Alex Gardner: RB · Florida International · #1.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Alex Gardner
Does a little of everything without one standout trait. Played for two head coaches in four seasons at Florida International. One game to point at: 108 rushing yards and 2 rushing TD against Massachusetts — Week 14, 2017.
Play style
Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 17.8% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 14.4% of his carries. 8 carries for 21 yds vs UCF; 17 for 108 vs Massachusetts.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
The closer
39.1% of carries overall (180/460) → 34.2% of Q4-with-lead carries (26/76) — 84.6% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Florida International | 181 | 791 | 4.4 | 6 | 34 |
| 2016 | Florida International | 181 | 930 | 5.1 | 6 | 55 |
| 2015 | Florida International | 186 | 760 | 4.1 | 9 | 36 |
| 2014 | Florida International | 137 | 582 | 4.2 | 1 | 62 |
| Career | 685 | 3,063 | 4.5 | 22 | 62 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Florida International | 17 | 70 | 4.1 | 0 | 22 |
| 2016 | Florida International | 30 | 191 | 6.4 | 0 | 22 |
| 2015 | Florida International | 60 | 442 | 7.4 | 1 | 27 |
| 2014 | Florida International | 8 | 48 | 6.0 | 0 | 15 |
| Career | 115 | 751 | 6.5 | 1 | 27 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2017 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 17-61@ UCF | 9 | 20 | 2.2 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 2 | W 17-10vs Alcorn State | 20 | 102 | 5.1 | 1 | 13 | |
| Wk 4 | W 13-7@ Rice | 17 | 80 | 4.7 | 0 | 17 | |
| Wk 5 | W 30-29vs Charlotte | 16 | 62 | 3.9 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 6 | L 17-37@ Middle Tennessee | 10 | 42 | 4.2 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 7 | W 23-10vs Tulane | 20 | 79 | 4.0 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 9 | W 41-30@ Marshall | 19 | 71 | 3.7 | 1 | 34 | |
| Wk 10 | W 14-7vs UTSA | 10 | 28 | 2.8 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 11 | L 30-37vs Old Dominion | 15 | 95 | 6.3 | 1 | 31 | |
| Wk 12 | L 24-52@ Florida Atlantic | 10 | 56 | 5.6 | 1 | 14 | |
| Wk 13 | W 41-17vs Western Kentucky | 8 | 22 | 2.8 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 14 | W 63-45vs Massachusetts | 17 | 108 | 6.4 | 2 | 33 | Season-high 108 yds |
 Bowl | L 3-28vs Temple | 10 | 26 | 2.6 | 0 | 8 | |
| Total | 181 | 791 | 4.4 | 6 | 34 |
Week 14 · 2017
W 63-45
108 rush yds (17 car) · 2 TD
Edged out Massachusetts at home in a shootout.
With A. McGough — 295 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · QBR 98.2 · 108 rush yds (11 car) · 1 TD · B. Singleton — 6 rec · 111 yds · 3 TD
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
35%170 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds4.4 yds/carry on 181 carries · 11% explosive (10+ yds) · 35% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2017 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 65.7 | 4.4 | 0.5 |
| Road5g | 53.8 | 4.1 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 58.7 | 3.8 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 63.3 | 4.6 | 0.8 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Butch Davis
Pass share
44.9%
396 pass / 486 run
Plays / game
67.8
13 games
Team sack rate
7.1%
435 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2017
181 carries and 17 catches in 13 games, more touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
How it ended
Four seasons at Florida International, 3,063 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 45 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2014–2017
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Ron Turner → Butch Davis. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
