History of the Detroit Lions that feat was Buddy Parker, in 1952–53 during his second and third seasons at the helm. In 1997, Barry Sanders ran for 2,053 rushing yards. At the time, his career total rushing 15,269 yards was second only to Walter Payton's 16,726 yards and he joined Jim Brown as the only players among the NFL's 50 all-time rushing leaders to average 5 yards a carry, but he retired abruptly after the 1998 season. Emmitt Smith has since broken Payton's record, accumulating 18,355 career rushing yards, which bumped down Sanders to the #3 spot on the list of total career rushing yards.
Everett Withers yards overall. The week after, the South's Oldest Rivalry was resumed, as Carolina beat the University of Virginia 28–17. UNC rushed for 222 total yards for an average of 5.4 yards per carry. The Heels then traveled to Atlanta to play #25 Georgia Tech, dropping this one 35–28. Georgia Tech had 312 yards rushing and 496 yards total on the day. Next the Heels played East Carolina University beating them 35–20. The Heels then proceeded to beat the University of Louisville 14–7. Giovani Bernard became the first Tar Heel rusher in 27 years to rush for over 100 yards in