This week, we begin our journey with this number – 5,149 rushing yards.
 
Few football programs can match Eastern Kentucky University's list of great running backs.  Names like Elroy Harris, Tim Lester, James Crawford, Jimmie Brooks and Matt Denham to name only a few. 
 
But only one can lay claim to 5,149 career rushing yards – Markus Thomas.
 
While toting the rock for EKU from 1989 to 1992, Thomas rushed for nearly three miles.  A total that still ranks as the most career rushing yards in EKU history, and in Ohio Valley Conference history.  The number also still sits among the top-25 in NCAA Football Championship Subdivision history.
 
Thomas reached that career total by rushing for 1,620 yards as a redshirt freshman in 1989, 678 yards as a sophomore, 1,353 yards his junior year and then 1,498 yards as a senior.  His career total is even more impressive when you consider he split carries as a sophomore and junior with one of the other all-time great EKU backs – Lester.
 
Thomas earned All-America honors his senior season after running for 1,498 yards and scoring 17 rushing touchdowns.  The two-time OVC Offensive Player of the Year (1991 & 1992), finished his career ranked third all-time in FCS history in rushing yards.  He led Eastern Kentucky to two conference titles (1990 & 1991) while scoring 52 career rushing touchdowns.
 
Thomas also holds the conference record with a career rushing average of 6.57 yards per carry.  The Cincinnati, Ohio native was inducted into the Eastern Kentucky University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.  He played professionally for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe and the Hamilton TigerCats of the Canadian Football League.