30 Best College Running Backs of All-Time

Nov 22, 2014; Iowa City, IA, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon (25) flips the football to the official after scoring against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Career Statistics

• Games: 45
• Carries: 631
• Rushing Yards: 4,915
• Rushing Yards Per Game: 109.2
• Rushing Yards Per Season: 1,228.8
• Rushing Touchdowns: 45
• Yards Per Carry: 7.8
• Receptions: 22
• Receiving Yards: 228
• Receiving Touchdowns: 4
• Notable: All-American, Doak Walker Award, Jim Brown Trophy, 2014

Had he not spent two seasons backing up the talented duo of Montee Ball (who ran for 5,140 career rushing yards) and James White (4,015), had he played his full four years of eligibility, or had a groin injury not limited him to three games as a true freshman in 2011 and resulted in a medical redshirt, Melvin Gordon III would likely be remembered as one of the very best running backs in NCAA Division I history.

As it stands, Gordon is one of the 30 greatest running backs in college football history because his junior season was arguably the second best in the history of the game. With 2,587 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns in 2014, Gordon not only led the nation, but he finished second on the single-season rushing list to Barry Sanders’ (2,628 rushing yards) unbelievable 1988 campaign, and fifth all-time for touchdown runs in a single year. Gordon actually out-paced Sanders to 2,000 yards, needing just 241 carries to do it, making him the fastest of the 23 players in college football history to run for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

Gordon also led the nation with 2,740 total yards from scrimmage and 32 total touchdowns thanks to 153 receiving yards and three TD catches. He finished as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting and earned the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back.

During the season, Gordon broke the NCAA single-game rushing record with 408 yards against Nebraska and needed only three quarters to do it. Unfortunately, that record – which had not been broken since LaDainian Tomlinson set it in 1999 – was broken the very next week by Oklahoma freshman Samaje Perine.

But Gordon was no one-year wonder. He gained 1,609 rushing yards and scored 12 TDs as a sophomore while splitting carries with White and gained 621 yards and scored three times on only 62 carries as a redshirt freshman – an incredible 10.0 yards per carry – and added 65 receiving yards and a TD among two catches.

Next: Garrett Wolfe