BURNSVILLE, Minn. –
Gabriel Watson, who broke the University of Sioux Falls Football's game rushing record with 320 yards and scored five touchdowns in a 55-21 win over Minnesota State Moorhead on Saturday, has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Offensive Player of the Week, according to an announcement today (Monday, Oct. 22) by the league office.
Against MSUM, Watson set or tied four USF records as the Cougars ended a rare two-game losing streak with a 55-21 road win over Minnesota State Moorhead on Saturday. Watson also set a school mark of 269 rushing yards by halftime and finished with a program-best game record of 320 yards on 19 carries with five touchdowns, which tied the school DII mark held by Luke Papilion (240 yards rushing, five TDs, vs. Northern State, 2013). Watson played just two series in the second half and had six carries for 51 yards in the third quarter.
He broke the school rushing mark with his final carry of the game, a 12-yard burst late in the third quarter. USF Hall of Fame running back David Ruter had set the rushing game mark with 315 yards on 33 carries and four touchdowns against U-Mary in a first-round playoff win (Nov. 23) in 1996 when the Cougars won their first-ever NAIA national title.
A junior from Piedmont, Calif., Watson scored on runs of 79, 31, 2, 74 and 13 yards in USF's victory. He also had runs of 33, 18, 17 and 13 yards during the game. With his performance against the Dragons, Wagon raised his per carry average a full yard from 7.4 to 8.4 per carry.
Watson, who has been named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week three times, now leads NCAA DII in rushing yards with 1,517 yards on 181 carries with a DII-best 21 rushing touchdowns. Watson, who set a school record with his eighth straight 100-yard rushing game, has accumulated five runs of 50 yards plus (81, 79, 74, 67, 54), and 16 carries of 30 yards or more in 2018. In addition, he has had 19 runs of 20 yards or more with 44 carries of 10 yards or more. He leads DII with 189.6 rushing yards per game.
With three regular season games to play, Watson ranks seventh all-time in rushing for a season at USF with his 1,517 yards. He is just nine yards behind USF Hall of Fame running back Mike Dvoracek, who had 1,526 in 2004. USF's all-time single season mark is held by former USF eight-time All-American
Max Mickey with 1,764 yards in 2016. Watson is 463 yards away from the NSIC mark for rushing yards in a season, which is held by Tyler Tonderum of SMSU with 1,979 in 2013.
With his 21 TDs this year, Watson is tied for fourth all-time for a season at USF with
Ryan Lowmiller (2009) and USF Hall of Fame running back Nick Kortan (2002). USF's all-time season rushing touchdowns record is held by Ruter with 29 in 1998.
Watson and the USF Football Team will host Upper Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 27 at Bob Young Field.