National Football League

DeMarco Murray breaks Emmitt Smith's Cowboys single-season rushing mark

Published Dec. 28, 2014 3:30 p.m. ET

foxsports

LANDOVER, Md. -- DeMarco Murray has set the franchise single-season rushing record for the Dallas Cowboys.

Murray passed Emmitt Smith's mark with a 32-yard run in the first quarter of Sunday's game against the Washington Redskins.

Smith rushed for 1,773 yards in 1995. Murray entered the season finale needing 29 yards to break the record.

Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, ran for 18,355 yards over a 15-year career, including 13 seasons with the Cowboys.

Smith released a statement through the team praising Murray.

"I couldn't be happier for him," Smith said in the statement. "He is very deserving of this recognition. This is something that I know DeMarco will share with the whole team, because he knows that they all had a hand in his success.

"I am proud of him because I know how hard it is to do what he did this year. I am also proud because I've watched him bounce back from some injury setbacks in his first few years. He's worked through all that, and he deserves to have this record. I want him and the whole team to keep up this level of play and carry it into the playoffs."

Also in the first quarter, Dez Bryant caught scoring passes of 65 and 23 yards to break Terrell Owens' franchise record of 15 touchdown receptions, set in 2007.