30 Best College Running Backs of All-Time
Career Statistics
- Games: 48
- Carries: 932
- Rushing Yards: 4,810
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 100.2
- Rushing Yards Per Season: 1,202.5
- Rushing Touchdowns: 45
- Yards Per Carry: 5.2
- Receptions: 86
- Receiving Yards: 801
- Receiving Touchdowns: 2
- Notable: Heisman Trophy Winner, Maxwell Award Winner, Walter Camp Award, All-American, 1981
Had he not spent the first two years of his collegiate career playing behind another of the greatest running backs in college football history, Marcus Allen may have been considered the best of all-time. In 1981, Allen won the Heisman Trophy and became the first college player ever to run for more than 2,000 yards in a season.
Allen’s overall production is amazing given that he only earned 31 carries as a freshman and 114 as a sophomore. Those first two years on campus, Allen combined to rush for 820 yards and nine touchdowns in 25 games as a backup. He was a quality receiver as a sophomore and grabbed 22 passes for 314 yards.
As a junior, Allen carried the football 354 times (more than anyone else in the nation) and gained 1,563 and scored 14 touchdowns and also had a team-high 30 receptions for 231 yards and another TD. Allen also led the Trojans in receptions as a senior with 34 catches and gained 256 yards and a touchdown.
In 1981, Allen put together what at that time was arguably the best season ever for a college player. He not only led the nation in carries (433), rushing yards (2,427), rushing touchdowns (22) and total touchdowns (23), he set 14 NCAA records. No one in history had run for as many yards in one season, and no one else had rushed for a higher per-game average (212.9).
Allen eclipsed the 200-yard mark eight times in 1981, including five in a row, to bring his career total to 11 200-yard games – all of which were NCAA records at the time.
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