iStockphoto / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Davenport running back Cephus Harris next to peace sign
There are good ways to start a college football season, and then there is making your school’s previous single-game rushing record look like a decent first half. Davenport running back Cephus Harris opened 2026 with 351 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries in a 32-20 win over Gannon.
Harris averaged a completely stupid 13.5 yards every time he touched the ball and ripped off touchdown runs of 10, 75, and 84 yards. Davenport’s game recap shows the Panthers finished with a school-record 420 rushing yards, meaning one running back accounted for more than 83% of an entire team’s ground production.
Cephus Harris Nearly Doubled Davenport’s Old Rushing Record
Here is the part that really puts 351 yards into perspective.
Before Saturday, the Davenport single-game rushing record was 185 yards. Harris owned that record too.
He set it against eventual Division II national champion Ferris State in the final game of the 2025 season. Nine months later, he decided a three-yard improvement sounded boring and added another 166.
Harris had already accumulated 107 yards on nine first-quarter carries against Gannon, including a 10-yard touchdown that opened the scoring. After Davenport took a 14-7 lead into halftime, he needed exactly one offensive snap of the third quarter to make things significantly more ridiculous.
Seventy-five yards. Touchdown.
About 10 minutes later, Harris broke free for an 84-yard score. At that point, Gannon’s defensive game plan could probably have been reduced to “Maybe someone else will get the ball,” but nobody really did.
Cephus Harris of @DUAthletics ran wild during the first week of college football with 351 rushing yards against Gannon on Saturday. His new school record was one of six 200+ yard rushing performances across the country. pic.twitter.com/I3SCmnQVTd
— NCAA Stats (@NCAAStats) August 31, 2026
Davenport attempted only 16 passes all afternoon while running it 45 times for 420 yards. Harris personally finished with more rushing yards than Gannon produced in total offense, with the Golden Knights managing 276 yards between rushing and passing.
That is a fairly disrespectful statistical comparison for one person to create.
This Was Not Exactly A Random Week 1 Explosion
Harris did not emerge from nowhere.
His 2025 season included a Davenport-record 1,096 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns while averaging 6.94 yards per carry. He became the first 1,000-yard rusher in program history, earned First Team All-GLIAC honors, and was named Second Team All-Region.
He needed 158 carries to reach 1,096 yards last season.
Twenty-six carries into this one, he is already almost one-third of the way back there.
That seems mildly concerning for everyone remaining on Davenport’s schedule.