You only have to say their first names and everybody who knows anything about college football instantly connects. Herschel. Bo. Emmitt. No last names required. While the Big Ten might have produced more Heisman Trophy running backs (11) than any other conference, there isn’t a conference that has produced three running backs who are and will always be household names. Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson and Emmitt Smith are what legends are made of.
Herschel, Bo and Emmitt are at the top of the list of the best ten running backs in the history of the Southeastern Conference. The league has produced six Heisman winning running backs and probably should have had at least three or four others but none are as well known as Herschel, Bo and Emmitt. As good as all three were, Herschel and Emmitt left school a year early and Bo had injury-filled freshman and junior seasons that cut into his productivity.
Here is Gator Country’s list of the top ten running backs in SEC history:
1. HERSCHEL WALKER, GEORGIA: Had he stuck around for his senior year, he would have joined Archie Griffin as the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy and would have been the only player in history to finish in the top five of the Heisman voting four straight years. He would have also set the all-time standard for rushing yardage and touchdowns. As it was, he did pretty darn good, gaining 5,259 yards and scoring 52 touchdowns while leading Georgia to a national championship in 1980 as a freshman and a 33-3 record during his three years. As a freshman he burst onto the college football scene with 1,616 yards and 15 touchdowns. In his Heisman Trophy season of 1982, Walker gained 1,752 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. He had 162 carries that went for at least 10 yards during his three-year career. He won the 1982 Heisman Trophy and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
2. BO JACKSON, AUBURN: Bo Jackson might be the best known all-around athlete in the modern era. An All-American in football and baseball at Auburn, Jackson went on to make the Pro Bowl in the NFL and the All-Star Game in Major League Baseball. He ran a 10.39 100 meters in high school and is remembered for winning the decathlon at the state high school meet his senior year. He taught himself to pole vault and throw the discus. At Auburn, Bo Knows gained 4,303 rushing yards on 650 carries (6.6 per carry) and scored 43 touchdowns. He had 1,213 yards rushing as a sophomore and after an injury-filled junior season rebounded to gain 1,786 yards. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 in one of the closest votes in history, edging Chuck Long (Iowa quarterback) by 45 votes. He had his pro football career cut short by a hip injury that forced him to undergo hip replacement surgery. Jackson defied the odds by returning to major league baseball after the hip surgery. Jackson is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
3. EMMITT SMITH, FLORIDA: Emmitt’s numbers would have been truly outrageous had he not been subjected to a year of the Amedee-ville Horror. In 1988, Florida offensive coordinator Lynn Amedee decided that Emmitt would help Florida’s offense best used as a decoy. As a result, Smith went from 1,341 yards and 13 touchdowns to 988 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore. Amedee (thankfully) was sent packing after one year but injuries reduced Florida to a one-dimensional game in 1989. With no passing game and defenses stacked eight in the box to stop him, Emmitt still gained a Florida school record 1,599 yards and 14 touchdowns. He chose to enter the NFL Draft after his junior season, finishing his Florida career with 3,928 yards and 36 touchdowns. Selected in the first round with the Dallas Cowbows in the 1990 draft, Smith finished his pro career with 18,355 yards and 164 rushing touchdowns, both NFL records. He will be a first ballot member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
4. BILLLY CANNON, LSU: He played in an era of one-way football and no offense, but he would have been a great player in any era. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1959 but his best year was 1958 when he led LSU to the national championship. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1958. His punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween eve in 1959 is one of the greatest runs in college football history. Cannon ran a punt back 89 yards for a touchdown and was hit by nine Ole Miss players before he got the ball into the end zone, the only touchdown in a 7-3 LSU win. Cannon was also a great middle linebacker and was the SEC sprint champion (9.6 100 yard dash). In his LSU career he rushed for 1,867 yards and caught passes for 522. He was the SEC Player of the Year in both 1958 and 1959, the national player of the year (Sporting News and UPI) in 1958 and again in 1959. Member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
5. FRANK SINKWICH, GEORGIA: He was as dominating in his era as Herschel was in his. Flatfoot Frankie was a do it all tailback for Wally Butts who rushed for 2,271 yards and 30 touchdowns and passed for 2,331 yards and another 30 touchdowns in his career. He led Georgia to a share of the national championship with an 11-1 season and a win over UCLA in the Rose Bowl in 1942. In his Heisman Trophy season, Sinkwich rushed for 795 yards and 17 touchdowns and threw for 1,392 yards and 10 touchdowns. In the Orange Bowl in 1942 Sinkwich ran for 139 yards and threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns. He was fourth in the Heisman voting in 1941 and then won the Heisman Trophy in 1942. He’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
6. CHARLIE TRIPPI, GEORGIA: Trippi was the MVP of Georgia’s 1942 Rose Bowl victory over UCLA, then like so many other great players during this era, left school to join the military during World War II. He came back to Georgia and played in 1945 and 1946. He was the Heisman runner-up in 1946, a season in which he rushed for 744 yards and 14 touchdowns and threw for 622 yards and five touchdowns as a single wing tailback. He won the Maxwell Award in 1946. In his Georgia career he had 1,669 yards rushing (6.4 per carry) and 32 touchdowns and he threw for 15 touchdowns. As a rookie in the NFL in 1947, he led the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals to a 28-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, scoring touchdowns on a 75-yard punt return and a 44-yard run. He’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
7. GEORGE ROGERS, SOUTH CAROLINA: Rogers led the nation in rushing as a senior in 1980 (1,891 yards) and he finished second in 1979 (1,681 yards). He gained 5,204 yards in his South Carolina career, scoring 33 touchdowns. He rushed for more than 100 yards in 27 of 46 games including 22 straight to close out his career. After finishing seventh in the Heisman voting in 1979, Rogers won the Heisman Trophy in 1980, beating Pitt’s Hugh Green and Georgia’s Herschel Walker to win the Award. He’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
8. DARREN MCFADDEN, ARKANSAS: He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in both 2006 and 2007. He won the Doak Walker Award both those seasons. As a sophomore in 2006, McFadden gained 1,647 yards and scored 14 touchdowns while leading the Razorbacks to the SEC Championship Game. As a junior in 2007, McFadden ran for 1,830 yards and 16 touchdowns. He led the SEC in rushing and all-purpose yards both seasons. Blessed with outstanding size and sprinter’s speed, McFadden was a brilliant kick returner who averaged 24.4 yards per return. He also threw seven touchdown passes in his career.
9. CHARLES ALEXANDER, LSU: A two-time All-American (1977-78), Alexander ran for 4,305 yards and 40 touchdowns in his LSU career. He gained 1,686 yards and scored 17 touchdowns in 1977. Even though he was injured throughout his senior year (1978), he still gained 1,172 yards and 14 touchdowns. Alexander was a power back with breakaway speed who could find an extra gear after breaking tackles at or around the line of scrimmage. Nicknamed “Alexander the Great”, he set nine SEC record and 27 LSU records. He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1978. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
10. JOHNNY MUSSO, ALABAMA: In an era when such things were legal, Musso were acid-dipped jerseys that would easily tear away. Against Auburn in 1970, a game in which he gained 221 yards, Musso went through 11 jerseys. He gained 221 yards in that 33-28 loss. Musso led the SEC in rushing in 1970 (1,137 yards) and again in 1971 (1,088 yards). He finished his college career with 2,741 yards. He was All-SEC three years (1969-71) and was selected first team All-American in 1970-71. Nicknamed “The Italian Stallion”, Musso was a teammate of linebacker Carl Weathers with the CFL British Columbia Lions. Weathers went on to become famous as Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies. Musso finished fourth in the 1971 Heisman Trophy voting. Musso is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
HONORABLE MENTION: Wilbur Jackson, Alabama; Bobby Humphrey, Alabama; Shaun Alexander, Alabama; Gary Anderson, Arkansas; Ben Cowins, Arkansas; Dickie Morton, Arkansas; Tucker Fredrickson, Auburn; James Brooks, Auburn; Joe Cribbs, Auburn; Brent Fullwood, Auburn; James Bostic, Auburn; Rick Casares, Florida; Larry Dupree, Florida; Larry Smith, Florida; Nat Moore, Florida; Neal Anderson, Florida; Erricht Rhett, Florida; Garrison Hearst, Georgia; Tim Worley, Georgia; Rodney Hampton, Georgia; Knowshon Moreno, Georgia; Sonny Collins, Kentucky; Moe Williams, Kentucky; Charles Alexander, LSU; Dalton Hilliard, LSU; Jim Taylor, LSU; Kevin Faulk, LSU; Jerious Norwood, Mississippi State; Charlie Flowers, Ole Miss; Duece McAllister, Ole Miss; Duce Staley, South Carolina; Beattie Feathers, Tennessee; Travis Henry, Tennessee; Jamal Lewis, Tennessee; Frank Mordica, Vanderbilt.