Don't be surprised if ... Fournette's 200-yard streak continues

— -- As this week's Eliminator notes, only 15 teams from Power 5 conferences have unblemished records after five weeks. It has been a very unpredictable 2015 college football campaign.

Week 6 is sure to provide more unexpected moments, but this week's "Don't Be Surprised If..." series will concentrate on a couple of powerhouse running backs who may take their already dominant rushing totals into another stratosphere.

Unless otherwise specified, the metrics referenced below are from games against Power 5 opponents (plus Notre Dame), and the rankings indicate placement among the 65 Power 5 teams.

Don't be surprised if... Leonard Fournette rushes for 200 yards against South Carolina

Last week Fournette became the first back in SEC history to rush for 200 or more yards in three consecutive games. That kind of yardage against the sieve that is the Eastern Michigan rush defense (a platoon giving up an average of 376.8 rush yards per game) does take a bit of the shine off of that achievement, but that can be more than reclaimed if Fournette is able to rack up 200 or more yards in this week's game at South Carolina.

That might seem like a tough achievement given that the Gamecocks have allowed a total of 189 rushing yards against UCF and Missouri over the past two weeks. Taken at face value, this could mean the end of Fournette's 200-yard streak.

Before chalking that up to a newfound dominance in stopping ground gains for South Carolina, it should be noted that UCF and Missouri both rank last in their respective conferences in rushing yards gained per game this season. This likely means that these contests said more about the subpar state of the Knights and Tigers rushing attacks than it did about the improved state of the Gamecocks' rushing defense.

Even with that two-game showing, South Carolina still ranks 50th in rush yards allowed per game (206) and 53rd in yards per rush (5.5). What may be even more concerning for the Gamecocks is they rank tied for last in rushes allowed of 10 or more yards (25) and last in rushes of 20 or more yards allowed (10). Those are the sorts of big gains that lead to 200-yard rushing days. And Fournette, who leads the nation in rushes of 20 or more yards and 40 or more yards should get his share of those breakaways in this contest on his way to another 200-yard day.

Don't be surprised if... Georgia Tech totals more passing yards than rushing yards against Clemson

One formerly titanic rushing attack has taken a huge step back this year. Georgia Tech's ground game has been below average by any standards and abysmal by the Yellow Jackets' standards. Georgia Tech is averaging 3.9 yards per carry over the past three weeks (ranked 38th in that time frame), an amazing figure for a team that averaged fewer than 5 yards per carry in just two games during the 2014 season.

This subpar rushing performance is likely to continue against a very powerful Clemson rush defense. The Tigers rank fifth in rush yards allowed per game (67.5) and yards allowed per rush (2.1). More bad news for the Yellow Jackets: Clemson ranks first in percentage of opponents' rush attempts that end up gaining zero or negative yards. Their 42.6 percent mark here means that so far this season opponents are nearly as likely to gain nothing or lose yards on a rush attempt as they are to gain yards.

If the Tigers do have a weakness on defense, it would seem to be on vertical passes (traveling 11 or more yards downfield). Clemson ranks 32nd in yards per attempt allowed on vertical throw (9.5) and 54th in yards allowed per vertical completion (27.3), totals that led to the Tigers placing 53rd in overall net yards per pass attempt (8.2).

This combination may put the Yellow Jackets in a situation where they have to put the ball in the air more often than usual to open up some space for their ground game. Yes, Georgia Tech could end up throwing for more yards than it rushes for. That has occurred only once against an FBS opponent in the past two seasons ( Sept. 26, 2013 against Virginia Tech), but it may be a necessity if Georgia Tech is to win this game and salvage what has been a wreck of a season thus far.