TheFrenzy
01-13-2020, 11:01 PM
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1. Jim Brown (RB, Syracuse, 1954-56)
Rushing yards: 2,091 | TDs: 26 | Interceptions by: 8
Brown was the greatest all-around athlete in Syracuse history -- and perhaps in all of collegiate sports. While Brown is best known as the running back who launched the legend of jersey No. 44, he earned 10 varsity letters in four sports at Syracuse -- basketball, football, lacrosse and track. Brown did it all on the football field, too. He led the nation in kickoff return average in 1955 and rushing TDs in 1956, when he became Syracuse's first unanimous All-American and led the Orange to the Cotton Bowl. He was also the Orange's place-kicker and scored 43 points -- on six touchdowns and seven extra points -- in a 61-7 decision over Colgate in 1956.
2. Herschel Walker (RB, Georgia, 1980-82)
Rushing yards: 5,259 | TDs: 52 | Rushing yards per game: 159.4
If not Brown, then Walker might be the player against whom every college running back is measured. He ran for 1,616 yards with 15 touchdowns as a freshman in 1980, leading the Bulldogs to a 12-0 record and national championship. Walker ran for 150 yards with two touchdowns -- after separating his shoulder -- in a 17-10 win over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. He ran for 1,891 yards as a sophomore and 1,752 as a junior, when he won the 1982 Heisman Trophy. During his three-year collegiate career, Walker set 41 Georgia, 16 SEC and 11 NCAA records. The Bulldogs went 33-3 during his three seasons.
3. Bo Jackson (RB, Auburn, 1982-85)
Rushing yards: 4,303 | Rushing TDs: 43 | Yards per carry: 6.6
Nearly four decades later, college football remains on a first-name basis with the 1985 Heisman winner. As a freshman, Jackson took the same uniform number, 34, that junior Herschel Walker wore at Georgia, and quickly proved himself worthy of the number. His "Bo Over the Top" touchdown leap broke a nine-game losing streak in the Iron Bowl, Bear Bryant's last. Although Bo also brought Herschel to mind with his combination of speed and power, Bo, unlike Herschel, had a little shimmy when he needed it. Auburn retired No. 34 in 1992 -- as if we didn't know no one could fill that jersey.
4. Archie Griffin (RB, Ohio State, 1972-75)
Rushing yards: 5,589 | Rushing TDs: 27 | Rushing yards per game: 121.5
He was born in the Ohio State campus hospital, within sight of the Horseshoe where he would become a Buckeyes legend. Griffin arrived in Woody Hayes' locker room shortly after the NCAA approved freshman eligibility. Freshman? Hayes once said you lose one game for every sophomore you start. Griffin changed his coach's mind, perhaps by rushing for a school-record 239 yards in the second game of the season. Griffin rushed for 1,695 yards and 12 touchdowns his junior year, good enough to earn the 1974 Heisman. Hayes used to tell his players you either get better or you get worse. That adage spurred Griffin throughout his senior year; he won the Heisman again. No one else has ever won two.
5. Jim Thorpe (B, Carlisle, 1907-12)
Rushing yards: 3,616 | Yards per rush: 8.4 | Touchdowns: 53
Some of the stories told of Thorpe sound apocryphal. He once punted a ball, sprinted downfield, caught it, and ran it in for a touchdown. That's not legal now. It may not have been legal then; no one had ever been able to do it before. Thorpe did a lot on the field no one had ever seen before. His combination of size (6-1, 185), speed and power had never come along before, either. With a young coach named Pop Warner, whose single- and double-wing formations made the elusive Thorpe even more difficult to stop, Thorpe propelled the Indians to national prominence. He rushed for 173 yards in an 18-15 upset of Harvard in 1911. The Crimson didn't lose another game until 1915. Thorpe was a consensus All-American in 1911 and 1912 and in the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame class.
6. Red Grange (RB, Illinois, 1923-25)
Rushing yards: 2,071 | Yards per rush: 5.3 | Touchdowns: 31
Nearly a century later, Grange's first-quarter performance against Michigan in 1924 remains unmatched: In the dedication game of Memorial Stadium on the Illinois campus, Grange returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. In the next 10 minutes, he ran for scores of 67, 56 and 44 yards. He finished with five touchdowns and threw for a sixth. Grantland Rice bestowed Grange with the nickname "the Galloping Ghost." Illinois coach Bob Zuppke, late in his career, told Rice, "I will never have another Grange. But neither will anybody else." Grange was a three-time consensus All-American and in the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame class.
7. Earl Campbell (RB, Texas, 1974-77)
Rushing yards: 4,443 | Yards per rush: 5.8 | Rushing TDs: 40
Darrell Royal won a fierce recruiting battle for the Tyler (Texas) Rose, as Campbell would become known. Campbell rushed for 2,046 yards in his first two seasons in Austin. Bedeviled by hamstring problems and 20 pounds of extra weight, Campbell struggled as a junior. He missed three games and never showed that downhill beer-truck style that made him so dangerous. Campbell got healthy, lost the 20 pounds, and -- under new head coach Fred Akers -- rushed for 1,744 yards, 6.5 yards at a time. He won the 1977 Heisman Trophy vote in a runaway, like a beer truck going downhill.
8. Dick Butkus (LB, Illinois, 1962-64)
Tackles: 374 | Tackles per game: 14.4
Legendary sports writer Dan Jenkins once wrote that if every college football team had a linebacker like Butkus, "all fullbacks would soon be 3 feet tall and sing soprano." Few linebackers hit as hard or as often as Butkus, a two-time All-American at Illinois. He was named the Big Ten's MVP in 1963 and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting the next year. Against Ohio State in 1963, Butkus made 23 tackles, a school record at the time. In 1985, a trophy awarded to the best linebacker in college football was named in his honor.
9. Barry Sanders (RB, Oklahoma State, 1986-88)
Rushing yards: 3,556 | Touchdowns: 54 | All-purpose yards in 1988: 3,250
In one of the great recruiting coups of all time, an Oklahoma State assistant got the only highlight tape of the Wichita, Kansas, prep star -- and kept it. Sanders stayed under the radar while in Stillwater, in part because the Cowboys also had a back named Thurman Thomas. Sanders, as a sophomore, backed up Thomas and led the nation in kickoff returns (31.6-yard average), in part by returning the first kickoff of the season for a touchdown. Sanders began as a junior by returning that season's opening kickoff for a touchdown too. Sanders never slowed down. His four 300-yard games in a season? It created a record more than broke one; no one had ever done it more than once in a season. He rushed for an FBS-record 2,628 yards and set 34 NCAA records in his Heisman-winning 1998 campaign.
10. Gale Sayers (RB, Kansas, 1962-64)
Rushing yards: 2,675 | Yards per carry: 6.5 | Touchdowns: 20
Until his family moved to Omaha when he was 8 years old, Sayers lived in a small town named Speed, Kansas. He returned to the state as a Jayhawk, and made Lawrence the new Speed, Kansas. As a sophomore in 1962, Sayers immediately made his varsity presence known. He rushed for 114 yards in the season opener against TCU, and at midseason, Sayers torched Oklahoma State for a Big Eight-record 283 yards on only 22 carries. He was the first FBS player with a 99-yard rush. The "Kansas Comet" averaged 6.5 yards per carry in his Jayhawks career. He was a consensus All-American in 1963 and 1964. Sayers was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
At Navy, Roger Staubach won a Heisman -- and a tour of duty in Vietnam -- before joining the Dallas Cowboys. George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
11. Roger Staubach (QB, Navy, 1962-64)
Passing yards: 3,571 | Rushing yards: 682 | TDs: 35
Before Staubach led America's Team in the NFL, he won the Heisman Trophy as Navy's quarterback in 1963. Known as "Roger the Dodger," Staubach passed for 1,474 yards as a junior in 1963, while also winning the Maxwell Trophy and Walter Camp Memorial Award. After four years in the Navy, including a tour in Vietnam, Staubach joined the Cowboys in 1969 and led them to the Super Bowl four times, including victories in 1972 and '78.
12. Hugh Green (DE, Pitt, 1977-80)
Sacks: 49 | Tackles: 441
Pittsburgh coach Jackie Sherrill once said Green had only one speed: full speed. "He's so reckless and so quick," Sherrill told Sports Illustrated. "Nobody in college football can block him." Green was a three-time first-team All-American. In 1980, he won the Maxwell Award as the country's best player, won the Lombardi Award as the best lineman and won the Walter Camp as the nation's most outstanding player. He finished second to South Carolina's George Rogers in Heisman Trophy voting as a senior, the highest-ever finish by a full-time defensive player. The Panthers went 39-8-1 during Green's four seasons, when he started every contest but one.
13. Doc Blanchard (RB, Army, 1944-46)
Rushing yards: 1,666 | Touchdowns: 38 | Interceptions by: 7
Blanchard started out at North Carolina in 1942. World War II altered his career. He received an appointment to West Point in 1944, part of the greatest backfield class in the history of the game. Blanchard at fullback, Glenn Davis at halfback, and quarterback Arnold Tucker all made it to the College Football Hall of Fame. When Blanchard was a sophomore, Army sealed a 23-7 victory against Navy with a nine-play, 52-yard touchdown drive. Blanchard ran on seven of the nine plays, for 48 of the 52 yards, including the last 10. The 208-pound Blanchard would become known as Mr. Inside for his tough running between the tackles. In his three seasons, Army went 27-0-1 and finished No. 1 twice and No. 2 once. The three-time consensus All-American won the 1945 Heisman Trophy -- and had three top-five Heisman finishes.
14. Bronko Nagurski (T, Minnesota, 1927-29)
Rushing yards: 557 | TDs: 6
An oft-told legend is that a college football coach, lost during a recruiting trip in Minnesota, asked a farmer for directions to the nearest town. Nagurski pointed the way -- with his plow. As a senior for the Gophers in 1929, Nagurski became the only player ever named All-American at two positions: tackle on defense and fullback on offense. Grantland Rice once famously wrote, "Eleven Bronko Nagurskis could beat 11 Red Granges or 11 Jim Thorpes. The 11 Nagurskis would be a mop-up. It would be something close to murder and massacre." That exemplifies why the Bronko Nagurski Trophy is given to the best defensive player every season.
15. Ernie Davis (RB, Syracuse, 1959-61)
Rushing yards: 2,386 | Yards per rush: 6.6 | Touchdowns: 35
Two years after Jim Brown graduated, Syracuse gave Davis the No. 44 jersey. The 6-2, 210-pound halfback filled Brown's jersey -- and his shoes. Davis led Syracuse to the 1959 national championship, almost single-handedly beating Texas 23-14 in the Cotton Bowl. Davis scored two touchdowns, intercepted a pass to set up the other one, and scored two 2-point conversions. He left Syracuse with the school rushing and scoring records, as well as the 1961 Heisman Trophy, becoming the first African-American to win it. He would be gone two years later, dying from leukemia.
16. Walter Payton (RB, Jackson State, 1971-74)
Rushing yards: 3,563 | Yards per carry: 6.1 | Touchdowns: 66
That Payton made the Time Magazine All-America team as a senior while playing at I-AA Jackson State illustrates a few things: how good a back Payton was to draw that sort of acclaim in the era of Archie Griffin, Joe Washington and Anthony Davis; how slowly the SEC took integration seriously (Mississippi State had barely begun to integrate and Ole Miss not at all when Payton, a Mississippi native, went to college); and how HBCU football may have peaked in the mid-1970s. Payton, a two-time Black College Player of the Year, played so well that he finished 14th in the 1974 Heisman while playing in what was then Division II.
17. Tony Dorsett (RB, Pitt, 1973-76)
Rushing yards: 6,082 | Yards per rush: 5.7 | Rushing TDs: 55
Dorsett rushed for 1,586 yards as a freshman, an NCAA record. True, freshmen had been varsity-eligible for only a few years, but Dorsett was only just getting started. As a sophomore (1.004 yards), he broke the Pitt school rushing record. As a junior, Dorsett rushed for 1,544 yards, 302 against Notre Dame alone. As a senior, Dorsett led Division I-A in rushing with 1,948 yards and scoring (12.2 points per game) and won the Heisman Trophy, not to mention leading the Panthers to a 12-0 record and the 1976 national championship. Four 1,000-yard seasons; one NCAA career rushing record; one national title. That's quite a career.
18. Glenn Davis (RB, Army, 1943-46)
Rushing yards: 2,957 | Yards per carry: 8.3 | Touchdowns: 59
Those who saw him play make Mr. Outside's long list of records read like the dry text that it is. Two quotes from the book "The Heisman: Sixty Years of Tradition and Excellence" explain Davis' greatness. First, Steve Owen, the coach of the New York Giants in the 1940s, declared Davis "better than Red Grange. He's faster and he cuts better." Additionally, Army teammate Bill Yeoman, the Hall of Fame coach of the Houston Cougars, said late in his life that Davis "is still the most phenomenal athlete I ever saw." At 5-9, 170, Davis might have been too slight for today's game. That's assuming anyone ever laid a pad on him. Davis was a three-time consensus All-American and won the 1946 Heisman Trophy.
19. Reggie White (DE, Tennessee, 1980-83)
Sacks: 32 | Tackles: 293 | Fumble recoveries: 4
Before White became the "Minister of Defense" and retired as the NFL's all-time sack leader, he was the most menacing pass-rusher in Tennessee history. During White's senior season in 1983, he had 100 tackles, 72 unassisted, and set a UT single-season record with 15 sacks. He had a sack in every game but two and had four in a 45-6 victory over The Citadel, another school record. White was a consensus All-American and was named SEC Player of the Year. "There's never been a better one," former Volunteers coach Johnny Majors said. "He could turn a football game around like no one else."
20. Billy Sims (RB, Oklahoma, 1975-79)
Rushing yards: 3,813 | Yards per carry: 7.1 | Rushing TDs: 50
Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer thought so much of Sims that he called Sims at the Hooks, Texas, gas station where Sims worked to continue recruiting him. That may not sound amazing, except that Switzer called from a locker room pay phone at halftime of a Sooners game. Sims proved himself worth the effort. In his junior and senior seasons, Sims rushed for 3,268 yards and 42 touchdowns. He took home the 1978 Heisman Trophy during his junior season. Sims didn't repeat as a Heisman winner -- he finished second -- because Charles White of USC beat him out; with 1,506 rushing yards, it's hard to say that Sims faltered.
21. Peyton Manning (QB, Tennessee, 1994-97)
Passing yards: 11,201 | Completion percentage: 62.5 | TDs: 89
The ABCs that endeared Manning to the nation through his 17 seasons in professional football first shone through his four seasons in Knoxville: his affability, his brain for football, and his commitment. He took college football seriously not for the millions it might (and did) afford him professionally, but because he loved it, loved the stories that dad Archie told him about playing at Ole Miss, and loved the stories he created at Tennessee. No, he didn't win a national championship and (because!) he didn't beat Florida. But Bear Bryant never beat Notre Dame, and his career turned out all right, too. Manning won the Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award, Sullivan Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award during his senior season in 1997.
22. Billy Cannon (RB, LSU, 1957-59)
Rushing yards: 1,867 | Return yards: 965 | TDs: 24 | Interceptions by: 7
In the era of one-platoon football, Cannon could do pretty much anything on the football field (and he wasn't bad off of it -- he could heave the shot put over 54 feet). He led the Tigers to the 1958 national championship, but remains best-known for his play against archrival Ole Miss the following year. Down 3-0 in the fourth quarter, Cannon defied head coach Paul Dietzel's rule and fielded a punt at the LSU 11. He rumbled up the right sideline, running through several Rebel tackles for the touchdown that won the game. He also assisted on the tackle at the LSU goal line as time expired. Cannon was a two-time consensus All-American and won the 1959 Heisman Trophy.
23. Doak Walker (RB, SMU, 1945-49)
Rushing yards: 1,928 | Total offense: 3,582 | Touchdowns: 57
In those heady days after World War II, when the nation wanted only to return to normalcy, college football heroes became larger than life. None loomed larger than Walker. He grew up near SMU, and as a Mustang he so captivated the city of Dallas that the Cotton Bowl, expanded twice during Walker's career, became known as The House That Doak Built. As a junior, Walker won the 1948 Heisman Trophy by doing it all: He rushed, threw or caught 1,119 yards of total offense. He intercepted five passes, averaged 42.0 yards per punt, and completed 55.3% of his passes in an era when anything over 50% was exceptional. Walker was a three-time All-American for the Ponies.
24. Davey O'Brien (QB, TCU, 1936-38)
Total offense: 3,481 yards | Passing yards: 2,628 | Interceptions: 16
It took someone as iconic as Sammy Baugh to keep O'Brien on the TCU bench. When Baugh graduated in 1936, O'Brien took over for the Horned Frogs. The 5-7, 150-pound O'Brien may have been slight of stature, but he ran a no-nonsense huddle and his teammates loved him for it. As a senior in 1938, working Dutch Meyer's passing offense, O'Brien led the nation with 1,457 yards and 19 touchdowns through the air and won the Heisman Trophy. More importantly, he led TCU to an 11-0 record and the national championship. The Horned Frogs allowed only one opponent more than seven points and won only one game by as few as seven points.
25. O.J. Simpson (RB, USC, 1967-68)
Rushing yards: 3,124 | Yards per carry: 5 | Touchdowns: 33
It is difficult to remember a time when Simpson wasn't a pariah, when he was celebrated for a stunning combination of size (6-2, 205) and moves and durability. Simpson averaged 31 carries and 156 rushing yards per game. He won the 1968 Heisman Trophy. Simpson scored 33 touchdowns, none more exciting or dramatic than the 64-yarder in the fourth quarter against No. 1 UCLA to lead the No. 4 Trojans to a 21-20 victory. That not only propelled USC past its archrival, it sent the Trojans to the 1967 national championship.
Deion Sanders was one of the most electrifying players in college football history. Focus on Sport/Getty Images
26. Deion Sanders (DB, Florida State, 1985-88)
Interceptions: 14 | Punt return TDs: 3 | Punt return yards: 1,429
27. Paul Hornung (QB, Notre Dame, 1954-56)
Total offense: 2,747 yards | Rushing yards: 1,051 | Passing yards: 1,696
28. Doug Flutie (QB, Boston College, 1981-84)
Passing yards: 10,579 | Pass efficiency rating: 132.2 | TD passes: 67
29. Sammy Baugh (QB, TCU, 1934-36)
Passing yards:3,384 | TD passes: 39 | Punting average: 40.9 | Interceptions by: 10
30. Chuck Bednarik (C, Penn, 1945-48)
31. Bubba Smith (DE, Michigan State, 1964-66)
32. Jerry Rice (WR, Mississippi Valley State, 1981-84)
Receptions: 301 | Receiving yards: 4,693 | Receiving TDs: 50
33. John Elway (QB, Stanford, 1979-82)
Passing yards: 9,349 | TD passes: 77 | Pass efficiency rating: 139.3
34. Lee Roy Selmon (DL, Oklahoma, 1972-75)
Tackles: 335 | Fumble recoveries: 8
35. Randy White (DT, Maryland, 1972-74)
36. Marshall Faulk (RB, San Diego State, 1991-93)
Rushing yards: 4,589 | Touchdowns: 62 | Total offense: 5,595 yards
37. John Lujack (QB, Notre Dame, 1943, 1946-47)
Passing yards: 2,094 | TD passes: 18 | Total offense: 2,532 yards
38. Eddie George (RB, Ohio State, 1992-95)
Rushing yards: 3,768 | Rushing TDs: 44 | Receiving yards: 516
39. Johnny Rodgers (WR/KR, Nebraska, 1970-72)
Receiving yards: 2,479 | Punt return yards: 1,515 | Punt return TDs: 7
40. Marcus Allen (RB, USC, 1978-81)
Rushing yards: 4,682 | Yards per carry: 5.2 | Rushing TDs: 45
41. Charles Woodson (DB, Michigan, 1995-97)
Interceptions: 18 | Tackles: 162 | Total TDs: 6
42. Lawrence Taylor (LB, North Carolina, 1977-80) Sacks: 21 | Tackles for loss: 33 | Tackles: 192
43. Jim Plunkett (QB, Stanford, 1968-70)
Passing yards: 7,544 | TD passes: 52 | Total offense: 7,887 yards
44. Jack Tatum (DB, Ohio State, 1968-70)
45. Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma, 2004-06)
Rushing yards: 4,045 | Rushing TDs: 41 | 100-yard games: 22
46. Larry Fitzgerald (WR, Pitt, 2002-03)
Receptions: 161 | Receiving yards: 2,677 | TDs: 34
47. Howard "Hopalong" Cassady (RB, Ohio State, 1952-55)
Rushing yards: 2,374 | Touchdowns: 37 | Return yards: 1,293
48. Dave Rimington (C, Nebraska, 1979-82)
49. Eric Dickerson (RB, SMU, 1979-82)
Rushing yards: 4,450 | Rushing TDs: 47 | Yards per carry: 5.6
50. Archie Manning (QB, Ole Miss, 1968-70)
Passing yards: 4,753 | Touchdowns: 56 | Rushing yards: 823
51. Orlando Pace (T, Ohio State, 1996-96)
52. Floyd Little (RB, Syracuse, 1964-66)
Rushing yards: 2,704 | Yards per carry: 5.4 | Touchdowns: 46
53. Tim Brown (WR/KR, Notre Dame, 1984-87)
All-purpose yards: 5,024 | Receiving yards: 2,493 | Touchdowns: 22
54. Tommy Nobis (LB, Texas, 1963-65)
Interceptions: 7
55. Bruce Smith (DE, Virginia Tech, 1981-84)
Sacks: 46 | Tackles for loss: 71
56. Pete Dawkins (RB, Army, 1956-58)
Rushing yards: 1,123 | Receiving yards: 719 | Touchdowns: 26
57. Ricky Williams (RB, Texas, 1995-98)
Rushing yards: 6,279 | Rushing TDs: 72 | Yards per carry: 6.21
58. Ronnie Lott (DB, USC, 1977-80)
Tackles: 250 | Interceptions: 14 | Fumble recoveries: 10
59. Alan Page (DE, Notre Dame, 1964-66)
Tackles: 134 | Fumble recoveries: 4
60. Ernie Nevers (RB, Stanford, 1923-25)
61. Reggie Bush (RB, USC, 2005)
Rushing yards: 3,169 | Receiving yards: 1,301 | All-purpose yards 6,617
62. Joe Greene (DT, North Texas, 1966-68)
63. Ndamukong Suh (DL, Nebraska, 2005-09)
Tackles: 214 | Sacks: 24 | Interceptions: 4
64. Andrew Luck (QB, Stanford, 2009-11)
Passing yards: 9,430 | Passing efficiency: 162.8 | Touchdown passes: 82
65. Tom Harmon (RB, Michigan, 1938-40)
Rushing yards: 2,110 | Total offense: 3,410 yards | Touchdowns: 33
66. Randy Moss (WR, Marshall, 1996-97)
Receptions: 168 | Receiving yards: 3,467 | Total TDs: 54
67. Dan Marino (QB, Pitt, 1979-82)
Passing yards: 7,905 | Touchdowns: 74 | Pass efficiency rating: 129.7
68. Mike Rozier (RB, Nebraska, 1981-83)
Rushing yards: 4,780 | Rushing TDs: 49 | Yards per carry: 7.2
69. Jack Ham (LB, Penn State, 1968-70)
Tackles: 251 | Blocked kicks: 4
70. Emmitt Smith (RB, Florida, 1987-89)
Rushing yards: 3,928 | Rushing TDs: 36 | All-purpose yards: 4,391
71. Derrick Thomas (LB, Alabama, 1985-88)
Tackles: 204 | Tackles for loss: 68 | Sacks: 52
72. Cornelius Bennett (LB, Alabama, 1983-86)
Tackles: 287 | Tackles for loss: 41 | Sacks: 21.5
73. Lee Roy Jordan (LB, Alabama, 1960-62)
74. LaDainian Tomlinson (RB, TCU, 1997-2000)
Rushing yards: 5,263 | Yards per carry: 5.8 | Rushing TDs: 54
75. Bobby Layne (QB, Texas, 1944-47)
Passing yards: 3,145 | Total offense: 3,990 yards | Interceptions by: 11
76. Tim Tebow (QB, Florida, 2006-09)
Passing yards: 9,285 | Rushing yards: 2,947 | Total TDs: 145 (88 pass/57 rush)
77. Alan Ameche (RB, Wisconsin, 1951-54)
Rushing yards: 3,212 | Yards per carry: 4.8 | Touchdowns: 25
78. Mike Ditka (TE, Pitt, 1958-60)
Receptions: 45 | Receiving yards: 730 | TDs: 7
79. John Hannah (G, Alabama, 1970-72)
80. Merlin Olsen (DL, Utah State, 1959-61)
81. Vince Young (QB, Texas, 2003-05)
Passing yards: 6,040 | Rushing yards: 3,127 | Total TDs: 81 (37 rush/44 pass)
82. Ron Dayne (RB, Wisconsin, 1996-99)
Rushing yards: 6,397 | Rushing yards per game: 148.8 | Rushing TDs: 63
83. Fred Biletnikoff (WR, Florida State, 1962-64)
Receptions: 87 | Receiving yards: 1,463 | Touchdowns: 16
84. Adrian Peterson (RB, Georgia Southern, 1998-2001)
Rushing yards: 6,559 | Rushing TDs: 84 | Points: 524
85. Ted Hendricks (DL, Miami, 1966-68)
Tackles: 327 | Fumble recoveries: 12 | Interceptions: 2
86. Otto Graham (QB, Northwestern, 1941-43)
Passing yards: 2,181 | Rushing yards: 823 | Passing TDs: 15
87. Steve Young (QB, BYU, 1981-83)
Passing yards: 7,733 | Rushing yards: 1,084 | Total TDs: 74 (56 passing/18 rushing)
88. Leon Hart (E, Notre Dame, 1946-49)
Receiving yards: 742 | TD catches: 13
89. Jerry Robinson (LB, UCLA, 1975-78)
Tackles: 468 | Interception returns for TDs: 3
90. George Gipp (B, Notre Dame, 1917-20)
Rushing yards: 2,341 | Passing yards: 1,769 | Touchdowns: 21
91. Steve Spurrier (QB, Florida, 1964-66)
Passing yards: 4,848 | Passing TDs: 36 | Total offense: 5,290 yards
92. Bill Fralic (T, Pitt, 1981-84)
93. Drew Brees (QB, Purdue, 1997-2000)
Passing yards: 11,792 | Passing TDs: 90 | Pass completions: 1,026
94. Alex Karras (DL, Iowa, 1955-57)
95. Steve Owens (RB, Oklahoma, 1967-69)
Rushing yards: 3,867 | Touchdowns: 56
96. Charles White (RB, USC, 1976-79)
Rushing yards: 5,598 | Rushing TDs: 46 | All-purpose yards: 6,545
97. Tommie Frazier (QB, Nebraska, 1992-95)
Passing yards: 3,521 | Total offense: 5,476 yards | Passing TDs: 43
98. John Cappelletti (RB, Penn State, 1971-73)
Rushing yards: 2,639 | Rushing TDs: 29 | All-purpose yards: 3,735
99. Anthony Munoz (OT, USC, 1976-79)
100. Rod Woodson (DB, Purdue, 1983-86)
Tackles: 445 | Interceptions: 11 | Kickoff return yards: 1,535
101. Deshaun Watson (QB, Clemson, 2014-16)
Passing yards: 10,163 | Completion percentage: 67.4 | Passing TDs: 90
102. LaVar Arrington (LB, Penn State, 1997-99)
Sacks: 19 | Tackles for loss: 39
103. Sid Luckman (QB, Columbia, 1936-38)
Passing yards: 2,413 | Passing TDs: 20
104. Julius Peppers (DE, North Carolina, 1999-2001)
Sacks: 30.5 | Tackles for loss: 53
105. Junior Seau (LB, USC, 1988-89)
Tackles: 107 | Tackles for loss: 33
106. Doug Williams (QB, Grambling, 1974-77)
Passing yards: 8,411 | Total offense: 8,354 yards | Passing TDs: 93
107. Keith Jackson (TE, Oklahoma, 1984-87)
Receptions: 62 | Receiving yards: 1,470 | Yards per catch: 23.7
108. Mike Singletary (LB, Baylor, 1977-80)
Tackles: 662 | Solo tackles: 351 | Tackles for loss: 103
109. John David Crow (RB, Texas A&M, 1955-57)
Rushing yards: 1,455 | Yards per carry: 4.9 | Touchdowns: 19
110. Steve McNair (QB, Alcorn State, 1991-94)
Passing yards: 14,496 | Passing TDs: 119 | Rushing yards: 2,327
111. Mike Garrett (RB, USC, 1963-65)
Rushing yards: 3,221 | Touchdowns: 30 | Return yards: 1,198
112. Rich Glover (DL, Nebraska, 1970-72)
Tackles: 211 | Tackles for loss: 25
113. Billy Ray Smith Jr. (DE, Arkansas, 1979-82)
Tackles: 229 | Tackles for loss: 63
114. Kenny Easley (DB, UCLA, 1977-80)
Tackles: 374 | Interceptions: 19
115. Derrick Brooks (LB, Florida State, 1991-94)
Tackles: 274 | Sacks: 8.5 | Interceptions: 5
116. Byron "Whizzer" White (RB, Colorado, 1935-37)
Rushing yards: 1,864 | Total offense: 2,538 yards | Touchdowns: 24
117. Marcus Mariota (QB, Oregon, 2012-14)
Passing yards: 10,796 | Passing TDs: 105 | Passing efficiency: 171.8
118. Christian McCaffrey (RB, Stanford, 2014-16)
All-purpose yards: 6,987 | Rushing yards: 3,922 | Touchdowns: 33
119. Don Hutson (E, Alabama, 1932-34)
Receiving yards: 404 | Touchdowns: 3
120. Raghib "Rocket" Ismail (WR, Notre Dame, 1988-90)
Receiving yards: 1,565 | Return yards: 1,607 | All-purpose yards: 4,187
121. Jonathan Ogden (OT, UCLA, 1992-95)
122. Warren Sapp (DL, Miami, 1992-94)
Tackles: 176 | Sacks: 19.5
123. Michael Vick (QB, Virginia Tech, 1999-2000)
Passing yards: 3,074 | Passing TDs: 20 | Yards per attempt: 9.79
124. Calvin Johnson (WR, Georgia Tech, 2004-06)
Receiving yards: 2,927 | TD receptions: 28 | Receptions: 178
125. John Lattner (RB, Notre Dame, 1951-53)
Rushing yards: 1,724 | Interceptions by: 13 | Touchdowns: 20
126. Ed Marinaro (RB, Cornell, 1969-71)
Rushing yards: 4,715 | Yards per carry: 5.1 | Rushing TDs: 50
127. Leroy Keyes (RB, Purdue, 1966-68)
Rushing yards: 2,090 | Total offense: 2,271 yards | Yards per carry: 5.9
128. Greg Pruitt (RB, Oklahoma, 1970-72)
Rushing yards: 2,844 | Rushing TDs: 35 | All-purpose yards: 3,990
129. Desmond Howard (WR, Michigan, 1989-91)
Receiving yards: 1,944 | Return yards: 1,448 | Touchdowns: 35
130. Charlie Ward (QB, Florida State, 1989-93)
Passing yards: 5,747 | Total offense: 6,636 yards | Passing TDs: 49
131. Ozzie Newsome (WR, Alabama, 1974-77)
Receiving yards: 2,070 | Yards per catch: 20.3 | TD catches: 16
132. Angelo Bertelli (QB, Notre Dame, 1941-43)
Passing yards: 2,548 | Passing TDs: 28 | Interceptions by: 12
133. Charlie Justice (RB, North Carolina, 1946-49) Rushing yards: 2,634 | Total offense: 4,871 yards | Touchdowns: 39
134. Warrick Dunn (RB, Florida State, 1993-96)
Rushing yards: 3,959 | Receiving yards: 1,314 | Touchdowns: 49
135. Cam Newton (QB, Florida/Auburn, 2007-08/2010)
Rushing yards: 1,473 | Passing yards: 2.854 | TDs responsible for: 50
136. Anthony Carter (WR, Michigan, 1979-82)
Receiving yards: 2,681 | All-purpose yards: 5,197 | Touchdowns: 36
137. Nile Kinnick (RB, Iowa, 1937-39)
Rushing yards: 724 | Total offense: 2,169 yards | Interceptions by: 18
138. Ed Reed (DB, Miami, 1998-2001)
Tackles: 288 | Interceptions: 21 | Interception return yards: 389
139. Woodrow Lowe (LB, Alabama, 1972-75)
Tackles: 315
140. Jay Berwanger (RB, Chicago, 1933-35) Rushing yards: 1,839 | Total offense: 2,760 yards | Touchdowns: 22
141. Jim Parker (OL, Ohio State, 1954-56)
142. Tommy McDonald (RB, Oklahoma, 1954-56)
Rushing yards: 1,683 | Total offense: 2,254 yards | Touchdowns: 35
143. Chris Spielman (LB, Ohio State, 1984-87)
Tackles: 546 | Sacks: 8 | Interceptions: 11
144. Tony Boselli (T, USC, 1991-94)
145. Mike Reid (DL, Penn State, 1966-69)
146. Gary Beban (QB, UCLA, 1965-67)
Passing yards: 3,940 | Touchdowns: 33 | Total offense: 5,197 yards
147. Bob Griese (QB, Purdue, 1964-66)
Passing yards: 4,402 | Passing TDs: 28 | Yards per completion: 12.6
148. Deacon Jones (DE, South Carolina State/Mississippi Valley State, 1958/1960)
149. Champ Bailey (DB/AP, Georgia, 1996-98)
Interceptions: 8 | Receiving yards: 978
150. Baker Mayfield (QB, Texas Tech/Oklahoma, 2013/2015-17)
Passing yards: 14,607 | Passing TDs: 131 | Completions: 1,026
1. Jim Brown (RB, Syracuse, 1954-56)
Rushing yards: 2,091 | TDs: 26 | Interceptions by: 8
Brown was the greatest all-around athlete in Syracuse history -- and perhaps in all of collegiate sports. While Brown is best known as the running back who launched the legend of jersey No. 44, he earned 10 varsity letters in four sports at Syracuse -- basketball, football, lacrosse and track. Brown did it all on the football field, too. He led the nation in kickoff return average in 1955 and rushing TDs in 1956, when he became Syracuse's first unanimous All-American and led the Orange to the Cotton Bowl. He was also the Orange's place-kicker and scored 43 points -- on six touchdowns and seven extra points -- in a 61-7 decision over Colgate in 1956.
2. Herschel Walker (RB, Georgia, 1980-82)
Rushing yards: 5,259 | TDs: 52 | Rushing yards per game: 159.4
If not Brown, then Walker might be the player against whom every college running back is measured. He ran for 1,616 yards with 15 touchdowns as a freshman in 1980, leading the Bulldogs to a 12-0 record and national championship. Walker ran for 150 yards with two touchdowns -- after separating his shoulder -- in a 17-10 win over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. He ran for 1,891 yards as a sophomore and 1,752 as a junior, when he won the 1982 Heisman Trophy. During his three-year collegiate career, Walker set 41 Georgia, 16 SEC and 11 NCAA records. The Bulldogs went 33-3 during his three seasons.
3. Bo Jackson (RB, Auburn, 1982-85)
Rushing yards: 4,303 | Rushing TDs: 43 | Yards per carry: 6.6
Nearly four decades later, college football remains on a first-name basis with the 1985 Heisman winner. As a freshman, Jackson took the same uniform number, 34, that junior Herschel Walker wore at Georgia, and quickly proved himself worthy of the number. His "Bo Over the Top" touchdown leap broke a nine-game losing streak in the Iron Bowl, Bear Bryant's last. Although Bo also brought Herschel to mind with his combination of speed and power, Bo, unlike Herschel, had a little shimmy when he needed it. Auburn retired No. 34 in 1992 -- as if we didn't know no one could fill that jersey.
4. Archie Griffin (RB, Ohio State, 1972-75)
Rushing yards: 5,589 | Rushing TDs: 27 | Rushing yards per game: 121.5
He was born in the Ohio State campus hospital, within sight of the Horseshoe where he would become a Buckeyes legend. Griffin arrived in Woody Hayes' locker room shortly after the NCAA approved freshman eligibility. Freshman? Hayes once said you lose one game for every sophomore you start. Griffin changed his coach's mind, perhaps by rushing for a school-record 239 yards in the second game of the season. Griffin rushed for 1,695 yards and 12 touchdowns his junior year, good enough to earn the 1974 Heisman. Hayes used to tell his players you either get better or you get worse. That adage spurred Griffin throughout his senior year; he won the Heisman again. No one else has ever won two.
5. Jim Thorpe (B, Carlisle, 1907-12)
Rushing yards: 3,616 | Yards per rush: 8.4 | Touchdowns: 53
Some of the stories told of Thorpe sound apocryphal. He once punted a ball, sprinted downfield, caught it, and ran it in for a touchdown. That's not legal now. It may not have been legal then; no one had ever been able to do it before. Thorpe did a lot on the field no one had ever seen before. His combination of size (6-1, 185), speed and power had never come along before, either. With a young coach named Pop Warner, whose single- and double-wing formations made the elusive Thorpe even more difficult to stop, Thorpe propelled the Indians to national prominence. He rushed for 173 yards in an 18-15 upset of Harvard in 1911. The Crimson didn't lose another game until 1915. Thorpe was a consensus All-American in 1911 and 1912 and in the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame class.
6. Red Grange (RB, Illinois, 1923-25)
Rushing yards: 2,071 | Yards per rush: 5.3 | Touchdowns: 31
Nearly a century later, Grange's first-quarter performance against Michigan in 1924 remains unmatched: In the dedication game of Memorial Stadium on the Illinois campus, Grange returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. In the next 10 minutes, he ran for scores of 67, 56 and 44 yards. He finished with five touchdowns and threw for a sixth. Grantland Rice bestowed Grange with the nickname "the Galloping Ghost." Illinois coach Bob Zuppke, late in his career, told Rice, "I will never have another Grange. But neither will anybody else." Grange was a three-time consensus All-American and in the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame class.
7. Earl Campbell (RB, Texas, 1974-77)
Rushing yards: 4,443 | Yards per rush: 5.8 | Rushing TDs: 40
Darrell Royal won a fierce recruiting battle for the Tyler (Texas) Rose, as Campbell would become known. Campbell rushed for 2,046 yards in his first two seasons in Austin. Bedeviled by hamstring problems and 20 pounds of extra weight, Campbell struggled as a junior. He missed three games and never showed that downhill beer-truck style that made him so dangerous. Campbell got healthy, lost the 20 pounds, and -- under new head coach Fred Akers -- rushed for 1,744 yards, 6.5 yards at a time. He won the 1977 Heisman Trophy vote in a runaway, like a beer truck going downhill.
8. Dick Butkus (LB, Illinois, 1962-64)
Tackles: 374 | Tackles per game: 14.4
Legendary sports writer Dan Jenkins once wrote that if every college football team had a linebacker like Butkus, "all fullbacks would soon be 3 feet tall and sing soprano." Few linebackers hit as hard or as often as Butkus, a two-time All-American at Illinois. He was named the Big Ten's MVP in 1963 and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting the next year. Against Ohio State in 1963, Butkus made 23 tackles, a school record at the time. In 1985, a trophy awarded to the best linebacker in college football was named in his honor.
9. Barry Sanders (RB, Oklahoma State, 1986-88)
Rushing yards: 3,556 | Touchdowns: 54 | All-purpose yards in 1988: 3,250
In one of the great recruiting coups of all time, an Oklahoma State assistant got the only highlight tape of the Wichita, Kansas, prep star -- and kept it. Sanders stayed under the radar while in Stillwater, in part because the Cowboys also had a back named Thurman Thomas. Sanders, as a sophomore, backed up Thomas and led the nation in kickoff returns (31.6-yard average), in part by returning the first kickoff of the season for a touchdown. Sanders began as a junior by returning that season's opening kickoff for a touchdown too. Sanders never slowed down. His four 300-yard games in a season? It created a record more than broke one; no one had ever done it more than once in a season. He rushed for an FBS-record 2,628 yards and set 34 NCAA records in his Heisman-winning 1998 campaign.
10. Gale Sayers (RB, Kansas, 1962-64)
Rushing yards: 2,675 | Yards per carry: 6.5 | Touchdowns: 20
Until his family moved to Omaha when he was 8 years old, Sayers lived in a small town named Speed, Kansas. He returned to the state as a Jayhawk, and made Lawrence the new Speed, Kansas. As a sophomore in 1962, Sayers immediately made his varsity presence known. He rushed for 114 yards in the season opener against TCU, and at midseason, Sayers torched Oklahoma State for a Big Eight-record 283 yards on only 22 carries. He was the first FBS player with a 99-yard rush. The "Kansas Comet" averaged 6.5 yards per carry in his Jayhawks career. He was a consensus All-American in 1963 and 1964. Sayers was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
At Navy, Roger Staubach won a Heisman -- and a tour of duty in Vietnam -- before joining the Dallas Cowboys. George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
11. Roger Staubach (QB, Navy, 1962-64)
Passing yards: 3,571 | Rushing yards: 682 | TDs: 35
Before Staubach led America's Team in the NFL, he won the Heisman Trophy as Navy's quarterback in 1963. Known as "Roger the Dodger," Staubach passed for 1,474 yards as a junior in 1963, while also winning the Maxwell Trophy and Walter Camp Memorial Award. After four years in the Navy, including a tour in Vietnam, Staubach joined the Cowboys in 1969 and led them to the Super Bowl four times, including victories in 1972 and '78.
12. Hugh Green (DE, Pitt, 1977-80)
Sacks: 49 | Tackles: 441
Pittsburgh coach Jackie Sherrill once said Green had only one speed: full speed. "He's so reckless and so quick," Sherrill told Sports Illustrated. "Nobody in college football can block him." Green was a three-time first-team All-American. In 1980, he won the Maxwell Award as the country's best player, won the Lombardi Award as the best lineman and won the Walter Camp as the nation's most outstanding player. He finished second to South Carolina's George Rogers in Heisman Trophy voting as a senior, the highest-ever finish by a full-time defensive player. The Panthers went 39-8-1 during Green's four seasons, when he started every contest but one.
13. Doc Blanchard (RB, Army, 1944-46)
Rushing yards: 1,666 | Touchdowns: 38 | Interceptions by: 7
Blanchard started out at North Carolina in 1942. World War II altered his career. He received an appointment to West Point in 1944, part of the greatest backfield class in the history of the game. Blanchard at fullback, Glenn Davis at halfback, and quarterback Arnold Tucker all made it to the College Football Hall of Fame. When Blanchard was a sophomore, Army sealed a 23-7 victory against Navy with a nine-play, 52-yard touchdown drive. Blanchard ran on seven of the nine plays, for 48 of the 52 yards, including the last 10. The 208-pound Blanchard would become known as Mr. Inside for his tough running between the tackles. In his three seasons, Army went 27-0-1 and finished No. 1 twice and No. 2 once. The three-time consensus All-American won the 1945 Heisman Trophy -- and had three top-five Heisman finishes.
14. Bronko Nagurski (T, Minnesota, 1927-29)
Rushing yards: 557 | TDs: 6
An oft-told legend is that a college football coach, lost during a recruiting trip in Minnesota, asked a farmer for directions to the nearest town. Nagurski pointed the way -- with his plow. As a senior for the Gophers in 1929, Nagurski became the only player ever named All-American at two positions: tackle on defense and fullback on offense. Grantland Rice once famously wrote, "Eleven Bronko Nagurskis could beat 11 Red Granges or 11 Jim Thorpes. The 11 Nagurskis would be a mop-up. It would be something close to murder and massacre." That exemplifies why the Bronko Nagurski Trophy is given to the best defensive player every season.
15. Ernie Davis (RB, Syracuse, 1959-61)
Rushing yards: 2,386 | Yards per rush: 6.6 | Touchdowns: 35
Two years after Jim Brown graduated, Syracuse gave Davis the No. 44 jersey. The 6-2, 210-pound halfback filled Brown's jersey -- and his shoes. Davis led Syracuse to the 1959 national championship, almost single-handedly beating Texas 23-14 in the Cotton Bowl. Davis scored two touchdowns, intercepted a pass to set up the other one, and scored two 2-point conversions. He left Syracuse with the school rushing and scoring records, as well as the 1961 Heisman Trophy, becoming the first African-American to win it. He would be gone two years later, dying from leukemia.
16. Walter Payton (RB, Jackson State, 1971-74)
Rushing yards: 3,563 | Yards per carry: 6.1 | Touchdowns: 66
That Payton made the Time Magazine All-America team as a senior while playing at I-AA Jackson State illustrates a few things: how good a back Payton was to draw that sort of acclaim in the era of Archie Griffin, Joe Washington and Anthony Davis; how slowly the SEC took integration seriously (Mississippi State had barely begun to integrate and Ole Miss not at all when Payton, a Mississippi native, went to college); and how HBCU football may have peaked in the mid-1970s. Payton, a two-time Black College Player of the Year, played so well that he finished 14th in the 1974 Heisman while playing in what was then Division II.
17. Tony Dorsett (RB, Pitt, 1973-76)
Rushing yards: 6,082 | Yards per rush: 5.7 | Rushing TDs: 55
Dorsett rushed for 1,586 yards as a freshman, an NCAA record. True, freshmen had been varsity-eligible for only a few years, but Dorsett was only just getting started. As a sophomore (1.004 yards), he broke the Pitt school rushing record. As a junior, Dorsett rushed for 1,544 yards, 302 against Notre Dame alone. As a senior, Dorsett led Division I-A in rushing with 1,948 yards and scoring (12.2 points per game) and won the Heisman Trophy, not to mention leading the Panthers to a 12-0 record and the 1976 national championship. Four 1,000-yard seasons; one NCAA career rushing record; one national title. That's quite a career.
18. Glenn Davis (RB, Army, 1943-46)
Rushing yards: 2,957 | Yards per carry: 8.3 | Touchdowns: 59
Those who saw him play make Mr. Outside's long list of records read like the dry text that it is. Two quotes from the book "The Heisman: Sixty Years of Tradition and Excellence" explain Davis' greatness. First, Steve Owen, the coach of the New York Giants in the 1940s, declared Davis "better than Red Grange. He's faster and he cuts better." Additionally, Army teammate Bill Yeoman, the Hall of Fame coach of the Houston Cougars, said late in his life that Davis "is still the most phenomenal athlete I ever saw." At 5-9, 170, Davis might have been too slight for today's game. That's assuming anyone ever laid a pad on him. Davis was a three-time consensus All-American and won the 1946 Heisman Trophy.
19. Reggie White (DE, Tennessee, 1980-83)
Sacks: 32 | Tackles: 293 | Fumble recoveries: 4
Before White became the "Minister of Defense" and retired as the NFL's all-time sack leader, he was the most menacing pass-rusher in Tennessee history. During White's senior season in 1983, he had 100 tackles, 72 unassisted, and set a UT single-season record with 15 sacks. He had a sack in every game but two and had four in a 45-6 victory over The Citadel, another school record. White was a consensus All-American and was named SEC Player of the Year. "There's never been a better one," former Volunteers coach Johnny Majors said. "He could turn a football game around like no one else."
20. Billy Sims (RB, Oklahoma, 1975-79)
Rushing yards: 3,813 | Yards per carry: 7.1 | Rushing TDs: 50
Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer thought so much of Sims that he called Sims at the Hooks, Texas, gas station where Sims worked to continue recruiting him. That may not sound amazing, except that Switzer called from a locker room pay phone at halftime of a Sooners game. Sims proved himself worth the effort. In his junior and senior seasons, Sims rushed for 3,268 yards and 42 touchdowns. He took home the 1978 Heisman Trophy during his junior season. Sims didn't repeat as a Heisman winner -- he finished second -- because Charles White of USC beat him out; with 1,506 rushing yards, it's hard to say that Sims faltered.
21. Peyton Manning (QB, Tennessee, 1994-97)
Passing yards: 11,201 | Completion percentage: 62.5 | TDs: 89
The ABCs that endeared Manning to the nation through his 17 seasons in professional football first shone through his four seasons in Knoxville: his affability, his brain for football, and his commitment. He took college football seriously not for the millions it might (and did) afford him professionally, but because he loved it, loved the stories that dad Archie told him about playing at Ole Miss, and loved the stories he created at Tennessee. No, he didn't win a national championship and (because!) he didn't beat Florida. But Bear Bryant never beat Notre Dame, and his career turned out all right, too. Manning won the Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award, Sullivan Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award during his senior season in 1997.
22. Billy Cannon (RB, LSU, 1957-59)
Rushing yards: 1,867 | Return yards: 965 | TDs: 24 | Interceptions by: 7
In the era of one-platoon football, Cannon could do pretty much anything on the football field (and he wasn't bad off of it -- he could heave the shot put over 54 feet). He led the Tigers to the 1958 national championship, but remains best-known for his play against archrival Ole Miss the following year. Down 3-0 in the fourth quarter, Cannon defied head coach Paul Dietzel's rule and fielded a punt at the LSU 11. He rumbled up the right sideline, running through several Rebel tackles for the touchdown that won the game. He also assisted on the tackle at the LSU goal line as time expired. Cannon was a two-time consensus All-American and won the 1959 Heisman Trophy.
23. Doak Walker (RB, SMU, 1945-49)
Rushing yards: 1,928 | Total offense: 3,582 | Touchdowns: 57
In those heady days after World War II, when the nation wanted only to return to normalcy, college football heroes became larger than life. None loomed larger than Walker. He grew up near SMU, and as a Mustang he so captivated the city of Dallas that the Cotton Bowl, expanded twice during Walker's career, became known as The House That Doak Built. As a junior, Walker won the 1948 Heisman Trophy by doing it all: He rushed, threw or caught 1,119 yards of total offense. He intercepted five passes, averaged 42.0 yards per punt, and completed 55.3% of his passes in an era when anything over 50% was exceptional. Walker was a three-time All-American for the Ponies.
24. Davey O'Brien (QB, TCU, 1936-38)
Total offense: 3,481 yards | Passing yards: 2,628 | Interceptions: 16
It took someone as iconic as Sammy Baugh to keep O'Brien on the TCU bench. When Baugh graduated in 1936, O'Brien took over for the Horned Frogs. The 5-7, 150-pound O'Brien may have been slight of stature, but he ran a no-nonsense huddle and his teammates loved him for it. As a senior in 1938, working Dutch Meyer's passing offense, O'Brien led the nation with 1,457 yards and 19 touchdowns through the air and won the Heisman Trophy. More importantly, he led TCU to an 11-0 record and the national championship. The Horned Frogs allowed only one opponent more than seven points and won only one game by as few as seven points.
25. O.J. Simpson (RB, USC, 1967-68)
Rushing yards: 3,124 | Yards per carry: 5 | Touchdowns: 33
It is difficult to remember a time when Simpson wasn't a pariah, when he was celebrated for a stunning combination of size (6-2, 205) and moves and durability. Simpson averaged 31 carries and 156 rushing yards per game. He won the 1968 Heisman Trophy. Simpson scored 33 touchdowns, none more exciting or dramatic than the 64-yarder in the fourth quarter against No. 1 UCLA to lead the No. 4 Trojans to a 21-20 victory. That not only propelled USC past its archrival, it sent the Trojans to the 1967 national championship.
Deion Sanders was one of the most electrifying players in college football history. Focus on Sport/Getty Images
26. Deion Sanders (DB, Florida State, 1985-88)
Interceptions: 14 | Punt return TDs: 3 | Punt return yards: 1,429
27. Paul Hornung (QB, Notre Dame, 1954-56)
Total offense: 2,747 yards | Rushing yards: 1,051 | Passing yards: 1,696
28. Doug Flutie (QB, Boston College, 1981-84)
Passing yards: 10,579 | Pass efficiency rating: 132.2 | TD passes: 67
29. Sammy Baugh (QB, TCU, 1934-36)
Passing yards:3,384 | TD passes: 39 | Punting average: 40.9 | Interceptions by: 10
30. Chuck Bednarik (C, Penn, 1945-48)
31. Bubba Smith (DE, Michigan State, 1964-66)
32. Jerry Rice (WR, Mississippi Valley State, 1981-84)
Receptions: 301 | Receiving yards: 4,693 | Receiving TDs: 50
33. John Elway (QB, Stanford, 1979-82)
Passing yards: 9,349 | TD passes: 77 | Pass efficiency rating: 139.3
34. Lee Roy Selmon (DL, Oklahoma, 1972-75)
Tackles: 335 | Fumble recoveries: 8
35. Randy White (DT, Maryland, 1972-74)
36. Marshall Faulk (RB, San Diego State, 1991-93)
Rushing yards: 4,589 | Touchdowns: 62 | Total offense: 5,595 yards
37. John Lujack (QB, Notre Dame, 1943, 1946-47)
Passing yards: 2,094 | TD passes: 18 | Total offense: 2,532 yards
38. Eddie George (RB, Ohio State, 1992-95)
Rushing yards: 3,768 | Rushing TDs: 44 | Receiving yards: 516
39. Johnny Rodgers (WR/KR, Nebraska, 1970-72)
Receiving yards: 2,479 | Punt return yards: 1,515 | Punt return TDs: 7
40. Marcus Allen (RB, USC, 1978-81)
Rushing yards: 4,682 | Yards per carry: 5.2 | Rushing TDs: 45
41. Charles Woodson (DB, Michigan, 1995-97)
Interceptions: 18 | Tackles: 162 | Total TDs: 6
42. Lawrence Taylor (LB, North Carolina, 1977-80) Sacks: 21 | Tackles for loss: 33 | Tackles: 192
43. Jim Plunkett (QB, Stanford, 1968-70)
Passing yards: 7,544 | TD passes: 52 | Total offense: 7,887 yards
44. Jack Tatum (DB, Ohio State, 1968-70)
45. Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma, 2004-06)
Rushing yards: 4,045 | Rushing TDs: 41 | 100-yard games: 22
46. Larry Fitzgerald (WR, Pitt, 2002-03)
Receptions: 161 | Receiving yards: 2,677 | TDs: 34
47. Howard "Hopalong" Cassady (RB, Ohio State, 1952-55)
Rushing yards: 2,374 | Touchdowns: 37 | Return yards: 1,293
48. Dave Rimington (C, Nebraska, 1979-82)
49. Eric Dickerson (RB, SMU, 1979-82)
Rushing yards: 4,450 | Rushing TDs: 47 | Yards per carry: 5.6
50. Archie Manning (QB, Ole Miss, 1968-70)
Passing yards: 4,753 | Touchdowns: 56 | Rushing yards: 823
51. Orlando Pace (T, Ohio State, 1996-96)
52. Floyd Little (RB, Syracuse, 1964-66)
Rushing yards: 2,704 | Yards per carry: 5.4 | Touchdowns: 46
53. Tim Brown (WR/KR, Notre Dame, 1984-87)
All-purpose yards: 5,024 | Receiving yards: 2,493 | Touchdowns: 22
54. Tommy Nobis (LB, Texas, 1963-65)
Interceptions: 7
55. Bruce Smith (DE, Virginia Tech, 1981-84)
Sacks: 46 | Tackles for loss: 71
56. Pete Dawkins (RB, Army, 1956-58)
Rushing yards: 1,123 | Receiving yards: 719 | Touchdowns: 26
57. Ricky Williams (RB, Texas, 1995-98)
Rushing yards: 6,279 | Rushing TDs: 72 | Yards per carry: 6.21
58. Ronnie Lott (DB, USC, 1977-80)
Tackles: 250 | Interceptions: 14 | Fumble recoveries: 10
59. Alan Page (DE, Notre Dame, 1964-66)
Tackles: 134 | Fumble recoveries: 4
60. Ernie Nevers (RB, Stanford, 1923-25)
61. Reggie Bush (RB, USC, 2005)
Rushing yards: 3,169 | Receiving yards: 1,301 | All-purpose yards 6,617
62. Joe Greene (DT, North Texas, 1966-68)
63. Ndamukong Suh (DL, Nebraska, 2005-09)
Tackles: 214 | Sacks: 24 | Interceptions: 4
64. Andrew Luck (QB, Stanford, 2009-11)
Passing yards: 9,430 | Passing efficiency: 162.8 | Touchdown passes: 82
65. Tom Harmon (RB, Michigan, 1938-40)
Rushing yards: 2,110 | Total offense: 3,410 yards | Touchdowns: 33
66. Randy Moss (WR, Marshall, 1996-97)
Receptions: 168 | Receiving yards: 3,467 | Total TDs: 54
67. Dan Marino (QB, Pitt, 1979-82)
Passing yards: 7,905 | Touchdowns: 74 | Pass efficiency rating: 129.7
68. Mike Rozier (RB, Nebraska, 1981-83)
Rushing yards: 4,780 | Rushing TDs: 49 | Yards per carry: 7.2
69. Jack Ham (LB, Penn State, 1968-70)
Tackles: 251 | Blocked kicks: 4
70. Emmitt Smith (RB, Florida, 1987-89)
Rushing yards: 3,928 | Rushing TDs: 36 | All-purpose yards: 4,391
71. Derrick Thomas (LB, Alabama, 1985-88)
Tackles: 204 | Tackles for loss: 68 | Sacks: 52
72. Cornelius Bennett (LB, Alabama, 1983-86)
Tackles: 287 | Tackles for loss: 41 | Sacks: 21.5
73. Lee Roy Jordan (LB, Alabama, 1960-62)
74. LaDainian Tomlinson (RB, TCU, 1997-2000)
Rushing yards: 5,263 | Yards per carry: 5.8 | Rushing TDs: 54
75. Bobby Layne (QB, Texas, 1944-47)
Passing yards: 3,145 | Total offense: 3,990 yards | Interceptions by: 11
76. Tim Tebow (QB, Florida, 2006-09)
Passing yards: 9,285 | Rushing yards: 2,947 | Total TDs: 145 (88 pass/57 rush)
77. Alan Ameche (RB, Wisconsin, 1951-54)
Rushing yards: 3,212 | Yards per carry: 4.8 | Touchdowns: 25
78. Mike Ditka (TE, Pitt, 1958-60)
Receptions: 45 | Receiving yards: 730 | TDs: 7
79. John Hannah (G, Alabama, 1970-72)
80. Merlin Olsen (DL, Utah State, 1959-61)
81. Vince Young (QB, Texas, 2003-05)
Passing yards: 6,040 | Rushing yards: 3,127 | Total TDs: 81 (37 rush/44 pass)
82. Ron Dayne (RB, Wisconsin, 1996-99)
Rushing yards: 6,397 | Rushing yards per game: 148.8 | Rushing TDs: 63
83. Fred Biletnikoff (WR, Florida State, 1962-64)
Receptions: 87 | Receiving yards: 1,463 | Touchdowns: 16
84. Adrian Peterson (RB, Georgia Southern, 1998-2001)
Rushing yards: 6,559 | Rushing TDs: 84 | Points: 524
85. Ted Hendricks (DL, Miami, 1966-68)
Tackles: 327 | Fumble recoveries: 12 | Interceptions: 2
86. Otto Graham (QB, Northwestern, 1941-43)
Passing yards: 2,181 | Rushing yards: 823 | Passing TDs: 15
87. Steve Young (QB, BYU, 1981-83)
Passing yards: 7,733 | Rushing yards: 1,084 | Total TDs: 74 (56 passing/18 rushing)
88. Leon Hart (E, Notre Dame, 1946-49)
Receiving yards: 742 | TD catches: 13
89. Jerry Robinson (LB, UCLA, 1975-78)
Tackles: 468 | Interception returns for TDs: 3
90. George Gipp (B, Notre Dame, 1917-20)
Rushing yards: 2,341 | Passing yards: 1,769 | Touchdowns: 21
91. Steve Spurrier (QB, Florida, 1964-66)
Passing yards: 4,848 | Passing TDs: 36 | Total offense: 5,290 yards
92. Bill Fralic (T, Pitt, 1981-84)
93. Drew Brees (QB, Purdue, 1997-2000)
Passing yards: 11,792 | Passing TDs: 90 | Pass completions: 1,026
94. Alex Karras (DL, Iowa, 1955-57)
95. Steve Owens (RB, Oklahoma, 1967-69)
Rushing yards: 3,867 | Touchdowns: 56
96. Charles White (RB, USC, 1976-79)
Rushing yards: 5,598 | Rushing TDs: 46 | All-purpose yards: 6,545
97. Tommie Frazier (QB, Nebraska, 1992-95)
Passing yards: 3,521 | Total offense: 5,476 yards | Passing TDs: 43
98. John Cappelletti (RB, Penn State, 1971-73)
Rushing yards: 2,639 | Rushing TDs: 29 | All-purpose yards: 3,735
99. Anthony Munoz (OT, USC, 1976-79)
100. Rod Woodson (DB, Purdue, 1983-86)
Tackles: 445 | Interceptions: 11 | Kickoff return yards: 1,535
101. Deshaun Watson (QB, Clemson, 2014-16)
Passing yards: 10,163 | Completion percentage: 67.4 | Passing TDs: 90
102. LaVar Arrington (LB, Penn State, 1997-99)
Sacks: 19 | Tackles for loss: 39
103. Sid Luckman (QB, Columbia, 1936-38)
Passing yards: 2,413 | Passing TDs: 20
104. Julius Peppers (DE, North Carolina, 1999-2001)
Sacks: 30.5 | Tackles for loss: 53
105. Junior Seau (LB, USC, 1988-89)
Tackles: 107 | Tackles for loss: 33
106. Doug Williams (QB, Grambling, 1974-77)
Passing yards: 8,411 | Total offense: 8,354 yards | Passing TDs: 93
107. Keith Jackson (TE, Oklahoma, 1984-87)
Receptions: 62 | Receiving yards: 1,470 | Yards per catch: 23.7
108. Mike Singletary (LB, Baylor, 1977-80)
Tackles: 662 | Solo tackles: 351 | Tackles for loss: 103
109. John David Crow (RB, Texas A&M, 1955-57)
Rushing yards: 1,455 | Yards per carry: 4.9 | Touchdowns: 19
110. Steve McNair (QB, Alcorn State, 1991-94)
Passing yards: 14,496 | Passing TDs: 119 | Rushing yards: 2,327
111. Mike Garrett (RB, USC, 1963-65)
Rushing yards: 3,221 | Touchdowns: 30 | Return yards: 1,198
112. Rich Glover (DL, Nebraska, 1970-72)
Tackles: 211 | Tackles for loss: 25
113. Billy Ray Smith Jr. (DE, Arkansas, 1979-82)
Tackles: 229 | Tackles for loss: 63
114. Kenny Easley (DB, UCLA, 1977-80)
Tackles: 374 | Interceptions: 19
115. Derrick Brooks (LB, Florida State, 1991-94)
Tackles: 274 | Sacks: 8.5 | Interceptions: 5
116. Byron "Whizzer" White (RB, Colorado, 1935-37)
Rushing yards: 1,864 | Total offense: 2,538 yards | Touchdowns: 24
117. Marcus Mariota (QB, Oregon, 2012-14)
Passing yards: 10,796 | Passing TDs: 105 | Passing efficiency: 171.8
118. Christian McCaffrey (RB, Stanford, 2014-16)
All-purpose yards: 6,987 | Rushing yards: 3,922 | Touchdowns: 33
119. Don Hutson (E, Alabama, 1932-34)
Receiving yards: 404 | Touchdowns: 3
120. Raghib "Rocket" Ismail (WR, Notre Dame, 1988-90)
Receiving yards: 1,565 | Return yards: 1,607 | All-purpose yards: 4,187
121. Jonathan Ogden (OT, UCLA, 1992-95)
122. Warren Sapp (DL, Miami, 1992-94)
Tackles: 176 | Sacks: 19.5
123. Michael Vick (QB, Virginia Tech, 1999-2000)
Passing yards: 3,074 | Passing TDs: 20 | Yards per attempt: 9.79
124. Calvin Johnson (WR, Georgia Tech, 2004-06)
Receiving yards: 2,927 | TD receptions: 28 | Receptions: 178
125. John Lattner (RB, Notre Dame, 1951-53)
Rushing yards: 1,724 | Interceptions by: 13 | Touchdowns: 20
126. Ed Marinaro (RB, Cornell, 1969-71)
Rushing yards: 4,715 | Yards per carry: 5.1 | Rushing TDs: 50
127. Leroy Keyes (RB, Purdue, 1966-68)
Rushing yards: 2,090 | Total offense: 2,271 yards | Yards per carry: 5.9
128. Greg Pruitt (RB, Oklahoma, 1970-72)
Rushing yards: 2,844 | Rushing TDs: 35 | All-purpose yards: 3,990
129. Desmond Howard (WR, Michigan, 1989-91)
Receiving yards: 1,944 | Return yards: 1,448 | Touchdowns: 35
130. Charlie Ward (QB, Florida State, 1989-93)
Passing yards: 5,747 | Total offense: 6,636 yards | Passing TDs: 49
131. Ozzie Newsome (WR, Alabama, 1974-77)
Receiving yards: 2,070 | Yards per catch: 20.3 | TD catches: 16
132. Angelo Bertelli (QB, Notre Dame, 1941-43)
Passing yards: 2,548 | Passing TDs: 28 | Interceptions by: 12
133. Charlie Justice (RB, North Carolina, 1946-49) Rushing yards: 2,634 | Total offense: 4,871 yards | Touchdowns: 39
134. Warrick Dunn (RB, Florida State, 1993-96)
Rushing yards: 3,959 | Receiving yards: 1,314 | Touchdowns: 49
135. Cam Newton (QB, Florida/Auburn, 2007-08/2010)
Rushing yards: 1,473 | Passing yards: 2.854 | TDs responsible for: 50
136. Anthony Carter (WR, Michigan, 1979-82)
Receiving yards: 2,681 | All-purpose yards: 5,197 | Touchdowns: 36
137. Nile Kinnick (RB, Iowa, 1937-39)
Rushing yards: 724 | Total offense: 2,169 yards | Interceptions by: 18
138. Ed Reed (DB, Miami, 1998-2001)
Tackles: 288 | Interceptions: 21 | Interception return yards: 389
139. Woodrow Lowe (LB, Alabama, 1972-75)
Tackles: 315
140. Jay Berwanger (RB, Chicago, 1933-35) Rushing yards: 1,839 | Total offense: 2,760 yards | Touchdowns: 22
141. Jim Parker (OL, Ohio State, 1954-56)
142. Tommy McDonald (RB, Oklahoma, 1954-56)
Rushing yards: 1,683 | Total offense: 2,254 yards | Touchdowns: 35
143. Chris Spielman (LB, Ohio State, 1984-87)
Tackles: 546 | Sacks: 8 | Interceptions: 11
144. Tony Boselli (T, USC, 1991-94)
145. Mike Reid (DL, Penn State, 1966-69)
146. Gary Beban (QB, UCLA, 1965-67)
Passing yards: 3,940 | Touchdowns: 33 | Total offense: 5,197 yards
147. Bob Griese (QB, Purdue, 1964-66)
Passing yards: 4,402 | Passing TDs: 28 | Yards per completion: 12.6
148. Deacon Jones (DE, South Carolina State/Mississippi Valley State, 1958/1960)
149. Champ Bailey (DB/AP, Georgia, 1996-98)
Interceptions: 8 | Receiving yards: 978
150. Baker Mayfield (QB, Texas Tech/Oklahoma, 2013/2015-17)
Passing yards: 14,607 | Passing TDs: 131 | Completions: 1,026