30 Best College Running Backs of All-Time
Career Statistics
- Games: 35
- Carries: 668
- Rushing Yards: 4,780
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 136.6
- Rushing Yards Per Season: 1.593.3
- Rushing Touchdowns: 49
- Yards Per Carry: 7.2
- Receptions: 20
- Receiving Yards: 216
- Receiving Touchdowns: 2
- Notable: Heisman Trophy Winner, 1983; All-American 1982-83; Maxwell Award, 1983; Walter Camp Player of the Year, 1983
After being lightly recruited in high school, Mike Rozier came to Nebraska as a sophomore in 1981 following a short stint at Coffeyville Junior College. He ran for 943 yards and five touchdowns that season – including a 93-yard score against Kansas State – while splitting carries with Roger Craig. In 1982, Rozier burst onto the national scene with a school-record 1,689 yards and 15 touchdowns, while averaging 7.0 yards per attempt, as the primary ball carrier for the Cornhuskers. The performance earned him a spot on the All-American team and helped Nebraska go 12-1 and finish third in the AP Poll.
In 1983, Nebraska had one of the greatest seasons of any team in the history of college football, but because Huskers’ head coach Tom Osborne decided to go for a two-point conversion trailing 31-30 to Miami in the Orange Bowl, and missed, Nebraska came up one point shy of a national championship. Rozier wasn’t on the field for that doomed play-call, having suffered an ankle injury earlier in the game.
However, Rozier posted what was at that point the second greatest season ever by a running back with a staggering 2,148 yards, and he set an NCAA Division I record with 29 touchdowns. He also averaged an eye-popping 7.8 yards per carry.
Next: Barry Sanders