ATHENS — With every yard that Brian Herrien gained in the fourth quarter last Saturday, it raised the question: When was the last time Georgia had not one, not two, but three 100-yard rushers in the same game?

Nobody could say for sure. It’s such an unheard-of possibility that it wasn’t mentioned in Georgia’s media guide, which is fairly meticulous and informative.

It became a moot point when Herrien didn’t get enough carries and ended up with “just” 82 yards. (Sony Michel had 133 and Nick Chubb had 121.) But now we know that Herrien and Georgia were 18 yards away from history.

Georgia’s sports information staff – led by hard-working intern Jack Ryan – went through games dating back to 1965 and could not find an instance of three 100-yard rushers in the same game. (If anyone out there wants to pick up the research in 1964 and work backwards, feel free.)

Since 1965, it’s also been rare to have two 100-yard rushers and a third with at least 80: Sunday was just the fourth time that’s happened since 1965. Two of those times, it turns out, were in Columbia: In Georgia’s 28-20 win at South Carolina in 1975, Glenn Harrison (160 yards) and Kevin McLee (130) both went over, while Andy Reid finished with 84. That’s a total of 375, while Michel, Chubb and Herrien combined for 336.

Michel said the tailbacks found out in the locker room after Sunday’s game what their rushing totals were – and how close they were to such a rare feat.

“That would’ve been great,” Michel said. “Knowing that we were that close kind of gave us a challenge that maybe this week we’ll try to get it done.”