Omarion Hampton: Running his way up the UNC football program record books

Fans of the UNC football program have grown accustom to watching Omarion Hampton dominate on Saturdays. While the junior running back has had plenty of stellar performances to look back on, his production against Wake Forest on Saturday night might just be his best (or at least near the very top of the list).

Hampton rushed for a career-high 244 yards en route to leading the UNC football program to a 31-24 victory over Wake Forest. With the win, the Tar Heels are officially bowl eligible for the sixth consecutive season.

His career night had a lot of UNC football history tied into it, as Hampton continues to rise up the program's record books.

At this point, where do you start?

To keep it simple: Hampton has rushed for over 100 yards in each of his last eight games, setting a new all-time UNC football record.

Eclipsing the 200-yard rushing mark for the third time in his career, Hampton is just one of three Tar Heels to ever accomplish the feat. Needless to say, he joined some elite company as part of this stellar group.

In addition, Hampton now ranks in the top five all-time on North Carolina's career rushing list. He surpassed Kelvin Bryant and Don McCauley on Saturday night, as he's certainly within striking distance of passing Michael Carter and Leon Johnson on the list. Currently having 3,327 rushing yards to his name, Hampton would need 77 rushing yards to pass Carter and 366 yards to surpass Johnson to put him among the top three on the UNC football program's all-time leading rushers list.

After the game, head coach Mack Brown talked about the performance of his star running back:

"So proud of our guys, proud of Omarion, he passed Kelvin Bryant and Don McCauley, which are two of the iconic players in this university's history. He had 244 rushing yards and another touchdown. He's tough. He takes care of the ball, he protects in the passing game. He's very humble. He never asks for the ball. I guess you don't have to when you get it 35 times, but he usually makes some plays when, when he has to, to help us win the game. So very, very proud of him."

While it's very likely that his college career will come to a close following the end of the regular season (given it's unlikely he'll suit up for a bowl game if the Tar Heels are awarded one), Hampton should have two more weeks to put together more highlight-reel plays before his time in Chapel Hill comes to a close. Tar Heel fans have seen plenty of top-tier running backs come through North Carolina, but Hampton is making a very strong case that he should be considered among the very best the talented group has to offer.