#20

Brenden Knox

Junior running back for Marshall. 2020: 887 rushing yards, 9 rushing TD, 7 catches.

RB · Marshall · Jr. · #20

6′0″ · 223 lb · Columbus, OH

POTY finalist (model)Marshall 2020 alumnus

The story

3 running back for Marshall. 2020: 887 rushing yards, 9 rushing TD, 7 catches.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Franklin Heights in 2017.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

RB recruit

No. 3176 nationally · Signed with Franklin Heights

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Three seasons at Marshall, 2,852 rushing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2017

Recruited2-star out of Franklin Heights

20209 games

All-Conference USAfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3176 national

CFB

College

Marshall

2018–2020

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 1ST TEAM

All-Conference USA 1st team (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2020

1 coach

2018–2020

Doc Holliday

Marshall

Played his entire career under Doc Holliday.

2020 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Doc Holliday — 24-12 over that span.

2018Marshall9-4HC: Doc Holliday · Balanced

2019Marshall8-5HC: Doc Holliday · Run-leaning

2020Marshall7-3HC: Doc Holliday · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: carries (96th percentile). Strength: rush yards (92nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

EPA / carry#17 / 51 · 68th pct

0.21

Success rate#22 / 51 · 57th pct

45.7%

Yards / carry#23 / 51 · 56th pct

4.8

TD rate#23 / 51 · 56th pct

4.9%

Explosive rate#31 / 51 · 40th pct

6.0%

Box-score rates (7)

Carries#10 / 271 · 96th pct

185

Rush yards#21 / 271 · 92nd pct

887

Rush TDs#26 / 271 · 89th pct

Rec yards#102 / 260 · 61st pct

Long run#112 / 271 · 59th pct

Yards / carry#153 / 271 · 43rd pct

4.8

Receptions#154 / 260 · 40th pct

Season trend

EPA / carry— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Yards / carry— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2020 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home7g	93.6	4.9	0.6
Road2g	116	5.5	2.5

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-74g	114	5.2	1.8
Weeks 8+5g	86.4	4.9	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tony Gibson

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2020

POTY finalist (model)

Our Heisman model has him in the top five; no finalist honor is on the books yet.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2020	Marshall	185	887	4.8	9	--
2019	Marshall	270	1,387	5.1	11	--
2018	Marshall	95	578	6.1	4	--
Career		550	2,852	5.2	24	--

Season	Team
2020	Marshall	7	86	12.3	1	--
2019	Marshall	14	129	9.2	0	--
2018	Marshall	6	24	4.0	0	--
Career		27	239	8.9	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2020

W 17–7

vs App State

138 rush yds (28 car) · 1 TD

With R. LeFevre — 38 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 46 LONG · G. Wells — 163 yds · 0 TD · 1 INT · 43 rush yds (6 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 8 · Florida Atlantic · 3&4 · Q1 · EPA +5.93Grant Wells pass complete to Brenden Knox for 58 yds for a TD, (Shane Ciucci KICK)
Week 6 · Western Kentucky · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.48Brenden Knox run for 45 yds for a TD (Shane Ciucci KICK)
Week 10 · Massachusetts · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.48Brenden Knox run for 45 yds for a TD (Shane Ciucci KICK)
Week 1 · Eastern Kentucky · 2&19 · Q2 · EPA +3.42Brenden Knox run for 5 yds to the Marsh 35 for a 1ST down EASTRN KENTUCKY Penalty, Face Mask (15 yards) (15 Yards) to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Week 3 · App State · 3&11 · Q2 · EPA +3.16Brenden Knox run for 14 yds to the AppSt 39 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Middle Tennessee · 4&1 · Q2 · EPA -3.13Brenden Knox run for no gain to the MTnSt 28
Week 7 · Louisiana Tech · 3&5 · Q3 · EPA +2.79Brenden Knox run for 7 yds for a TD (Shane Ciucci KICK)
Week 14 · Rice · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.50Brenden Knox run for 16 yds to the Rice 47 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Massachusetts · 2&4 · Q1 · EPA +2.43Brenden Knox run for 14 yds for a TD (Shane Ciucci KICK)
Week 6 · Western Kentucky · 1&9 · Q2 · EPA +2.42Brenden Knox run for 9 yds for a TD (Shane Ciucci KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2020 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 59-0vs Eastern Kentucky	18	85	4.7	1	10
Wk 3	W 17-7vs App State	28	138	4.9	1	21	Season-high 138 yds
Wk 6	W 38-14@ Western Kentucky	15	107	7.1	3	45	3 rushing TDs
Wk 7	W 35-17@ Louisiana Tech	32	125	3.9	2	12
Wk 8	W 20-9vs Florida Atlantic	25	101	4.0	0	17
Wk 10	W 51-10vs Massachusetts	14	118	8.4	2	45
Wk 11	W 42-14vs Middle Tennessee	16	70	4.4	0	14
Wk 14	L 0-20vs Rice	20	76	3.8	0	16
Wk 16	L 13-22vs UAB	17	67	3.9	0	15
Total		185	887	5.0	9	45

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology