Sports
Blankenship earns multiple midseason All-America honors
By: Pat Chiesa
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Though plenty of games remain in Ohio's regular season, Bobcat running back Beau Blankenship has already picked up his fair share of rushing yards and touchdowns.
This week, the redshirt junior has also managed to pick up a pair of midseason All-America honors from two reputable sports websites: SI.com and CBSSports.com.
Blankenship made the second team on both sites, joining Kent State junior Dri Archer as the only representatives from the Mid-American Conference.
Through seven games, Blankenship has been dominant, racking up 951 yards and six touchdowns on 198 carries. The Oklahoman has eclipsed 100 yards rushing in a single game six times, including a 269-yard performance against UMass in which he tied Ohio's single-season record with 43 carries.
In the Bobcats' latest win over Akron, Blankenship bulldozed his way to a 6.4 yards-per-carry average, his best mark so far this season.
The Iowa State transfer currently ranks second nationally in rushing yards and third in carries. He is 483 yards shy of Kalvin McRae's single-season Ohio record of 1,434 rushing yards that was set in 2007.
If Blankenship maintains his pace of averaging 135.9 rushing yards per game, he would break the record in Ohio's second-to-last regular season contest against Ball State.
Fellow redshirt junior running back Ryan Boykin has complimeted Blankenship nicely in recent weeks, rushing for a combined 160 yards and three touchdowns on just 25 carries in wins over Buffalo and Akron.
Blankenship, Boykin and the 'Cats will next attempt to run over the competition when they visit Oxford to take on rival Miami on October 27.