Top 5 Running Back Performances of Week 1 College Football: Dylan Edwards, Jo'quavious Marks, more

Week 1 of the college football season is now mostly behind us, aside from Monday night's meeting between Clemson and Duke. It was an exciting first weekend of football, with perhaps the biggest game being Colorado's upset win over TCU.

The Horned Frogs were double-digit favorites, but Colorado came out with a 45-42 road victory in Deion Sanders' FBS coaching debut. His son, Shedeur Sanders, and wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter will get most of the attention there, but running back Dylan Edwards was a huge part of the win as well by scoring four total touchdowns.

Below are the top five running back performances from Week 1 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. (Note: this does not account for games played on Sunday and Monday.)

5. Jo'quavious Marks - Mississippi State

Last season, Jo'quavious Marks had the best season of his college career, rushing for 582 yards and nine touchdowns while catching 48 passes for 288 yards. The multi-faceted back has made an impact in the run game and the passing game in his first three seasons with the Bulldogs.

That impact continued on Saturday, as Marks was a huge part of his team's 48-7 win over Southeastern Louisiana. His 19 carries led, with Marks gaining 127 yards on the ground and scoring two of the team's three rushing touchdowns.

He also tied for the team lead in receptions, catching four passes for 59 yards. He was tied exactly with Creed Whittemore for the team lead in receiving yards, though Whittemore managed to find the end zone.

4.  Jaydn Ott - California

As a North Texas alum, I really thought UNT was going to be able to hang with Cal. But the Mean Green defense was just atrocious, with Cal putting up 58 points in Saturday's victory. The Golden Bears just couldn't be stopped as they marched up and down the field.

Last season, Jaydn Ott had 897 rushing yards and eight touchdowns while catching 46 passes for 345 yards and another three scores. He was one of the top freshman running backs in the county, and he's already building on that performance in 2023.

Ott finished Saturday's game with 20 carries for 188 yards and two touchdowns while adding a 13-yard reception as well. It was the second-best game of his college career, following last year's dominant showing against Arizona which saw Ott post 274 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.

UNT's defense just failed to get their hands on Ott. If something doesn't change there, this won't be the only time a running back taking on the Mean Green ends up on this list of top running back performances.

3. Kimani Vidal - Troy

Kimani Vidal gets dinged a spot or two because he failed to find the end zone. But he was just absolutely dominant when he touched the football, finishing with 25 carries for 248 yards plus two receptions for 54 yards in his team's 48-30 win over FCS program Stephen F. Austin.

Vidal finished last season with 1,132 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, so I trust the touchdowns will be coming. He was the clear No. 1 running back last year with 231 carries, with DK Billingsley's 142 carries ranking second on the team. That control of the backfield was even more apparent in Week 1 this year. No other Troy player had more than six carries, with Jarris Williams and Jordan Lovett both seeing that amount.

His 54 receiving yards also led the team. That's not necessarily something I expect to see continue since Vidal had just 140 receiving yards last season, but an uptick in receiving volume would be interesting.

2. Marcus Carroll - Georgia State

Georgia State's Marcus Carroll opened the season with impressive numbers in a 42-35 win over FCS program Rhode Island, carrying the ball 23 times for 184 yards and three touchdowns while also adding two catches for eight yards.

Quarterback Darren Grainger had 12 carries. Other than that, rushing touches were dominated by Caroll, as he has 95.8% of the running back carries. The only carry that didn't go to Carroll was a one-yard loss by KZ Adams.

Carroll's spent his whole career with the Panthers, working his way up to the starting role. It wasn't until last season in his 17th career game that Carroll saw double-digit carries in a contest, with 15 of them for 94 yards against Charlotte. It took until career game No. 23 for him to rush for over 100 yards, as he had 24 carries for 163 against Southern Miss. But he's now finished with over 100 yards in three of his last four games. I feel a breakout season coming in the Sun Belt.

1. Dylan Edwards - Colorado

Dylan Edwards had just six carries on Saturday, gaining 24 yards and finding the end zone once on the ground. But he made his presence felt in the receiving game as he caught five passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns. He finished as the top fantasy-producing running back in PPR with 44.9 points, making him the only back to surpass 40 fantasy points.

I think it's obvious that he won't produce 14.5 yards per touch every week. The freshman out of Derby High School in Kansas saw Sy'veon Wilkerson and Anthony Hankerson both used more in the run game. But he produced some big-time numbers on the touches he had, something that'll likely earn him a larger share of the rushing work going forward. Great college football debut from Edwards.

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