Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
1/17Inside-5 share
1 of the team's 17 inside-the-5 carries (5.9%).
- touchdown
Purdue · L 13-41
No carries.
Indiana · L 16-23
4 carries, 13 yards
The other 6 games average 19 yards. This one was 6 below.
Ford has carries in 7 of Minnesota’s 8 games: none against Purdue.
Dashed line: 100 yards.
This week
- RecordMinnesota is 5-3.
- From the game thread
“Xavier Ford should be RB1 from here on out. We have enough data points now.”
- Next gamevs UCLA · Sat Nov 7
A play of his this season
Xavier Ford
Two seasons in the Minnesota backfield to date. One game to point at: 34 rushing yards against Akron — Week 3, 2026.
128 rushing yards · 1 rushing TD · 29 carries
Style of play
Style of play
Fans
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Minnesota in the news
Where to follow
The latest game
Against Indiana on Oct. 31: 4 carries for 13 yards. In the 6 games drawn here: 26 carries for 113 yards.
First quarterSecond quarterThird quarterFourth quarter
- L 16-23 at Indiana4 carries, 13 yds
- W 13-10 vs Iowa8 carries, 33 yds
- W 20-14 vs Michigan1 carry, 8 yds
- W 27-24 at Washington3 carries, 11 yds
- W 41-7 vs Akron8 carries, 41 yds
- L 13-38 vs Mississippi State2 carries, 7 yds
a carry, by its yardsa loss, below the linea catcha touchdown
Each game is split into its four quarters, so the columns line up from game to game; inside a quarter, plays keep their order. Third and fourth downs are marked under the line, bold when he moved the chains.
Career stats
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 13 rushing yards.
Game log
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 7 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 59-7vs Eastern Illinois | 3 | 15 | 5.0 | 1 | 10 | |
| Wk 2 | L 13-38vs Mississippi State | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-7vs Akron | 8 | 41 | 5.1 | 0 | 11 | Season-high 41 yds |
| Wk 4 | W 27-24@ Washington | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 5 | W 20-14vs Michigan | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 8 | W 13-10vs No. 15 Iowa | 8 | 33 | 4.1 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 9 | L 16-23@ No. 4 Indiana | 4 | 13 | 3.3 | 0 | 6 | |
| Total | 29 | 128 | 4.4 | 1 | 11 |
Signature game
Week 1 · 2026
W 59-7
15 rush yds (3 car) · 1 TD
Dominant 52-point win at home against Eastern Illinois.
With J. Tracy — 5 rec · 98 yds · D. Lindsey — 264 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 86.2
Signature plays
The plays that mattered most
- Week 1 · Eastern Illinois · 4th and 1 · Q4 · EPA +2.79X.Ford rush middle for 1 yard gain for a touchdown
- Week 3 · Akron · 3rd and 3 · Q4 · EPA −1.03X.Ford rush middle for 0 yards (K.Moss; J.Buchanan)
- Week 8 · Iowa · 2nd and 5 · Q2 · EPA +1.03X.Ford rush middle for 7 yards gain (D.Campbell; Z.Lutmer)
- Week 8 · Iowa · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA −0.92Lindsey to Ford: a 1-yard pass.
- Week 3 · Akron · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +0.91X.Ford rush middle for 8 yards gain (C.Newsome)
- Week 8 · Iowa · 2nd and 4 · Q3 · EPA −0.87X.Ford rush middle for 1 yard gain (B.Hawthorne)
4 more plays
- Week 4 · Washington · 2nd and 8 · Q2 · EPA +0.87X.Ford rush middle for 8 yards gain (J.Jones; X.Alexander)
- Week 1 · Eastern Illinois · 2nd and 4 · Q4 · EPA +0.83X.Ford rush middle for 10 yards gain (M.Valenzuela; B.Worsley)
- Week 3 · Akron · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +0.80X.Ford rush middle for 11 yards gain (T.Watkins)
- Week 9 · Indiana · 2nd and 10 · Q2 · EPA −0.79X.Ford rush middle for 0 yards (T.Tucker; I.Jones)
Where he ranks
Opponents faced, by strength
Ratings of the games shown run from -25 to +24 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Teams and coaches
2 seasons under P.J. Fleck, all balanced, slow tempo offenses — 13-8 over that span.
2025Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced, slow tempo
2026Minnesota5-3HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced, slow tempo
Our ratings
Splits
Home and road splits, scheme and staff
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 7 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 20.8 | 5.1 | 0.2 |
| Road2g | 12.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 16.4 | 5.1 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 23.0 | 3.7 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
P.J. Fleck
Pass share
54.3%
269 pass / 226 run
Plays / game
61.9
8 games
Team sack rate
3.5%
289 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
29 carries and 1 catch in 7 games
Fewer touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
36 · #273 of 330 RBs · through 7 games
Three-star recruit. Now #273 at the position.
Two seasons at Minnesota
2026 is in progress.
- 2026 Minnesota FleckYear 2 · 7 games
- 2025 Minnesota FleckYear 1 · 2 games
- High school LeesvilleLeesville, LA · Class of 2025Three-star, No. 945 in the 2025 class. Signed with Minnesota.
2025
- Signed with MinnesotaThree-star, out of Leesville