most rushing yards in a season by a freshman

Jonathan Taylor has the most rushing yards by a freshman in a season, with 1,977 yards in 2017.

	NAME	RUSH YDS	SEASON	TM	GP	ATT	YPC	RUSH YDS/G	RUSH TD	REC YDS	REC	TRG	AVG	REC YDS/G	REC TD
1	Jonathan Taylor J. Taylor	1,977	2017	WIS	14	299	6.6	141.2	13	95	8	14	11.9	6.8	0
2	Ron Dayne R. Dayne	1,863	1996	WIS	12	295	6.3	155.3	18	133	14		9.5	11.1	0
3	Lew Nichols L. Nichols	1,848	2021	CMU	13	341	5.4	142.2	16	338	40	52	8.5	26.0	2
4	Samaje Perine S. Perine	1,713	2014	OKLA	13	263	6.5	131.8	21	108	15	16	7.2	8.3	0
5	Herschel Walker H. Walker	1,616	1980	UGA	11	274	5.9	146.9	15	70	7		10.0	6.4	0
6	AJ Dillon	1,589	2017	BC	13	300	5.3	122.2	14
7	Quinshon Judkins Q. Judkins	1,567	2022	MISS	13	274	5.7	120.5	16	132	15	20	8.8	10.2	1
8	Jarvion Franklin J. Franklin	1,551	2014	WMU	13	306	5.1	119.3	24	168	15	18	11.2	12.9	1
9	Nick Chubb N. Chubb	1,547	2014	UGA	13	219	7.1	119.0	14	213	18	21	11.8	16.4	2
10	Sean Tucker S. Tucker	1,496	2021	SYR	12	246	6.1	124.7	12	255	20	27	12.8	21.3	2
11	Kenneth Gainwell K. Gainwell	1,459	2019	MEM	14	231	6.3	104.2	13	610	51	60	12.0	43.6	3
12	J.K. Dobbins	1,403	2017	OSU	14	194	7.2	100.2	7	135	22	26	6.1	9.6	1
13	Rasheen Ali R. Ali	1,401	2021	MRSH	13	250	5.6	107.8	23	334	45	57	7.4	25.7	1
14	Jermar Jefferson J. Jefferson	1,380	2018	ORST	12	239	5.8	115.0	12	147	25	31	5.9	12.3	0
15	Makhi Hughes M. Hughes	1,378	2023	TULN	14	258	5.3	98.4	7	67	11	12	6.1	4.8	0
16	Nick Wilson N. Wilson	1,375	2014	ARIZ	13	236	5.8	105.8	16	90	12	15	7.5	6.9	1
17	Royce Freeman R. Freeman	1,365	2014	ORE	15	252	5.4	91.0	18	158	16	17	9.9	10.5	1
18	Ahmad Hardy A. Hardy	1,351	2024	ULM	12	237	5.7	112.6	13	72	8	10	9.0	6.0	0
19	Emmitt Smith E. Smith	1,341	1987	FLA	11	229	5.9	121.9	13	184	25		7.4	16.7	0
20	Mike Warren M. Warren	1,339	2015	ISU	12	227	5.9	111.6	5	70	14	23	5.0	5.8	0
21	Spencer Brown S. Brown	1,329	2017	UAB	13	250	5.3	102.2	10	42	4	4	10.5	3.2	0
22	Myles Gaskin M. Gaskin	1,302	2015	WASH	13	227	5.7	100.2	14	19	6	10	3.2	1.5	0
23	Allen Harvin A. Harvin	1,283	1978	CIN	11	233	5.5	116.6	6	150	21		7.1	13.6	1
24	Braelon Allen B. Allen	1,268	2021	WIS	12	186	6.8	105.7	12	39	8	12	4.9	3.3	0
25	Terrell Willis T. Willis	1,261	1993	RUTG	11	195	6.5	114.6	13	61	9		6.8	5.5	0