Photos of Illinois junior running back Rashard Mendenhall.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (by coaches)
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (by media)
Chicago Tribune Silver Football Award winner
Third-Team All-America (by Rivals.com)
Fourth-Team All-America (by Phil Steele)
First-Team All-Big Ten (by coaches)
First-Team All-Big Ten (by media)
Doak Walker Award Semifinalist
Maxwell Award Semifinalist
First-Team All-Big Ten (by Rivals.com)
ESPN Helmet Sticker (9/22)
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (9/24)
ESPN Helmet Sticker (10/6)
Master Coaches Game Ball (10/6)
ILLINOIS RECORDS BROKEN
Season Rushing Yards (1,681)
Season Scoring (114)
Season All-Purpose Yards (1,999)
Season Total Touchdowns (19)
Season Rushing Touchdowns (17)
Season 100-yard Rushing Games (8)
Career Yards Per Carry (6.4)
2007: Finished his career ranked seventh on the Illinois all-time rushing list ... Ranked eighth nationally in rushing and is tied for 18th in the nation in scoring ... Ranks second in the Big Ten in rushing and is tied for second in the Big Ten in scoring ... Ranked 25th in the nation and third in the Big Ten in all-purpose yards ... Ranked 13th in the Big Ten in total offense ... Had six games with two or more touchdowns (MIZZ, @SYR, WIS, BSU, @MINN, NW) ... Ran for 155 yards against the fouth-ranked defense in the country, USC, in the Rose Bowl ... Scored on a 79-yard touchdown run vs. USC ... Rushed 27 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns against Northwestern, breaking the school record with seven 100-yard games in a season, and had three receptions for 29 yards ... Rushed 26 times for 88 yards and caught one pass for four yards at No. 1 Ohio State ... Rushed 17 times for 201 yards - his second 200-yard game of the season - two touchdowns and a season-high 64-yard carry at Minnesota ... Rushed a career-high 28 times for 189 yards and two touchdowns, surpassing 1,000 yards for the season, against Ball State ... Had 18 carries for 85 yards and caught four passes for 26 yards against No. 26 Michigan ... Ran 15 times for 67 yards and caught three passes for 27 yards at Iowa ... Rushed 19 times for 160 yards and two touchdowns, and caught four passes for 33 yards and one touchdown against No. 5 Wisconsin ... Earned his second "Helmet Sticker" award from the ESPN College GameDay crew in three weeks for his performance against No. 5 Wisconsin and was one of four nominees for the AT&T All-America National Player of the Week Award ... Rushed 18 times for 76 yards and a touchdown against No. 21 Penn State ... Also caught four passes for 27 yards against the Nittany Lions ... Rushed for over 100 yards for the third-straight game with a career-best 27-carry, 214-yard, one-touchdown performance at Indiana, the most yards by an Illini runner since 1998 ... Also caught three passes for 18 yards and a touchdown at Indiana ... Earned a "Helmet Sticker" award from the ESPN College GameDay crew for his performance at Indiana and was one of four nominees for the AT&T All-America National Player of the Week Award ... Notched consecutive 100-yard games with his 16-carry, 150-yard, three-touchdown effort at Syracuse ... His three scores at SU marked the first time an Illini running back had three or more rushing TDs since 2002 ... Had a career-high 23 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown against Western Illinois, topping 1,000 yards for his career ... Also caught one pass for 16 yards against WIU ... Had 11 carries in the season opener against Missouri, rushing for 33 yards and a career high-tying two touchdowns ... Also caught three passes for 59 yards against Mizzou, including a 42-yard reception, Illinois' longest play of the game.
2006: Finished the season ranking 10th in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game and had a league-best 8.2 yards per carry for the season ... Recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the season with 113 yards on only five carries vs. Northwestern ... Vs. the Wildcats, he broke free for an 86-yard touchdown run, the longest play from scrimmage of the season, which also ranks as the fourth-longest run in school history ... Averaged 7.8 yards per carry for 39 yards vs. Purdue ... Had seven carries vs. Ohio State, scoring the team's only touchdown on a three-yard run ... Rushed eight times for 26 yards at Wisconsin ... Rushed 14 times for a career-high 162 yards, a 79-yard run and caught one pass for 11 yards at Penn State ... Rushed seven times for 94 yards against Ohio ... Rushed five times for 29 yards against Indiana ... Rushed five times for 17 yards at Michigan State ... Rushed five times for 14 yards against Iowa ... Caught two passes for a career-high 78 yards and a touchdown against Syracuse, including a 76-yarder, the 11th-longest catch in school history ... Rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries against Eastern Illinois ... Also caught a team-high four passes for 50 yards against the Panthers, while compiling 125 all-purpose yards ... Earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2005: Played in 10 games at running back, rushing for 218 yards on 48 carries ... Posted 64 yards rushing on 11 carries in his debut against San Jose State ... Registered 80 all-purpose yards that game with the addition of 16 yards receiving ... Also caught 13 passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns ... Caught touchdown passes in games against Penn State and Michigan State ... Recorded a four catches for 30 yards vs. the Nittany Lions ... Joined Illinois team in the spring of 2005, graduating early from high school.
High School: Rated the No. 1 recruit in the state of Illinois by Scout.com ... A five-star prospect by Scout.com ... Named to Rivals Top-100 team ... Rated No. 17 among national recruits by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ... Ranked the nation's 24th-best recruit by Scout.com ... Named to the Student Sports Top-100 list of senior prospects ... Averaged 9.1 yards per carry as a senior at Niles West, rushing for 1,453 yards on 160 attempts and 14 touchdowns ... PrepStar All-American and Dream Team selection ... Named the No. 1 recruit in the state of Illinois by the Chicago Sun-Times ... Named to SuperPrep's Elite 50 list ... Also a SuperPrep All-American selection, ranked the nation's No. 4 running back by the same publication ... The sixth-highest rated running back in the nation by Scout.com ... Participated in the Fifth Annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl ... As a junior, rushed for 1,832 yards and 19 touchdowns, while averaging 11.6 yards per carry ... Recorded 1,300 yards and 21 scores as a sophomore ... Verbally committed to Illinois as a junior ... Also had over 1,000 career yards receiving and 13 touchdown catches ... Named to All-State teams as a junior in both football and track ... Finished seventh in the state 100-meter dash as a sophomore ... Also lettered in basketball ... High school football coach was Mark Egofske.
Personal: Full name is Rashard Jamal Mendenhall ... Son of Walter and Sibyl Mendenhall ... Born on June 19, 1987 ... Older brother, Walter, also is a member of the Illini football team ... Majoring in sport management.
Career Highs:
Carries: 28 at Ball State, 10/27/07 Rushing Yards: 214 at Indiana, 9/22/07 Long Run: 86 at Northwestern, 11/18/06 Rushing TDs: 3 at Syracuse, 9/15/07 Receptions: 5 vs. USC, 1/1/08 Receiving Yards: 78 vs. Syracuse, 9/16/06 Long Reception: 76 vs. Syracuse, 9/16/06 Receiving TDs: 1, five times (last time vs. 10/6/07) All-Purpose Yards: 232 at Indiana, 9/22/07
Rashard Mendenhall's Career Statistics:
Season Totals
Rushing
Receiving
Passing
Kick Ret
Punt Ret
all
Year
no.
yds
td
lg
no.
yds
td
lg
c-a-i
yds
td
lg
no.
yds
td
lg
no.
yds
td
lg
purp
2005
48
218
0
18
13
82
2
16
0-0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
300
2006
78
640
5
86
12
164
1
76
0-0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
804
2007
262
1681
17
79
34
318
2
55
0-0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1999
TOTALS
388
2539
22
86
59
564
5
76
0-0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3103
Rushing yards per game: 72.5
Rushing yards per carry: 6.5
Receiving yards per game: 16.1
Receiving yards per catch: 9.6
