Chadron, Neb. ? Far from college football’s bright lights, in the northwest corner of Nebraska, diminutive Danny Woodhead is quietly running through the record books for Chadron State.

Woodhead has piled up 5,694 yards rushing in 29 games for the Division II Eagles, an average of 196.3, and is on pace to become the most prolific rusher in college football history.

Barring injury or other unforeseen events, Woodhead has at least 12 more games to amass the 1,660 yards it would take for him to pass the all-time record of 7,353 yards by R.J. Bowers of Division III Grove City (Pa.) College from 1997-2000.

“Sometimes I do get surprised when I see the stat sheet,” Woodhead said. “I get my yards deceptively. I break some long ones. And then there are the ones that people don’t notice. I have quite a few 10- to 20-yard runs that tend to add up.”

Woodhead has gone over 200 yards in six of nine games this season for the unbeaten Eagles, including two games over 300. He ran for a career-high 324 yards and four touchdowns against Wayne (Neb.) State. His low was 125 yards against Colorado Mines in a game in which he sat out much of the second half because his team was routing the Orediggers.

His averages of 231.5 yards rushing and 265.1 all-purpose yards are tops in the NCAA. He’s a leading candidate for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II Heisman.

“Everybody knows he’s going to carry the ball 30 times a game, and teams can’t stop him,” Colorado Mines coach Bob Stitt said. “It’s almost a joke: If he doesn’t get 200 yards, it’s like he’s had a bad game.”

Chadron State's Danny Woodhead carries the ball during practice. Woodhead is on pace to become the most prolific rusher in college football history in any division, having piled up 5,694 yards in 29 games.

Doubters contend Woodhead is putting up big numbers against light competition in a conference – the Rocky Mountain Athletic – where members aren’t allowed to fund football to the D-II maximum 36 scholarships.

Still, he has run for more than 300 yards four times in his career. He’s gone over 200 yards on 11 other occasions.

His biggest stage was a September victory at I-AA Montana State, where he ran for 215 yards. Montana State is the same team that made national headlines for beating the Big 12’s Colorado this year.

“He wanted to show everybody he was capable of doing those things against a Division I team,” offensive lineman Jared Lee said. “We could tell by the way he was running. He had fire in his (tail). He wanted to get it done.”

Woodhead, like other small-college stars, has a knock on him that kept him from playing Division I.

Woodhead’s is his size. He’s listed at 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds.

Woodhead said he uses his lack of height to his advantage.

“I would rather by 5-7 and a half, 5-8 than be 5-10, 5-11,” he said. “It’s tough on linebackers to see me over a big line.”

Chadron coach Bill O’Boyle compares Woodhead’s shifty running style to that of NFL great Barry Sanders.