University of Missouri junior running back Russell Hansbrough (Arlington, Texas) has been named the Southeastern Conference’s football Offensive Player of the Week for his performance Saturday at Texas A&M, as announced tonight by the league office.

Hansbrough, playing in his home state of Texas, led Mizzou to a huge 34-27 road win at #24 Texas A&M Saturday evening, thanks to his career-high 199 rushing yards.  He averaged 9.9 yards per carry (20 attempts), which included touchdown runs of 49 and 45 yards on consecutive 3rd-quarter possessions as the Tigers rallied from a 13-6 halftime deficit.

Hansbrough’s 199-yard outing marked the most rushing yards by a Tiger running back in a conference game since Oct. 10, 1998, when All-American Devin West ran for 252 yards (on 40 carries, 6.3 avg.) at Iowa State.  Hansbrough’s total is the 6th-highest output by a tailback in Mizzou history in a conference game, and it is the 10th-highest single-game rushing total among tailbacks (any opponent).  The 199 yards ranks 13th on Mizzou’s all-time single-game rushing chart (all positions included).

Thanks to Hansbrough’s career night (surpassing his previous best of 126 yards vs. South Dakota State on Aug. 30, 2014), Mizzou ran for a season-high 335 yards, surpassing the previous season mark of 244 yards (Vanderbilt), while amassing a season-best 587 yards of total offense in the A&M win.

Hansbrough leads Mizzou with 790 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the year, while he’s averaging 5.6 yards per attempt.  He now ranks 10th in the SEC in rushing with his 79.0 yards per game.

This marks the seventh time a Tiger has won a weekly SEC award in 2014.  The list of winners includes: Offensive Player of the Week – Maty Mauk (Sept. 6), Russell Hansbrough (Nov. 15); Defensive Player of the Week – Shane Ray (Sept. 13); Defensive Lineman of the Week – Shane Ray (Sept. 27, Oct. 18, Nov. 1); Special Teams Player of the Week – Marcus Murphy (Oct. 18).

— MU Sports Information —