The 10 Best College Running Backs in History
Monday, July 19, 2010 at 9:18AM Joe Simmons 
Anytime you would like to start a good argument among sports fans, just offer up your list of the Best 10 of anything of all time. I promise at least one person will not agree with your list, and try to top it with theirs. Today I am going to list the best 10 college running backs of all time.
I am a stats guy so I look at yards and touchdowns. But I also look at impact on the game. So here is my own list of college football's best running backs of all time. You may not agree with my list, but just remember I am right and you are wrong!
1- Tony Dorsett was a Heisman winner in 1976 at Pitt. He also was the first college running back to rush 
for over 1,000 yards in all 4 seasons he played. He had 1,133 rushing attempts for 6,082 yards and 58 touchdowns. Anthony Drew Dorsett was astonishing for a smaller running back at 5-11 and 185 pounds. But he was a speed demon, seldom if ever being run down from behind. After helping Pitt, win a national championship he went on to become a pretty good pro back for the Dallas Cowboys. He is in both the college and pro football hall of fames.
2- Ron Dayne was just a dominating power back for Wisconsin for 4 seasons. When he graduated, Ron "The Great Dayne" owned the NCAA career rushing mark. Ron Dayne is in my opinion the second best college running back ever. He rushed for 6,443 yards and 63 touchdowns. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1999 and is one of 4 players to win the MVP of the Rose Bowl, twice.
3- Red "Galloping Ghost" Grange changed the game of football forever that was how good he was. After
he left Illinois he gave respect to a then struggling pro game. But he was one hell of a college running back. In only 20 games he rushed for 3,362 yards and 31 touchdowns. In one game against Chicago in 1924, he ran for 300 yards and passed for 177! His combined yards for high school, college and pro's were over 33,000.
4- Ricky Williams lit up the University of Texas and the NCAA record books. He set a then career rushing record of 6,279 yards and also rushing touchdown and point records with 73 and 452. He was capable of either running over or around would be tacklers. He ran for over 200 yards in a game, 12 times. He won the Heisman and has gone on to have a decent but troubled NFL career.
5- Archie Griffin is the only player in the history of college football to win the Heisman Trophy twice! This guarantees him a spot on the best college running backs of all time list. He was an icon at Ohio State, playing for the legendary coach Woody Hayes. Archie led the big 10 in rushing for 3 straight seasons, and rushed for 5,589 yards. He scored only 26 touchdowns or he would be higher, but he was a dominating back. He started in 4 straight Rose Bowls and Ohio State was 40-5-1 in his time there.
Six through ten is where it gets personal. I am throwing out the stats and I am going with excitement and what they brought to the game.
6- Hershel Walker meant more to his team than any running back on the board. During his Georgia career, the Bulldogs went 33-3 and won the SEC Title each year. But, his individual records say a lot too. Walker broke 11 NCAA; 16 Southeastern Conference (SEC); and, 41 University of Georgia (UGA) all-time football records. Herschel only stayed three years at Georgia. But, in that time he gained 5,259 yards which was the most yards ever gained in a three year NCAA football career. Herschel Walker was a first team all-American each of his 3 years at Georgia.
7- Charles White made a name for himself rushing for 858 yards and 10 touchdowns in his freshman year as a backup. With the job all White's, he ran for 1,478 yards in his sophomore year, 1,859 in his junior season and 2,050 in his senior year for a Pac 10 record 6,245 yards setting the record after just his junior season. The NCAA doesn't count bowl games, but he finished his career #2 with 5,598 regular season yards. During his career, he set or tied 22 NCAA, Pac 10, USC and Rose Bowl records
8- Barry Sanders was a culmination of speed and elusiveness. When talking about Sanders all you need to talk about is 1988. Simply because that is the only year he was the full time starter since he backed up Thurman Thomas for two seasons. In 1988 Sanders Rushing Statistics are as follows: 373 rushes, 2,850 yards, 42 TDs. Sanders also had 19 catches for 109 yards, 21 Kick returns for 421 yards and 1TD, and 10 punt returns for 94 yards and 1TD. Undoubtedly the most gifted running back to play the game with his ability to change direction and accelerate out of the cut.
9- Earl Campbell was the most powerful running back to ever play the game period. With 4,443 NCAA yards and 41 touchdowns in his career as a Longhorn, it was inevitable that Earl Campell was the top contender for the prestigious Heisman award. Campbell received many awards such as All SWC for three years and was named to the Bob Hope All-American team for two consecutive years. 1977 was a successful year for Earl with an impressive 1,744 rushing yards, 800 of those being yards after contact or YAC. Campbells running style led to a brief but productive NFL career and a lot of physical problems including brain injuries at a young age.
T10- Troy Davis had to make this list. Davis attended Iowa State University, where he set school records for total rushing yards (4,382), total rushing yards in a single season (2,185) and rushing yards in a game (378). He also holds the Iowa State University record for most career rushing touchdowns (36) and is tied for first for most career total touchdowns (38). He became the first running back in NCAA history to gain 2,000 yards in two different seasons.
T10- LaDainian Tomlinson has probably been the most successful running back in college since 2000. In his senior season in 2000, Tomlinson led the NCAA for the second time with 2,158 yards and 22 touchdowns while adding 354 yards receiving. He won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back, and was a finalist for the Heisman, but came in fourth. He completed his college career with 5,263 rushing yards, ranking sixth in NCAA Division I history.
Reader Comments (39)
Joe, I'm with you on just about any and everything, but I had to stop reading after you listed Ron Dayne as #2. I know he broke the all-time rushing record, but I know better, and also know he's nowhere near the second-best college running back of all-time. Hell, I can name ten in my lifetime that are better than him.
@ Kenny Hey man I was trying to keep him off the list but the stats wouldn't allow it. His numbers and YPC and YAC (yards after contact) were too high.
I vote Joe Simmons #1... Best I ever saw.
I'm feeling everyone on the list but Dayne. I guess he deserves to be top 10 but not number two. His style was boring but effective. I'm surprised you left off Marshall Faulk and Bo Jackson.
@Selly I am feeling you too but I watched some big 10 football on directv this weekend and Ron Dayne was a one man wrecking crew. I probably shouldn't have put him that high but the more I watched the more I liked what I saw. As far as Marshall Faulk he was on the list until I started looking at the numbers. I remember him being dynamic his freshman year and I was right, he didn't do anything afterwards though. Bo Jackson was not really a college workhorse. His numbers are decent but he was more of a baseball and track guy. My reasearch even pointed out that he had qulified for the olympic team but decided against it to prepare for football and baseball drafts.
Ten "other" runningbacks that could've made this list...
1. Marshall Faulk
2. Billy Sims
3. Reggie Bush
4. Edgerrin James
5. Bo Jackson
6. Willis McGahee
7. Adrian Peterson
8. Cedric Benson
9. Darren McFadden
10. Darren Sproles
That's off of a combo of sheer talent and stats. But that's just my opinion....doing a top ten list like this is tough enough, so good work Joe. We gotta find some gamefilm of you back at NCCU and get it on YouTube!
-Ed.
@Ed appreciate it. I did the list about 20 times and at some point everyone of those guys you listed were on the list except Willis McGahee, and he was deserving as well. Doing a top 10 in history is hard. Thats why I did the first 5 based on numbers and significance. Thats why I love top 10 posts because they always get someone fired up.
@ Darrell Thanks bro. That means a lot coming from you. You have seen a lot of football in your days. Looks like I am going to need to post a highlight reel on you tube sometime.
Im glad you put troy davis in there, he is one of the best running backs to have played college football
I'm amazed that no one mentioned or even thought about George Rogers who put up 5200+ yards over 4 years without having an offensive line in front of him. When you look at stats alone - that puts him ahead of Earl Campbell (however - Earl Campbell did it without and offensive line as well.) Of all the running backs listed, Earl Campbell and George Rogers are the two that I would hate see the most running at me if I were the lone line-backer responsible for stopping them. But you can not argue Dorsetts stats at #1. George Rogers won the Heisman at USC - the USC. He and Campbell were men among boys in college. And their style of running is rare today! H. Walker and Alabama's Ingram come close but do not have quite power but compensate with speed. But a top 10 list of running backs - you have to be 5000+ yards in four seasons to make that list IMHO.
@Bobby You are correct. When narrowing it to ten it was hard but the more I think about it Rogers should have probably made the list. I chose the first 5 on stats alone and the next five on feel and what I saw when they played. Rogers was a force. I think its time someone payed homage to him. So expect a George Rogers blog from me in the near future.
How can you put Herschel Walker at #6? He stands alone at #1. I'm a Pitt fan and think Tony D was great but I would never put him ahead of Walker. How could anyone watch Walker carry the ball and say he isnt the best there has ever been? Had Walker played one more year he'd have set records that would not be broken.. possibly ever. Go look at his stats and you tell me.
@ Jimbo_in_Pitt I can agree with what you are saying but he didn't play that 4th year. Like I stated, the first 5 were based on stats. Then after that I went with the best 5 that I had ever seen play. I get your point. Many people argue that point about Hershel. He is a phenomenal athlete. There is no doubt about that.
joe your wrong on basically all of it. stats dosent mean anything to me when it comes to who is the best ever. when i judge the player i take in consideration of how good or bad the offense line is. also how good the quarterback is,can he throw run? also its what they can do in bad situations when your offensive line can't block. walker,allen,sanders,bush peterson,dorsett,and many others had good lines and quarterbacks. so for all the years and decades of watching running backs i judge on pure talent and instinct and all combinations of power and speed. so joe hear is my top ten rather u agree or not because mine is the true top class. 1) marcus dupree 2) bo jackson 3) barry sanders 4) adrian peterson 5) marshall faulk 6) hershel walker 7) reggie bush 8) earl campbell 9) tony dorsett 10) ernie davis so go ahead and disagree with me joe cause i will take my top boys over any one of your stars. and please fans of wisconsin ron dayne was not the best power runner ever. remember he had a great line playing against alot of weak big ten defenses. i will take jim brown, jerome bettis heck about a dozen more power runners. dayne was good but not great. put my top ten or five or my number 1 and give them that o line my boys would shatter rons record if they played as long as he did. u fans need to quit judging runners just cause of stats and look at pure talent regardless of how each running backs career ends. and remember this hershel walker fans, my top boys ahead of you would have shatterd records in your offensive line. heck the bulldogs had the best sec talent and most of the nation when walker got there. he didn't carry them,he was a talented runner that went to the right place at the right time. and one more thing if u fans or joe is still reading this, marcus dupree broke hershel walkers records in high school. he would have done it in college at oklahoma if it wasnt for a soap opera story between him and switzer but look at film clips of marcus in 1982. he had no offensive line 1981 82 83 were the worst years of sooner o lines, he had no quarterbeck, sorry kelly phelps but u were not good at all. now add that to a combination of all the other less talent at that time and u tell me that walker or dorsett or bush or dayne could do anything in that offense. marcus carried an offense and the entire sooner fan base to make them believe in winning again. it was a short career at ou but what a boom it was. so watch a clip of him not when he plowed the missouri safety but his speed he hits with that size when he runs away in the end zone. 1982 ou vs missouri watch it and tell me he wasnt the best. marcus haters can say what u want, talent and everthing else even for 1 season or 1 and a half however u look at it, i will take marcus over any of the other great runners. stats or no stats. championships or none it dosent matter. marcus dupree 1982 was the greatest i ever saw. and yes joe i have seen alot. even jim brown and ernie davis. what a time that was.
@ Wildcard, you basically have the same list just in a different order with a few picks changed but I respect your views. I wrote a blog on another site a few years back about how Marcus Dupree might have been the best talent we never saw because of his college troubles. But you can't make a person the best ever because of potential. There have been many people with potential who didn't get it done. T.A. McLendon may have been the best high school running back to ever play the game but it didn't carry over to the college level. You can hate on Ron Dayne all you want but the record leader is the record leader. Thats like having a top 10 NBA players of all time and not having Kareem Abdul Jabbar on the list. I respect your picks though. Narrowing any list to 10 will always spark a debate and I appreciate your input. You make some very valid points.
wait a minute joe my arguement was not about potential. it is about all the combinations of talent power speed agility decision making at that crucial moment when the play breaks down what that runner can do in that time frame. i dont look at career plays stats or awards or what the potential was in the running back. i just see at their highest moment when they are in top condition what they do. if you talk history ok when you see marcus drop that missouri safety look at his breakaway speed. now after that game ou played nebraska. in that game marcus is starting to get out of shape and slowing down and he still goes between two defenders on his way to how long that run was? also in the fiesta bowl he is gotten lazy and gaining weight and still gets over 200 yards rushing with that crappy offensive line they had against the top defense in arizona state. now are you saying joe that herschell walker, barry sanders. reggie bush, and ron dayne or whomever could be lazy out of shape slower and still get it done? i dont know but out of all the running backs when they were in top form to me marcus was the greatest. but joe think of this, could walker,dorsett,griffen,sanders or dayne make long runs big plays in ou crappy offensive line with that quarterback phelps who couldnt throw? do u really think ron dayne is better that jim brown ? joe talk to me we got to figure this out. my mind getting wild here.
kareem jabbar stat wise or championships yea joe he is in the top ten but i dont judge on history or stats. so i take it if you put your top five against my top five in all time nba you would have jabbar your starting center?
@ wildcard Point Taken. The more I think about it and remember his college days he was worthy of top 10. I think I will do a post on him in the next few days.
dang it joe , someday me will get you2 put marcus in your top 5 at least. hey isn't that something we talking about marcus and look who's at #1 in the BCS. could this be fate joe? a sign?
@wildcard - maybe its an omen. Honestly though if they run the table they deserve the spot. It is one of the best conferences in the land. They pretty much set it up so that a power conference has to win out to play in the game.
yea , speaking of power conferences, i wish the big 12 and bronco shouters boise state would join along with free agent BYU . Then we could see what boise really has with a consistant strong schedule like you say other power teams like ou, bama, lsu, florida , pac 10 big 10 teams like that. i just dont see how boise or tcu gets in unless the power teams with those strong schedules loose 2 games instead of 1. but heck i dont know i've just seen tradition little by little every generations going bye bye. but there are good reasons for it in todays market...............speaking of BCS #1 dont you think as far as regular season this is the biggest game ever for missouri football? i mean think about it coach stoops has more big 12 rings played in 4 championships and won 1 also has a winning record against mack brown. so this program at ou has for sure been the cream of the crop the past 10 seasons. but for missouri they came close once in the big 12 title game but got their heart broken by the sooners. and for along time ou, texas and at times for a long stretch in history nebraska always won titles in big 8 or big 12 or now what is it and missouri always had moments in the program but could never get over that hump and had to watch those others win AND REALLY WATCHING OU WIN AND WIN AND COLLECT TITLES, and now missouri has them in their yard unbeaten sooners unbeaten odds favor ou as they do most of history. but dang missouri must be jacked up for this one cause history always shows and stoops and ou has delivered the big wins so MISSOURI TIGER FANS THIS IS YOU SHOT TO GET THE ONE PROGRAM THAT HAS HURT YOU IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR MANY SEASONS AND THE ONE WHO DENIED YOU IN THE BIG 12 TITLE GAME THAT COULD OF PUT YOU IN THE GAME AGAINST OHIO STATE. INSTEAD BECAUSE OF OU YOU HAD TO WATCH A TWO LOSS LSU TEAM TAKE IT. SO SATURDAY NIGHT WHEN YOU JAM PACK THAT STADIUM IN RECORD CROWD FASHION YOU REMEMBER YOUR OPPONENT THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS LED BY HISTORY AND TRADITION. BECAUSE KNOWING THEIR HISTORY WONT WIN YOU THE GAME. IT WILL BE THE HEART AND WILL OF THE PLAYERS AND FANS TOGETHER IN MISSOURI RESPECTING AND FIGHTING AGAINST THE SOONERS FOR 4 FULL QUARTERS HITTING THEM IN THE MOUTH BECAUSE THE SOONERS HEART AND WILL OF THEIR PRIDE WILL NOT QUIT. SO MISSOURI FANS WHO WILL BE THERE REMEMBER THIS.......SCREAM YOU FUCKING TIGER SOUNDS YOU HAVE IN YOUR HEARTS AND HELP YOUR BOYS WHEN THEY TAKE THE FEILD AT NIGHT.......BECAUSE SATURDAY NIGHT YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO DETHRONE YOUR NEMESIS DEFEAT THOSE CHAMPIONS OF PRIDE .....GO OUT AND CHARGE AT OU WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT......THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE YOUR HISTORY AND BE THE FRONTRUNNER FROM THE BIG 12 !!!!! what a game this should be.
@wildcard - Tell them how you really feel. LMAO ... But seriously it is time Mizzou stepped up. They have been lingering as a contender for the past 5 years. They just find a way to blow it at the end of the season each time. If they ever intend on taking the next step as a contender they need a couple of big wins to make the claim as one of the elite BIG 12 programs. If you are going to make the claim to be the show me state, its time we got a peek.
just trying to inspire mizzu fans. what do you think will happen to BYU since they decided to be independent ? wait a sec.....................................why do you have red grange at # 3 ? joe he would be mutilated by defenses of the last 40 years. thats like saying howard drunkenburger is the 3rd greatest coach ever. ........ i know you love ron dayne but do you really think he was better than jim brown as far as power backs ? .............i do admit little troy davis was stout. ......... charles white had trojan heart. ........walker was a beast of nature but i think they still win the sec without him. afterall, it was belue throwing the ball to who changing direction to his left and bolted how many yards against florida for the miracle at the cocktail party. if that play dosen't happen walker dosent win a championship..........but we all have our arguez about who is the best. but in my mind the greatest i saw was an 18 year old built out of magical everything and i know he didnt play that long compared to the greats and fair points to all who disagree because the ones who will always be remembered are the ones who stayed committed and thats why my boy will never be in the top 100 or 1000 or whatever and thats the price he has payd. but as far as complete package at the highest strength and conditioning at that moment of his top level of running the ball, in my arguement, is that it is marcus dupree. joe i know you already know my arguement........im saying this to the OTHER ONES HERE READING THIS AND ARE TO AFRAID TO TYPE THEIR MINDS OUT AND SPEAK OUT.............but hey this is a blast...................
@wildcard - in every top 10 list I do their is 1 spot going to the old school player. Red Grange can't help who he played against but his numbers were pretty darn good. But if I were to do a list of the 10 best I ever saw play, he would have come up short. I never saw Jim Brown play period just on tape. In college his film is shotty and the running game was average at best. His NFL film is spectacular. You didn't see anything like that in college. Ernie Davis had some amazing college games but his numbers as a whole were pretty on par with what most backs do. He was just spectacular in the big game. If you were to have asked me who the best I ever saw was during my college days in the early 90's I would have said it was between Eric Dickerson, Marcus Dupree, and Hershel Walker. The early 90's also brought us Marshall Faulk who was amazing in his freshman year but then his body of work tapered off. I grew up a fan of Dupree, Jamelle Holieway, and Charles Thompson. However I lost my feel for the Sooners as it got to be more about Barry Switzer than the kids.
@wildcard I think you already know the answer to why Paul Horning won that Heisman and not Jim Brown or John Brodie. It was a good ole boys network then and if you didn't fit a certain profile or play for a certain school your chances of winning were non-existent. I would say Miami was the team of the early 90's and I loved them then. One of the guys I blogged about recently was on that team that upset the loaded Miami team in the National Championship game and now coaches in the area. (Reggie Bullock)... I don't really have a favorite team now, I just enjoy the game. Any game. I attend as many as I can. Sometimes as many as 3 in a day. One of the perks of living in this area. I still think the best football is played in the Big 12 and SEC but I am developing more and more respect for the PAC 10. Big 10 football doesn't impress me because every team in the BIg 12 runs for 200 yards a game but the running backs don't really do anything when they make it to the NFL since the mid 90s.
I never like it when a coach gets bigger than the team. I was happy to see Barry go. I just felt like he ran away some quality talent because he was afraid to roll up his sleeves and coach. He got spoiled sometimes by having the best athletes on the field and when it came time to get his hands dirty and be a real blue collar coach he got missing. I was even happier to see Stoops get hired. I used to work camps with him when he was at Florida. He is a good guy. I just wish DeMarco Murray would go ahead and graduate ... Seems like he has been in college since Jason White was the quarterback