Elijah Gilliam is a running back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Fresno State.
Gilliam does a little of everything without one standout trait. Played for three head coaches in four seasons at Fresno State. A game that shows it: 92 rushing yards and 2 rushing TD against San José State — Week 14, 2025.
Play style
Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
The closer
9.4% of carries overall (43/459) → 20.7% of Q4-with-lead carries (24/116) — 37.5% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
5 of the team's 16 inside-the-5 carries (31.2%).
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Fresno State | 43 | 234 | 5.4 | 5 | 39 |
| 2024 | Fresno State | 121 | 466 | 3.9 | 8 | 24 |
| 2023 | Fresno State | 96 | 396 | 4.1 | 5 | 24 |
| 2022 | Fresno State | 16 | 101 | 6.3 | 1 | 21 |
| Career | 276 | 1,197 | 4.3 | 19 | 39 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Fresno State | 7 | 53 | 7.6 | 0 | 14 |
| 2024 | Fresno State | 32 | 204 | 6.4 | 0 | 71 |
| 2023 | Fresno State | 11 | 120 | 10.9 | 1 | 32 |
| 2022 | Fresno State | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 50 | 377 | 7.5 | 1 | 71 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 7-31@ Kansas | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 1 | 3 | |
| Wk 1 | W 42-14vs Georgia Southern | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 0 | 25 | |
| Wk 2 | W 36-27@ Oregon State | 3 | 12 | 4.0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 3 | W 56-7vs Southern | 9 | 53 | 5.9 | 1 | 9 | |
| Wk 7 | L 21-49@ Colorado State | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 9 | L 0-23vs San Diego State | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 10 | W 30-7@ Boise State | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 1 | 3 | |
| Wk 12 | W 24-3vs Wyoming | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-28vs Utah State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 41-14@ San José State | 9 | 92 | 10.2 | 2 | 39 | Season-high 92 yds |
 Bowl | W 18-3vs Miami (OH) | 9 | 19 | 2.1 | 0 | 8 | |
| Total | 43 | 234 | 5.4 | 5 | 39 |
Week 3 · 2025
W 56-7
vs Southern
53 rush yds (9 car) · 1 TD · 2 rec · 24 yds
Dominant 49-point win at home against Southern.
With E. Warner — 240 yds · 4 TD · 0 INT · QBR 80.2 · B. Donelson — 90 rush yds (9 car) · 1 TD · 2 rec · 19 yds
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
50%32 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds5.4 yds/carry on 43 carries · 7% explosive (10+ yds) · 50% success rate.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 18.8 | 4.9 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 24.2 | 5.3 | 0.8 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 21.5 | 5.6 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 21.0 | 3.6 | 0.6 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Entz
Pass share
44.2%
373 pass / 471 run
Plays / game
64.9
13 games
Team sack rate
4.9%
368 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Pac-12
Based on 2025: #24 of 34 Mountain West RBs — his program moves to the Pac-12 for 2026
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%). It was measured on players who stayed in the same conference and is not adjusted for the move to the Pac-12.
A stat line in 42 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
4 coachesPlayed under 4 different head coaches: Kalen DeBoer, Jeff Tedford, Tim Skipper, and Matt Entz. Multi-era developmental context.
