30 Best College Running Backs of All-Time
Career Statistics
- Games: 33
- Carries: 807
- Rushing Yards: 5,164
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 156.5
- Rushing Yards Per Season: 1,721.3
- Rushing Touchdowns: 52
- Yards Per Carry: 6.4
- Receptions: 58
- Receiving Yards: 588
- Receiving Touchdowns: 5
- Notable: MAC Offensive Player of the Year, 2006
One of the few players on this list to receive no playing time as a freshman (he redshirted in 2002 and sat out the 2003 season for academic reasons), Garrett Wolfe earned his first career carry at Northern Illinois as a sophomore in 2004. Listed at just 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds, few expected Wolfe to come close to replicating the production of the man he replaced in the starting lineup for the Huskies: Michael Turner, whose 4,941 career rushing yards ranked No. 15 on the all-time list at the end of his career.
However, Wolfe needed just three years (and remarkably, only 33 games) to pass Turner to become NIU’s all-time leader. His 5,164 career rushing yards currently rank No. 13 all-time, and Wolfe ranks second among players behind Herschel Walker among those that played only three seasons.
In 11 games as a sophomore, Wolfe gained 1,656 rushing yards and scored 18 touchdowns on 256 carries (6.5 yards per attempt) and caught 10 passes out of the backfield for 117 yards and three more scores. Injuries limited Wolfe to just nine games as a sophomore, yet he still ran for 1,580 yards and 16 touchdowns and added 222 receiving yards and a TD catch as well.
Finally able to play a full season as a senior in 2006, Wolfe led the nation with 1,928 rushing yards and 2,177 yards from scrimmage. He scored 18 touchdowns on the ground and was on the receiving end of another TD pass, and earned MAC Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Next: Travis Prentice