country out of the backfield (28 catches, 372 yards). 10

Dropped Out: Todd Gurley, Georgia (No. 7).

Gurley has missed two games due to suspension, ending any chance he’ll win the Heisman or the Doak Walker Award. If Georgia reinstates him this week, he still has an outside chance to become a finalist for the Doak Walker.