Best College RB You've Seen Since Barry Sanders?

[mross34]

Agree here. Not Bush's fault he wasn't carrying the ball on the 4th and 2 that cost USC the national championship. Lendale had the ball, and you'd hope your bruiser back could get you 2. USC didn't account for the adjustment by the Texas D, so it got stuffed.

Picking up a 4th and 2 against a defense as good as 2005 Texas isn't a real sure bet when you're just ramming your battering ram into the line. Norm Chow was a good enough coordinator to have used a different option if he thought it was better. The fact that he didn't think Bush belonged on the field that play is just a microcosm for a larger weakness in Bush's game.

 

[t_BuckeyeScott]

Chow was in Tennessee by then. That was Kiffin.

 

[mross34]

Point tooken.

Argument is null and void then. And by association, the Vols are fucked.

 

[methomps]

Bush was also given carries against Notre Dame with less than a minute left and no timeouts remaining, including on a 3rd and 4. There was no doubts about Bush's ability. We just had two very good backs on the team.

 

[JCOSU86]

Bush is the absolute best and I'd go with that.

Now, about Running Backs.....

 

[BB73]

Bush was also given carries against Notre Dame with less than a minute left and no timeouts remaining, including on a 3rd and 4. There was no doubts about Bush's ability. We just had two very good backs on the team.

He's a great goal line back, if the QB needs a little help getting into the end one.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

In the end, in my mind, Byars and Wells will be the great "what ifs" due to the lack of a senior season/injuries. Love them both. Byars was awfully close to the Jr. Year Heisman... one play put Flutie over the top.

I hate to call out a fellow elitist prick, but this is one of the great Buckeye myths of all time. According to the official Heisman Trophy website:

Many felt Doug Flutie's fabled "Hail Mary" pass, which took Boston College to a last-second win over Miami, won the little quarterback the Heisman. Actually, the vote was in before that classic game.

Flutie also had a pretty good season in 1984: 233 completions in 386 attempts (.604), 3,454 yards, 27 touchdowns, and only 11 interceptions.

But don't worry - the media still hates us....

 

[methomps]

He's a great goal line back, if the QB needs a little help getting into the end one.

Imagine the Weis buyout if he hadn't.

 

[AKAK]

I hate to call out a fellow elitist prick, but this is one of the great Buckeye myths of all time.

Jesus, you could have just said the vote wasn't that close.

Prick.

 

[buckeyes_rock]

I hate to call out a fellow elitist prick, but this is one of the great Buckeye myths of all time. According to the official Heisman Trophy website:



Flutie also had a pretty good season in 1984: 233 completions in 386 attempts (.604), 3,454 yards, 27 touchdowns, and only 11 interceptions.

But don't worry - the media still hates us....

The "myth" I had always heard was that Keith got ripped simply because he was a junior and Flutie was a senior. Old school mentality. :)

 

[Muck]

Pretty much agree here, but, realistically... I'd flip flop Clarett and Byars.

Agreed.

...but then I'm probably also the only heretic who would place Byars ahead of Archie.

In college, I thought Bo Jackson was better than Herschel Walker.

Agreed. It's really six of one - half dozen of another though.

Yeah, well, Ernie Davis couldn't hold Brown's jock on the Lacrosse field.

True. :)

Floyd Little? Ernie Davis?

Well I wasn't referring to Walter Reyes.

We'll never know about Davis,

Of course we do...we're talking about college RBs remember?

He won the Heisman & was the first overall pick in the NFL draft (Brown was 6th overall as was Floyd BTW).

Too many writers, coaches, players who saw him and those who followed in the 70's - thru today agree that Brown is in a class of his own for me to disagree.

I firmly believe that most of the aura around Brown is from his pro career.

Don't get me wrong, he was a very, very good college back. I just don't think his college career is the best of all time.

If you ever get a chance to see footage of Little or Davis (there's probably plenty on the latter out due to the movie) there's not much to distinguish Brown in college from either of them.

There was no doubts about Bush's ability.

This...

Bush is the absolute best and I'd go with that.

Now, about Running Backs.....

Bush was a heck of a talented football player but he doesn't belong anywhere near a conversation about best running backs of all time.

Especially not when he's from the school that produced O.J., Marcus, Charles & Ricky.

O.J. was hands down the best USC RB & Anthony Davis was their best "all purpose" back.


My Top 5 all time college backs (in no particular order):

O.J.
Bo
Herschel
Barry
Dickerson

 

[RugbyBuck]

Robert Smith is probably the best I've seen live.

 

[daveeb]

The best RB I've seen live is Adrian Peterson. However, my vote did not go to him. My vote went to McFadden.

 

[sigshoota]

I took my scarlet glasses off and voted for AP, the guy has it all, and runs as hard as I've ever seen anybody run.

 

[t_BuckeyeScott]

The best RB I've seen live is Adrian Peterson. However, my vote did not go to him. My vote went to McFadden.

Not to criticize, but Peterson to me is a no brainer over DMAC. One year apart. The same speed, but Peterson had 10 pounds on him and just runs through people. I think that comparison is easy. Its when you compare those guys to Eddie, Ricky, Marshall etc from slightly different time frames.