#21 Lendon Phillips, Jr. Season 2026-27

2025 at South Dakota – First Team All-America by Walter Camp, AFCA, Sports Illustrated… Second Team All-America by the Associated Press and Phil Steele… First Team All-Conference by Phil Steele… First-team all-conference performer… Second Team All-MVFC... named the STATS Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 15) and the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 15)… finished with 1,921 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns on 294 attempts… the 1,921 rushing yards were the most in FCS in 2025… became the fastest Yote in the Division I era to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season (eight games, six starts)… had a game-high 60 rushing yards on 14 carries with a long rush of 24 yards at Lamar…  posted career bests in carries (35), rushing yards (301) and had two rushing scores in the 24-17 overtime win over Northern Colorado… his 301 rushing yards sits second-best in program history for a single game, beats the USD Division I FCS record for most in a game, and the fifth MVFC rusher to have 300+ yards in a game and the first since 2012… became the first USD back to have 30+ carries since 2016… posted second-straight 100-yard game with 143 yards on 19 carries versus Drake… set a new career-long rush in back-to-back weeks with a 50-yard touchdown run… had a career-high four rushing touchdowns in the 42-21 victory over the Bulldogs… erupted for his second 200+ yard game with 244 yards on 24 carries against Murray State… tied his career best with another four touchdown game… had his second 30+ carry day with 35 carries for 187 yards and one touchdown at Indiana State… also had two receptions for 25 yards… registered 15 carries for 75 yards at UNI… set a career best in receiving yards with 45 on four receptions against the Panthers… had 26 carries for 129 yards against Illinois State…  registered 24 carries for 106 yards with one touchdown versus Uthe University of North Dakota… rushed 27 times for 168 yards with two touchdowns against SDSU, marking his fourth multi-touchdown game… rushed for 92 yards and one touchdown on 17 attempts at Southern Illinois… also had two receptions for 20 yards with his first-career receiving touchdown… totaled 14 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown versus Drake in the FCS Playoffs… posted fifth 150-yard game with 159 yards (two touchdowns) on 15 carries at Mercer in FCS Playoffs… set a South Dakota FCS Playoff single-game record for yards (159) and yards per carry (10.6).

2024 at South Dakota -- Appeared in all 14 games, including two starts… made first collegiate start in the season-opener against Northern State, rushing for 34 yards on five carries with a touchdown… on the year, had 29 carries for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns… his other start came in the FCS Second Round matchup against Tarleton State… recorded one reception for seven yards in the FCS Semifinal clash at Montana State… had a season-best seven carries and 52 yards in the 49-0 shutout win over Indiana State.

2023 at South Dakota -- One of eight true freshmen to compete… made collegiate debut in the 34-31 win against Youngstown State… first carry converted a key 3rd-and-1 in the third quarter… ran a team-high 15 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns in the regular season finale at Western Illinois… scored on runs of six and five yards … longest carry went for 14 yards.

High School – Two-time all-state running back who rushed for the third-most yards in Northwest history...  carried 379 times for 4,113 yards and 59 touchdowns... only Demarcus Robinson and Breece Hall ran for more... set a single-season record by averaging 14.9 yards per carry and averaged 10.9 yards during his prep career... scored 65 total touchdowns... also played baseball and basketball.

Personal -- Born 8/3/2004... kinesiology and sport management major... parents are Lendon and Melicia Phillips… high school coach was Steve Martin.