Terrance West sets playoff rushing record in Towson victory

Towson’s Terrance West could not be slowed down by freezing temperatures, snow, sleet or Eastern Illinois on Friday night when he set a Football Championship Subdivision playoff record with 354 yards rushing in a 49-39 victory.

The junior running back also had five touchdowns among his 39 rushes for the Tigers (12-2), who advance to the semifinals of college football’s second tier formerly known as Division I-AA. The Panthers finish the season at 12-2.

The 354 yards by West eclipsed the former record of 333 yards by Georgia Southern’s Adrian Peterson (not the Vikings running back), who set the mark in 2001 against Massachusetts.

“If you picture big plays, you make big plays,” West said after the game. “So I was picturing.”

West, who helped lead the Tigers to a 33-18 victory over Connecticut in the season opener, also established a new FCS record for rushing touchdowns in a season with 38, breaking the mark of 35 by Omar Cuff of Delaware in 2007.

And West is now the new single-season rushing leader in FCS history with 2,347 yards, surpassing the 2,326 yards of Colgate’s Jamaal Branch in 2003.

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