Rodney Ferguson

From NCAA College Football Information & Resource

Rodney Ferguson

Profile
College	University of New Mexico
Position	RB
Jersey No.	21
Class	Senior
Career	2004 – present
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	229 lbs (103.9 kg)
Nationality	American
B-date	August 25, 1986
B-place	Flint, Mich
High School	Albuquerque Manzano High School
Career Highlights
Awards
2007 All-MWC First Team 2007 Consensus Preseason 1st team all-MWC 2007 Doak Walker Award Watch List 2007 Phil Steele Second Team All-MWC 2007 Street & Smith's most elusive RB in the MWC (Preseason)
Championships
none
Bowl Games
2006 New Mexico Bowl 2004 Emerald Bowl

Rodney Ferguson (born Rodney Laurence Ferguson II on Aug. 25, 1986, in Flint, Mich) plays running back for the University of New Mexico Lobos in the NCAA college football tournament. Since arriving in New Mexico in 2004, Ferguson has provided ample source of ground game for the Lobos, starting in his sophomore year when he eclipsed the 1,000-rushing yard mark despite suffering an injury the previous year that kept him out of action for one whole season. Since taking over the starting RB spot, the power back continues to prove that he is worthy of succeeding the New Mexico's former lead rusher DonTrell Moore who rushed for 1,000 yards or more in each of his four seasons.

1 Personal Life
2 High School
3 College
- 3.1 2004
- 3.2 2005
- 3.3 2006
- 3.4 2007
- 3.5 2008
4 Career Stats
5 Highlights
6 Achievements
- 6.1 2007
- 6.2 2006
7 References

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Personal Life

Rodney is the son of Rodney Ferguson Sr. He majored in General Management at the University of New Mexico.

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High School

Ferguson played high school football at Albuquerque Manzano High School for head coach Aaron Ocampo who was a former New Mexico standout. During his junior year, he gained 1,858 yards and 20 TDs to earn his first of two all-state selections. In his final year, he once again led the state in rushing for the third straight year, racking up Class 5A-leading 1,543 rush yards and 23 touchdowns to earn his third appearance at the all-metro first-team. Apart from his exploits on the football field, the Albuquerque, N.M. native also competed for the Monarch's basketball team where he normed a 24-points per game average. He also competed on the track for Albuquerque Manzano High for two seasons before graduating in 2004.

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College

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2004

The 6-foot, 229-pound Ferguson was tailor-made for New Mexico since the Lobos are a team heavily-relying on their running game anchored on running back DonTrell Moore. With Moore on the spotlight, Ferguson was relegated as part of the supporting cast but still managed to see action in eight occassions, most of them with the special teams. For the most part of the season's opening month, Ferguson practiced with the scout team, but got the call to join the offense late in September after Moore sustained an injury against New Mexico State. The following week, he made his debut against Utah late in the second quarter and wasted no time gaining his first career yards by rushing for 13 on the first carry of his career. He ended the game rushing for 15 yards on 3 carries, all of his stat accumulated on the final drive of the first half. He was also given a brief playing time against UNLV, rushing for 14 yards on 4 carries in the 24-20 win. In his final game as a true freshman and his postseason debut, Ferguson collected a season high 19 yards on the ground while scoring his first career touchdown in the second canto, in addition to a solitary catch for 11 yards as the Lobos got humbled by Navy, 34-19 in the Emerald Bowl. He ended the year with 11 carries for 48 yards and 1 TD, with a 4.36 yards per carry average.

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2005

Ferguson did not suit up during his sophomore year because of injury. He sat the entire season out on a medical redshirt.

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2006

After Moore graduated on May 2006, there was a three-way competition for the starting running back position at New Mexico with sophomores Paul Baker, Rodney Ferguson and Martelius Epps all vying for the spot. In his first career start against Portland State, Ferguson was the featured back and he responded with 15 carries for 65 yards with 2 touchdown receptions for 17 yards. He was also involved in the special teams and tallied a pair of solo tackles in the 6-17 loss to the Vikings. Prior to a breakout game against Texas-El Paso, Ferguson had 12 carries a piece on the win @ New Mexico State and in the loss to Missouri, collecting 77 and 69 yards, respectively. Against the Miners, he registered a season best 34 carries for 162 yards to go along with 3 carries and his first career touchdown from 8-yards out in the 26-13 win. In the 7-24 loss @ Air Force, Ferguson added another touchdown reception, collecting a season best 73 receiving yards to go with 36 rush yards on 12 carries. After five games without a scoring run, Ferguson finally tallied his first rushing TD of the year in the 10-14 loss to the Cowboys and then made it back-to-back with another rushing score in the 39-36 overtime win @ UNLV. The victory against the Rebels started the Lobos' three-game win streak with ensuing close triumphs against Utah, 34-31, and @ Colorado State, 20-19. Ferguson averaged 80.5 rushing yards and 18.5 carries in those two close calls, and rushed for touchdown #3 against the Rams. New Mexico had another close call against TCU, this time however, the opposition came up with the win as the nation's 4th-ranked rushing defense limited Ferguson to 71 rushing yards on 21 carries. Despite the rushing total being the most the Horned Frogs allowed all year and Ferguson managing to reach the endzone twice, the loss of quarterback Donovan Porterie to injury played a big role in the 21-27 defeat. At 23rd ranked BYU, Ferguson collected 138 yards, which was the most by any running back against the Cougar defense. It was still however not enough as the Lobos suffered a 17-42 defeat. In the regular season finale against San Diego State, Ferguson went berserk and racked a new career best of 210 rushing yards (7th-highest single-game total in school history) with 2 scores on 22 carries in only three quarters of action as the Lobos made quick work of the Aztecs, 41-14. His rushing total made him only the 7th player in school history to rush for over 200 yards in a game.

He capped the season with his second bowl game appearance at the New Mexico Bowl against San Jose State, tallying a game-high 102 yards rushing with a season best 8 catches for 78 yards but unfortunately lost a pair of fumbles that include a pivotal play in the second quarter as New Mexico got defeated, 12-20. By season's end, Ferguson led the league in rushing with 1,234 yards (8th Lobo to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season) and 7 rushing TDs on 252 carries. His first team All-MWC honors also made him the first underclassman RB since DonTrell Moore in 2003 to earn a spot on the first team.

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2007

After spring practices, Ferguson went to Atlanta for a speed camp for about a month where he worked on improving his speed with fast-foot drills, speed technique drills, quickness lifting, etc. He continued to work in that aspect of his game even during the summer.

Entering his junior year, Ferguson admitted that one of the games he was looking forward to was the season opener against UTEP, the same team he buried with over 100-yard the previous year for a performance that solidified his hold as the Lobos' #1 tailback. The 2007 rematch on the road however did not turnout the same results as Ferguson did manage 132 yards on 33 carries with 2 catches for 24 yards but New Mexico was defeated, 6-10. The following game, he racked his second 100-yard game, tallying 118 yards and 2 scores on 26 carries in a 44-34 win over NMSU. The Lobos also pulled off a close one @ Arizona, with Ferguson supplying 94 and 26 yards off 26 carries and 3 catches, respectively. He posted another signature game against Sacramento State after rushing for a career high 4 touchdowns (tie for the 2nd-best scoring effort in school history) from 6, 10, 4, and 17 yards out with 129 rush yards on 18 carries in a 58-0 shutout win over the Hornets. Against the defending MWC champions, Ferguson collected another two TD-game and rushed for 87 yards on 22 carries but his effort, which included a season high of 4 receptions, 105 receiving yards, and 1 TD catch was not enough to topple the Cougars, 24-31. After the BYU defeat, the Lobos swept the ensuing three assignments, with Ferguson rushing for 89 yards on 26 carries @ Wyoming, recording 78 on 24 with 1 score @ SDSU, before tallying season bests of 41 carries and 146 rush yards with 2 TD runs in the three point win over Air Force.

The following week however, the Lobos got shut-out by TCU, 0-37, with the punishing tailback carrying 13 times for a season low 28 yards. A week later, Ferguson rebounded with his 5th 100-yard game of the season, rushing for 110 yards on 20 carries in the 26-23 win against Colorado State. At Utah, Ferguson tallied scoring run #12 but was limited to 51 yards on 19 carries in the 10-28 loss to the Utes. Ferguson ended the regular season with his sixth 100-yard game after gaining 115 yards and 1 TD on 24 carries in the 27-6 victory against UNLV. Five days before supposedly going to his third career bowl game, Ferguson along with reserve running back Mike Love were ruled academically ineligible to play in the New Mexico Bowl against Nevada [1]. Nevertheless, the Lobos managed to win via shut-out, 23-0.

Despite the "suspension," Ferguson was still honored as a first team All-MWC selection for the second straight year after establishing a school record of 292 rushing attempts, 39 more than the league's second-leading pigskin carrier Darrell Mack of Utah. He also racked up his second consecutive 1,000 yard season with 1,177 yards and scored 13 TDs on the run.

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2008

After missing the New Mexico Bowl because of academic issues, Ferguson said that he will eligible to play during his senior year. He said that he's learned his lesson and that he felt bad that the team had to play without him. During the spring football game, Ferguson led all rushers with 58 yards and 1 TD.

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Career Stats

	Rushing					Receiving					Fumbles
Year	Att	RshYds	Avg	Lng	TD	Rec	RecYds	Avg	Lng	TD	Fum	Lst
2004	11	48	4.4	13	1	1	11	11.0	11	0	0	0
2006	252	1234	4.9	49	7	28	291	10.4	58	2	0	0
2007	292	1177	4.0	30	13	18	264	14.7	71	1	0	0