Bowers Breaks NCAA Rushing Record
Back Could Top 7,000 Yards Next Week
Game Highlights
Bowers wasn't finished with the heroics, though. His touchdown run in overtime gave him 138 yards on 26 carries and gave the Wolverines (4-4) a 20-14 victory.
Bowers finished the day one yard away from 7,000, with two games remaining. No college football player has reached that number.
"That certainly wasn't the way I envisioned it, a 1-yard run," Bowers said. "They gave me the ball, but I gave it to our trainer and went back to the huddle. To me, it was just another carry for another yard in another game and let's get on with it. I didn't want to jump around or anything like that."
The majority of Bowers' yards came on a 67-yard run on a trap play on his second carry, a play on which he fumbled but was ruled down by contact. After that, he was neutralized by a Bethany defense which limited him to 19 yards on 12 carries in the second half -- 11 on a game-winning touchdown run in overtime.
Bowers scored on runs of 3, 1 and 11 yards. In doing so, he set Division III records for career touchdowns (85) and career scoring (538).
Bowers, who played five seasons in the Houston Astros' farm system before returning to football at age 23, now owns NCAA all-divisions records for rushing and career rushing touchdowns (87) and is tied with 15 200-yard games. He owns eight Division III records.
"It really hasn't hit me yet, but I'm sure that on the ride home, I'll say to myself, 'I'm the nation's all-time leading rusher,'" Bowers said. "But I won't pinch myself because I'm too beat up for that."
It was the fourth consecutive year that Bowers rushed for 100 yards against Bethany (5-4), a small school located in a town of 650 residents in the hills of northern West Virginia. He had 253 yards against them last season and 292 in 1998, but this was his second-lowest effort against the Bison.
"He's made a living against us," Bethany coach Steve Campos said. "He's just a phenomenal player. We knew he was going to get the record against us, but we put nine people along the line of scrimmage to try to slow him down and we gave up some things to try to stop their running game."
Bowers, who at 6-foot-1 and 238 pounds is as big as many of the non-scholarship linemen trying to tackle him, has had his two lowest-yardage games in consecutive weeks. He was held to a season-low 61 yards at home last week by Division II Westminster.
On his first carry next Saturday against Carnegie Mellon, Bowers should become the first college player to rush for 7,000 yards. After that, he said, "Everything is just icing, and we can concentrate on winning two more games."
Bowers knows that some will question the legitimacy of a record set in Division III, against opponents who play college football not for a scholarship but a desire to play the game. However, he will get the chance to play against top Division I-A players in the Hula Bowl in January.
"I hope I can showcase what I can do," said Bowers, only the seventh Division III player selected to play in the game.
"Hopefully, I can compete and can open up some more eyes."
"People said to him during his career, 'Why don't you transfer to Pitt? Why don't you transfer to Edinboro?'," Grove City coach Chris Smith said of Bowers. "We're just glad he stayed and set the record at Grove City. I like to joke I won't see a running back like him for another 4-5 years, but, really, it's 40 or 50 years."
Bowers, 26, was born in Honolulu and now lives in West Middlesex, about 25 miles west of Grove City. He wears number 33 in honor of Tony Dorsett, who ran for 6,082 yards at Pitt from 1973-76 and once held the record.
Related Story:
Div Years Yds
R.J. Bowers, Grove City III 1997-00 6,999
Brian Shay, Emporia State II 1995-98 6,958
Kavin Galliard, Amer. Intl. II 1996-99 6,523
Ron Dayne, Wisconsin IA 1996-99 6,397
Damian Beane, Shepherd II 1996-99 6,346
Johnny Bailey, Tex.A&M-K'ville II 1986-89 6,320
Richard Huntley, Winston-Salem II 1992-95 6,286
Ricky Williams, Texas IA 1995-98 6,279
Jerry Azumah, New Hampshire IAA 1995-98 6,193
Jarett Anderson, Truman State II 1993-96 6,166
Carey Bender, Coe III 1991-94 6,125
Steve Tardif, Maine Maritime III 1996-99 6,093
Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh I 1973-76 6,082
x-Charles Roberts, Sacramento St. IAA 1997-00 6,001
Roger Graham, New Haven II 1991-94 5,953
x-not including Saturday's game
