Chadron star close to rushing record

OMAHA, Neb. – It’s the number of wins, not the number of yards, that matter most to Danny Woodhead.

So the Chadron State senior leaves it to statisticians to add up his rushing numbers, which are approaching unprecedented levels.

Woodhead will go into the season 989 yards from becoming the NCAA’s all-division career rushing leader. That’s only about one-third of his 2006 total of 2,756, an all-division single-season record.

If Woodhead averages 212 yards a game, as he did last season, he’ll break the record by October.

“It’s not really something I look at,” Woodhead said in a phone interview. “You ask if it’s possible. I really don’t know. I’m just here playing.”

Last season, Woodhead ran for 200 or more yards eight times and won the Harlon Hill Trophy as the top player in Division II.

Eye-popping yardage could be harder to come by this season, Chadron coach Bill O’Boyle said, because three award-winning starters on the offensive line are gone.

“As an offense, you shake your head at some of the defenses you see, because they’re all designed to stop No. 3,” O’Boyle said. “It will come down to how well we block. Danny’s always going to make people miss. But any great running back needs to have people up front getting in front of people.”

Spurned by Division I programs because of his size – he was 5-foot-8 and about 175 pounds as a freshman – Woodhead is drawing attention from the NFL.

Scouts from the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles have visited Chadron the past few days, and more are coming, O’Boyle said.

Woodhead, who now weighs 200 pounds, projects as a kick or punt returner, and he could find work catching passes out of the backfield if a pro team takes a chance on him, O’Boyle said.