College Football Stat Leaders

2016 MAC College Football Rushing Yards Per Game Leaders

Average rushing yards gained per game.

Seasons Covered

2004-2025

Current Leader

Northern Illinois (239.8)

Best Season

Northern Illinois 2013 (297.2)

Scope

MAC • 2016

Browse Metrics

Crawl sibling stat pages without leaving the shared leaderboard template.

Total Yards Per Game Passing Yards Per Game Rushing Yards Per Game Points Per Game Offensive PPA Defensive PPA Turnover Margin Havoc Rate

Season Selector

All-Time 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004

Conference Selector

All Conferences ACC American Big 12 Big Ten Conference USA MAC Mountain West Pac-12 SEC Sun Belt

Summary

This rushing view surfaces more than highlight runs because the teams at the top typically combine explosive gains with steady success on standard downs, which is why they tend to stay visible across multiple seasons.

Rushing Yards Per Game pages track MAC teams in 2016 using a shared leaderboard template with season winners, all-time context, and trend lines across 2004 through 2025.

Northern Illinois sits atop the current leaderboard at 239.8, giving the page an immediate answer for fans comparing the top teams in this metric.

Northern Illinois owns the strongest average across 22 seasons at 200.6, while Ohio anchors the recent year-by-year trend view.

Northern Illinois currently headlines this route, while Ohio supplies the most recent yearly-winner checkpoint in 2025, giving the page both snapshot and trend context.

What The Numbers Say

Route-specific context pulled from the current leaderboard, winner trend, and historical baseline.

How Rushing Yards Per Game Reads

Rushing yards per game captures line-of-scrimmage control and down-to-down physicality, so teams that dominate this leaderboard usually create efficient early-down offense without needing to chase long passing volume. On this 2016 leaderboard, the visible range runs 239.8 to 180.8, with Northern Illinois setting the pace.

MAC Context

MAC teams have claimed 100% of the yearly titles in this filtered dataset, and Ohio is the latest winner at 228.2.

Spread At The Top

The gap from No. 1 Northern Illinois to No. 5 Bowling Green is 58.9, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.

Recent Trend And Baseline

The yearly winning mark improved from 213.6 in 2024 to 228.2 in 2025, a swing of 14.5. Northern Illinois's current mark of 239.8 sits above the all-time average leader benchmark of 200.6 held by Northern Illinois.

Leaderboard

Top 13 rows for the current route scope.


1	Northern Illinois	Mid-American Conference	2016	239.8
2	Western Michigan	Mid-American Conference	2016	228.1
3	Ball State	Mid-American Conference	2016	220.0
4	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	2016	195.0
5	Bowling Green	Mid-American Conference	2016	180.8
6	Ohio	Mid-American Conference	2016	167.9
7	Kent State	Mid-American Conference	2016	167.3
8	Eastern Michigan	Mid-American Conference	2016	159.1
9	Buffalo	Mid-American Conference	2016	153.3
10	Miami (OH)	Mid-American Conference	2016	136.3
11	Akron	Mid-American Conference	2016	132.2
12	Central Michigan	Mid-American Conference	2016	115.9
13	Massachusetts	Mid-American	2016	99.5

Trend Chart

Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.

Yearly Winners

Season	Team	Conference	Value
2025	Ohio	Mid-American Conference	228.2
2024	Ohio	Mid-American Conference	213.6
2023	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	198.9
2022	Kent State	Mid-American Conference	202.8
2021	Kent State	Mid-American Conference	248.7
2020	Buffalo	Mid-American Conference	287.9
2019	Buffalo	Mid-American Conference	250.5
2018	Ohio	Mid-American Conference	258.5
2017	Ohio	Mid-American Conference	244.5
2016	Northern Illinois	Mid-American Conference	239.8
2015	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	207.9
2014	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	256.4
2013	Northern Illinois	Mid-American Conference	297.2
2012	Northern Illinois	Mid-American Conference	238.2
2011	Temple	Mid-American Conference	241.0
2010	Northern Illinois	Mid-American Conference	260.4
2009	Northern Illinois	Mid-American Conference	195.2
2008	Kent State	Mid-American Conference	230.6
2007	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	209.2
2006	Bowling Green	Mid-American Conference	176.7
2005	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	216.8
2004	Northern Illinois	Mid-American Conference	238.2

Historical Leaderboard

Average across seasons for each team in the current filter scope.

Rank	Team	Seasons	Average	Best Season
1	Northern Illinois	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	200.6	2013 (297.2)
2	Toledo	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	190.2	2014 (256.4)
3	Ohio	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	176.1	2018 (258.5)
4	Western Michigan	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	162.0	2016 (228.1)
5	Buffalo	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	157.4	2020 (287.9)
6	Kent State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	156.1	2020 (283.0)
7	Ball State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	153.3	2016 (220.0)
8	Temple	2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007	151.5	2011 (241.0)
9	Central Michigan	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	150.1	2020 (218.5)
10	Bowling Green	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	142.3	2013 (193.3)
11	Eastern Michigan	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	141.5	2011 (207.3)
12	Massachusetts	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012	122.9	2024 (164.0)
13	Miami (OH)	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	121.1	2018 (159.8)
14	Akron	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004	113.6	2008 (165.2)
15	Marshall	2004	112.9	2004 (112.9)
16	UCF	2004	97.0	2004 (97.0)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads the MAC rushing yards per game leaderboard in 2016?

Northern Illinois ranks first at 239.8 in 2016.

Which MAC program has the best long-term rushing yards per game profile?

Northern Illinois owns the strongest all-time average at 200.6 across 22 tracked seasons in this conference scope.

How does the MAC race compare with the recent trend?

Ohio is the most recent yearly winner in this conference scope, so the route combines the current leaderboard with a recent trend line instead of showing only one season snapshot.