Who's the Greatest Running Back in the History of College Football? (Vote for 3)

[LordJeffBuck]

Here's your chance to vote on the best college running back of all time. This list does not include any quarterbacks, nor does it contain running backs who were "multi-purpose" players. Thus, you will not see any of the great wishbone or option quarterbacks, nor many famous "two-way" players from the 1900's through the 1950's, such as Jim Thorpe, Chic Harley, Nile Kinnick, Tom Harmon, Frank Sinkwich, Doak Walker, Charely Justice, Jim Brown, and Hopalong Cassady; the great "multi-purpose" players will appear in a separate poll. In addition, some tremendous backs simply didn't make the cut, so you won't see names like Eddie George, Ricky Bell, George Rogers, Eric Dickerson, John Cappelletti, Ron Johnson, Steve Owens, and many other special talents.

Please vote for THREE players. Thanks for participating in this poll!


1. Marcus Allen (Southern Cal, 1978-1981). Many programs have produced several great running backs, but only Southern Cal deserves the right to be called "Tailback U". Marcus Allen is the first of three Trojan entries in this poll, and arguably the best of the lot. Although Allen began his career as a fullback blocking for fellow nominee Charles White, by his junior year he was an All-American in his own right after amassing 1,563 yards rushing (second in the nation) and 14 touchdowns. For his final season, Marcus rushed for 2,342 yards, thus becoming the first college back to eclipse the 2,000 yard mark during the regular season, and scored 23 touchdowns en route to winning the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Pac-10 Player of the Year. For his career, Allen rushed for 4,810 yards, and ran for over 200 yards in a game eleven times (an NCAA record), including eight times during his prodigious senior campaign (another NCAA record).

2. Johnny Bailey (Texas A+I, 1986-1989). Although he played at a Division II program, Johnny Bailey simply dominated his competition for four straight years. As a freshman, Bailey became only the third collegiate running back to top 2,000 yards, and he led the entire nation in rushing yardage. For his career, Johnny gained 6,320 yards rushing and 7,803 all-purpose yards, both of which were Division II records at that time, and he scored 428 points; all told, Bailey set more than 50 Division II marks before he matriculated to the NFL. Bailey was a four-time Division II All-American, and he even made the Walter Camp All-American team as a senior alongside Florida's Emmitt Smith (the SEC Player of the Year) and Indiana's Anthony Thompson (the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year). In addition, Bailey was a three-time winner of the Harlon Hill Trophy as the best player in Division II, and as a freshman he placed second in the voting for that award.

3. Felix "Doc" Blanchard (Army, 1944-1946). Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis (see below) were arguably the greatest running back tandem in the history of college football. Blanchard, a fullback, was dubbed "Mr. Inside", and Davis, a speedy halfback, earned the nickname "Mr. Outside". In their time together, Blanchard and Davis led Army to a 27-0-1 record and three consecutive national championships, the only blemish being a 0-0 tie with Notre Dame in 1946. As the fullback of the dynamic duo, Blanchard had less rushing attempts than Davis, but he still managed to compile 1,666 yards (6.0 average per carry) and 38 touchdowns. "Mr. Inside" was a three-time unanimous All-American selection, and he won the Heisman Trophy in 1945, while finishing third in the voting in 1944 and fourth in 1946.

4. Earl Campbell (Texas, 1974-1977). At 5-foot-11, 225 pounds, Campbell marked the advent of a new trend in college football: the "big back". Although big backs are commonplace in today's game, when Campbell hit the scene over three decades ago, he was a unique combination of power and speed. "The Tyler Rose" was fast and quick enough to hit the corner, but he had the strength to literally run over any opposing defender who got in his way. While at the University of Texas, Campbell rushed for 4,443 yards, scored 41 touchdowns, was twice named an All-American, and won the 1977 Heisman Trophy after gaining 1,744 yards on the ground, over 800 of which were "yards after contact".

5. Ernie Davis (Syracuse, 1959-1961). Syracuse University has produced a number of great running backs, including Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Floyd Little, and Joe Morris, all of whom also starred in the NFL. However, the best of the Orangeman backs was Ernie Davis, a two-time consensus All-American selection and the winner of the 1961 Heisman Trophy. During his career at Syracuse, "The Elmira Express" rushed for 2,583 yards on 398 attempts, for an average of 6.50 yards per carry; he also made 39 receptions for 479 yards and 5 touchdowns, and averaged over 13 yards per punt return. Davis led the Orangemen to a 26-5-0 record, including a perfect 11-0-0 season in 1959, which earned Syracuse its first and only national championship. Davis's promising pro career was cut short when he died of leukemia in 1963, at the age of 23 years.

6. Glenn Davis (Army, 1943-1946). Glenn Davis teamed with Felix "Doc" Blanchard (see above) to form a nearly unstoppable force for the Army Black Knights football squad during the mid-1940's. Despite logging only 358 carries during his college career, Davis is third on Army's list of rushing leaders with 2,957 yards. For those of you who don't want to do the math, that's an incredible 8.3 yards per carry, which is still a college football record; in 1945 alone, Davis averaged 11.5 yards per carry, yet another record. "Mr. Outside" also amassed a total of at least 5,161 all-purpose yards - 2,957 rushing, 850 receiving, and over 1,354 returning kicks and punts (Army's stats being incomplete for the years 1943 and 1945); in addition, he added 1,172 yards passing the football. To top it all off, Davis scored 59 total touchdowns - 43 rushing (an Army record), 14 receiving (also an Army record), and 2 on returns - and he threw for another 12 scores. Davis finally won the Heisman Trophy in 1946 after finishing in second place in both 1944 (to Ohio State's Les Horvath) and 1945 (to teammate Doc Blanchard); Davis was a three-time unanimous All-American and won the Maxwell Award in 1944.

7. Ron Dayne (Wisconsin, 1996-1999). Tipping the scales at 250 pounds, Ron Dayne was the definition of a "power" back. During each of his four seasons at the University of Wisconsin, Dayne rushed for over 1,200 yards, and twice he eclipsed the 1,800-yard mark. The Great Dayne left Madison with 6,397 yards on the ground, an NCAA record which still stands, and 63 touchdowns; when bowl games are added into the mix, Dayne's totals skyrocket to 7,125 yards and 71 touchdowns. Despite being primarily a between-the-tackles runner, Dayne still averaged over 5.7 yards per carry. Dayne was a three-time All-American selection, and was a unanimous choice in 1999, when he also won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, The Walter Camp Award, and the Doak Walker Award, and was named the Associated Press, Sporting News, and Football News Player of the Year. Ironically, Dayne's best season might have been his first, when he rushed for 1,863 yards (an NCAA freshman record) on 295 carries (6.3 average) and 18 touchdowns.

8. Tony Dorsett (Pitt, 1973-1976). For over twenty years, "Touchdown" Tony Dorsett held the NCAA rushing crown with 6,082 yards; his long-standing record was finally toppled by Texas running back Ricky Williams in 1998, and then again by Wisconsin's Ron Dayne the very next year. Dorsett's career rushing total is still over twice as high as any other Panther, and his 380 total points places him more than 100 points ahead of the next player in the Pitt record book. Dorsett rushed for over 100 yards in 36 games (including 303 yards against Notre Dame in 1975), and he cracked the 1,000-yard barrier during each of his four seasons (one of only five backs to accomplish that feat at the Division I level). Moreover, "TD" was named an All-American three times, won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award as a senior, and led his team to an undisputed national championship in 1976, which was the only time that Pitt has won a title in the past seventy years.

9. Marshall Faulk (San Diego State, 1991-1993). It's rare that people on the national scene pay attention to a true freshman, especially one who plays for a "minor" program like San Diego State. However, in the autumn of 1991, the college football world suddenly took notice of Marshall Faulk after he rushed for 386 yards and 7 touchdowns in a single game. Faulk finished that season with 1,429 yards rushing (led the nation) and 23 total touchdowns (an NCAA record for a freshman), and then added 1,630 yards rushing as a sophomore (again led the nation) and 1,530 yards more as a junior. Faulk was a named an All-American for each of his three years in college, and he was a unanimous selection after both his sophomore and junior seasons. For his three-year career, Faulk rushed for 4,589 yards (6.00 average) and scored 57 rushing touchdowns (6th best in NCAA history); he also added 82 receptions for 973 yards and 5 touchdowns, which hinted at the versatility that he would later display in the NFL (12,279 yards rushing, 6,875 yards receiving during his 12-year career). Faulk is the NCAA career leader in points per game (376 points in 31 games, for an average of 12.1); and he is 6th in rushing yards per game (148.0) and 7th in all-purpose yards per game (180.5).

10. Harold "Red" Grange (Illinois, 1923-1925). Even people who aren't experts on college football history have heard of the legendary Red Grange, the famed "Galloping Ghost" of the gridiron, as immortalized in sports writer Grantland Rice's poem: A streak of fire, a breath of flame / Eluding all who reach and clutch / A gray ghost thrown into the game / That rival hands may never touch / A rubber bounding, blasting soul / Whose destination is the goal — Red Grange of Illinois! In just 20 career games for the Illini, Grange rushed for 3,362 yards and 31 touchdowns. Included in those totals were epic performances against powerhouses such as Michigan (21 carries for 402 yards and 6 TD's, on October 16, 1924); Chicago (300 yards rushing, 177 yards passing, on November 8, 1924); and Penn (363 yards rushing, appropriately on Halloween, 1925). Grange was a three-time consensus All-American and led Illinois to a perfect record and a national championship in 1923.

11. Archie Griffin (Ohio State, 1972-1975). During his tenure at Ohio State, Griffin led the Buckeyes to a 40-5-1 record, four straight Big Ten championships, four Rose Bowl appearances, four top-5 finishes in the polls, and an undefeated season in 1973. Archie was a three-time All-American, and he is the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice (1974 and 1975, while also finishing 5th in the balloting in 1973). For his career, Griffin rushed for 5,589 yards (briefly an NCAA record, until his mark was bested by Tony Dorsett the very next year), and he topped 100 yards in 31 consecutive games, which is still an NCAA record. Although the numbers and the awards speak for themselves, legendary head coach Woody Hayes called Archie Griffin "the greatest football player that I've ever coached."

12. Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (Auburn, 1982-1985). Simply put, Bo Jackson was one of the greatest all-around athletes in history. Possessed with the speed of an Olympic sprinter, Jackson was the first person to be named an all-star in two professional sports: baseball (1989) and football (1990). At Auburn, Bo rushed for 4,303 yards on just 650 attempts, for an average of 6.6 yards per carry; he also scored 43 touchdowns. As a sophomore, Jackson was named a consenus All-American after gaining 1,213 yards and averaging 7.7 yards per attempt, while leading the Tigers to their first SEC championship in 26 years. After an injury-plagued junior campaign, Jackson returned with a vengence as a senior, totalling 1,786 yards on the ground and capturing the 1985 Heisman Trophy.

13. Ed Marinaro (Cornell, 1969-1971). Most people know Ed Marinaro as an actor (he starred in the television show Hill Street Blues), but before hitting Hollywood, he was a star football player in the Ivy League. During his three years as a member of the Big Red, Marinaro rushed for 4,715 yards (an NCAA record at the time) in just 27 games, for an average of 174.6 yards per game (another NCAA record, which still stands); he also scored an impressive 52 touchdowns, or almost two per game. As a senior in 1971, Marinaro rushed for 1,881 yards (an NCAA record that lasted several years), which averaged out to 209.0 yards per game (another NCAA record, since broken by Barry Sanders); for his efforts, he was a unanimous All-American, won the Maxwell Award as the nation's best player, and finished a close second in the Heisman voting.

14. Mike Rozier (Nebraska, 1981-1983). During his three years at Nebraska, Mike Rozier led the Cornhuskers to a 33-5-0 record and three straight outright Big Eight Conference championships; only a three-point loss to national champ Penn State in 1982 and a one-point loss to national champ Miami in 1983 kept the 'Huskers from winning back-to-back national titles. As a senior, Rozier had a monster year, gaining 2,148 yards rushing (for a 7.8 average per carry) and 2,846 all-purpose yards, while scoring 29 touchdowns, all of which secured him the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award as the nation's best college football player. For his career, Rozier rushed for 4,780 yards, averaged 7.2 yards per carry, and scored 51 touchdowns.

15. Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State, 1986-1988). At the college level, Barry Sanders may have been a one-year wonder, but oh, what a year it was! After sitting behind All-American Thurman Thomas for his first two seasons at Oklahoma State, Sanders erupted onto the scene in 1988, a year in which he set no less than 34 NCAA records, including 2,628 rushing yards (7.64 yards per carry, almost 240 yards per game), 3,250 all-purpose yards, 234 points (39 touchdowns), and four games of over 300 yards on the ground. Of course, Sanders won the Heisman Trophy and every other major "Player of ther Year" award, and then he bolted for the NFL, where he proved that his monumental juinior season was no fluke (10 straight Pro Bowls and 3 NFL MVP awards).

16. Billy Sims (Oklahoma, 1975-1979). There have been many great backs at Oklahoma, but none was better than Billy Sims. After a slow start, including a medical red-shirt in 1976, Sims exploded onto the scene in 1978, rushing for 1,896 yards (7.6 yards per carry) and 23 touchdowns, both of which led the nation. Sims repeated the feat the next year, when he ran for 1,670 yards and scored 22 touchdowns. After both seasons, Sims was a unanimous choice for All-American; he won the Heisman Trophy in 1978, but finished in second place in 1979 to Southern Cal's Charles White. For his Sooner career, Sims rushed for 4,118 yards, averaged 6.9 yards per carry, and scored 53 touchdowns.

17. O.J. Simpson (Southern Cal, 1967-1968). Although he played only two seasons of major college football, O.J. Simpson was one of the best ever to hit the gridiron. During his time at Southern Cal, Simpson rushed for 3,423 yards and scored 36 touchdowns, while leading the Trojans to a 19-2-1 record and a national championship in 1967. If you factor in his junior college numbers (2,552 yards rushing, 54 touchdows), then Simpson had a grand total of 5,975 yards on the ground and reached the endzone 90 times. "The Juice" was a two-time unanimous All-American selection, and he won the 1968 Heisman Trophy in a landslide (2,853 points, the highest total ever) after finishing a close second in the 1967 balloting.

18. Herschel Walker (Georgia, 1980-1982). It's pretty common these days to refer to football players as "athletic freaks", but Herschel Walker was someone who truly deserved the designation. At 6-foot-two, 222 pounds, Walker possessed a devastating combination of pure speed and raw power. During his time at the University of Georgia, Walker rushed for 5,259 yards and 49 touchdowns, both of which are still SEC records; his career rushing yardage is also an NCAA record for a three-year player. Herschel's yearly totals were as follows: 1,616 yards as a freshman, 1,891 yards (an SEC record) as a sophomore, and 1,752 yards as a junior, which gives him a clean sweep of the top three spots in the Bulldog record book for single-season rushing yardage. In fact, only seven other Georgia running backs have cracked the 1,000-yard barrier, and none of them has accomplished that feat more than once. Walker was a three-time unanimous All-American selection, and he won the 1982 Heisman Trophy after finishing second in 1981 (to Marcus Allen) and third in 1980 (to South Carolina's George Rogers). More importantly, Walker led the the Bulldogs to a 33-3-0 record, three SEC championships, and the 1980 national championship, the school's first and only title since 1942.

19. Charles White (Southern Cal, 1976-1979). No less than ten Southern Cal running backs have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and five have won the Heisman Trophy. Charles White is a member of both of those select groups, and he has the distinction of being the Trojans' all-time leader in rushing (6,245 yards) and all-purpose yardage (7,226 yards); he also scored 53 touchdowns, which places him second in the USC record books. White was a unanimous All-American selection in both 1978 and 1979, and he was awarded the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award as a senior. During his four years at Southern Cal, the Trojans compiled a 42-6-1 record and won three outright PAC-10 championships, three Rose Bowls, and the 1978 national championship.

20. Ricky Williams (Texas, 1995-1998). In 1998, Ricky Williams broke Tony Dorsett's NCAA career rushing record, a mark which had stood for 22 years (although Wisconsin's Ron Dayne would top Williams the very next season). When he left Texas, Williams was also the NCAA career leader in touchdowns (75) and scoring (452 points) (although Miami of Ohio's Travis Prentice would top Williams in both categories the very next season). Williams won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back in both 1997 (1,893 yards, 25 touchdowns) and 1998 (2,124 yards, 27 touchdowns); he also won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award after his phenomenal senior season. For his career, Williams had 6,279 yards rushing (6.21 yards per carry, an NCAA record for players with more than 1,000 attempts) and 927 yards receiving, for a grand total of 7,206 all-purpose yards, which is an NCAA Division I record.

[Best Buckeye]

There can be only one. Archie.

[SSS]

Archie, OJ & Barry for me.

[BuckeyeGuy23]

Archie, Barry and Hersh.

[BB73]

I voted for these three, based on Heisman finishes:

Archie Griffin: 5, 1, 1
Glenn Davis: 2, 2, 1
Herschel Walker: 3, 2, 1

[LordJeffBuck]

The numbers that some of those guys put up were just sick, making it almost impossible to pick just three. Plus the difference in eras (Red Grange vs. O.J. Simpson vs. Ricky Williams) makes it even more difficult to decide....

I went with Red Grange, Glenn Davis, and Herschel Walker, with Archie Griffin, Tony Dorsett, O.J. Simpson, and Barry Sanders just missing the cut.

[Best Buckeye]

If I had read the thread and voted for 3 , I would have voted for Red Grange and O J , besides Archie.
So many good ones, Night Train Lane....

[LordJeffBuck]

Originally Posted by Best Buckeye

If I had read the thread and voted for 3 , I would have voted for Red Grange and O J , besides Archie.
So many good ones, Night Train Lane....

Using my omnipotent admin powers, I added votes for Grange and Simpson for you.

[HotMic]

Archie and Dorsett got my votes as well as "other".

Who is "other" you ask? None other than THE MAN....Jim Brown.