Jamario Thomas ties NCAA record

[Murphy3]

DENTON, Texas (AP) -- Jamario Thomas ran for his NCAA-record-tying fourth 200-yard game and set the NCAA record for most yards by a freshman in his first seven games as North Texas beat Louisiana-Monroe 45-30 on Saturday night.

Thomas, who entered the game as the nation's leading rusher at 166.2 yards a game, also scored three touchdowns as UNT (4-4, 4-0 Sun Belt) won its 22nd straight conference game.

He ran 41 times for 218 yards for his third straight 200-yard game. He tied Herschel Walker of Georgia and Ron Dayne of Wisconsin with four 200-yard games as a freshman.




Thomas passed 1,000 yards with a 10-yard run on the game's first play, becoming just the fourth freshman to reach the milestone in seven games. His seven-game total of 1,215 is the best ever, surpassing Marshall Faulk's 1,157 in 1991 at San Diego State.

Thomas hit the 1,000-yard mark just a week after Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson accomplished the same feat. Faulk and Emmitt Smith were the only other freshmen to do it. Smith did it for Florida in 1987.

Thomas had touchdown runs of 17, 2 and 4 yards, the last one putting UNT up 28-7 before halftime.

Louisiana-Monroe (3-5, 2-2) pulled to 28-17 when Mason Denham scored on a 1-yard run on the opening drive of the third quarter.

But then Scott Hall threw two touchdown passes in a 2:17 span to put the Mean Green up 42-17 late in the third. Hall finished 8-of-12 for 145 yards and the two scores.

Andy Blount, who caught a 53-yard TD pass from Hall, finished with 103 yards on three catches. Johnny Quinn scored on a 2-yard reception and an 85-yard punt return.

Indians quarterback Steve Jyles completed 22 of 44 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. He also had 103 yards rushing and another touchdown.

[Murphy3]

This was probably his worst 'full' game of the season.
On a side note, he has pretty much just played in 5 full games and two partial games. He left early with an injury against Baylor (already had 10 carries for 64 yards, I believe), and against UT, he was a backup and only had a couple of carries. So, in less than five and a half games, this kid has 1215 yards.

[dirno2000]

According to the Jubinator, Cobbs may not get his job back next year.

[Murphy3]

With UNT's passing game, I'd say it's a good idea to start both of those guys. But if you're going with a 1 tailback set, Thomas looks better than Cobbs in my opinion. And let's not forget that Cobbs was projected as a 3rd to 4th rounder in the draft....and Thomas is just a Freshman.

[Drbio]

Thomas looked good early in the Baylor game murph. When he was hobbled, I know there was sigh of relief. I hate to see a guy get injured, but that guy was poised for a big day. His replacement didn't do too bad though.