University of Pittsburgh’s Craig Heyward rushed for 259 yards Saturday, prompting sportscasters and newspapers across the nation to call him the nation’s top ground-gainer for the season.

But wait. There is one back who still has a game to play—Elbert “Ickey” Woods of Nevada-Las Vegas. The senior fullback will face NIU Saturday night on ESPN at 10 p.m. CST.

Woods is in third place now, needing 141 yards to catch Oklahoma State’s Thurman Thomas and 184 yards to pass Heyward. Before you think that is more than can be expected, consider Woods has eclipsed the 200-yard mark in each of his last three games.

However, the NIU defense is allowing 149.6 rushing yards a game and no single back has picked up 184 yards in Jerry Pettibone’s reign.

The 6-foot-1-inch, 195-pounder carried the ball 37 times for 265 yards and a touchdown in UNLV’s 30-24 victory over Pacific this weekend. The number of attempts is a school-record and the yard total was the third highest in Rebel history.

For the season, “Ickey” has gained 1,472 yards on 224 carries for an average of 6.57 yards per carry, which places him third in that category behind TCU’s Tony Jeffery (6.70) and Kentucky’s Mark Higgs (6.62).

All this comes after Woods was a back-up the last three seasons. He had gained only 320 yards on 78 carries (4.1 yards a crack) with a career long on 16 yards coming into the season, but at least one person saw potential in the 21-year-old.

“Ickey can be the dominant player of this league and he can be a first-round draft pick if he can put 11 good ball games together,” John Montgomery is quoted as saying in the preseason Rebel media guide.

Woods has turned that potential into results as he is etching his name in the UNLV record book behind Mike Thomas, who went on to play for the San Diego Chargers.

His three consecutive 200-yard games is a Rebel record and ties Thomas’ season mark. Thomas had five in his career. Also, Ickey’s eight 100-yard games is one behind Thomas, who had nine in 1973 when he also set the season record of 1,741 yards. Woods also has six straight 100-yard games, again one behind Thomas, who was a first-round pick.