Greatest college backfield of all-time

[Toga]

Exc. QBs. Little / Csonka best ever?
Others?
Who ya got?

 

[sufandu]

Exc. QBs. Little / Csonka best ever?
Others?
Who ya got?

Here's a question. You can have Little and Csonka or Jim Brown by himself. Which do you take?

 

[Toga]

Here's a question. You can have Little and Csonka or Jim Brown by himself. Which do you take?

I suppose in today's pro offense single back sets you'd go with GOAT. Otherwise I'd rather have two HOFers on the field at the same time.

 

[RICuse44]

Here's a question. You can have Little and Csonka or Jim Brown by himself. Which do you take?

My reflex is Jim Brown but after thinking about it Little and Larry.

 

[OburgOrange]

Don’t forget Tom Coughlin in that backfield too!

 

[Toga]

My reflex is Jim Brown but after thinking about it Little and Larry.

Ironically, Larry Little blocked for Csonka in Miami.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

My brothers friend, billy Micho, was a senior when Brown was a freshman. I don’t know if they were on field at same time... but if they were ...that’s my favorite backfield. RIP Billy!

 

[CA Monk]

How about Jim Nance and Little in 1964?

Senior Nance was 2nd in the NCAA in rushing w/1021 yds - 23 yards behind Wake Forest's James Caan, I mean Brian Piccolo (who had 50 more carries). Big Jim also scored 13 touchdowns and averaged 5.0 yds per carry.

Sophomore All-American Floyd Little rushed for 874 yds averaging 5.6 yds per carry while scoring 10 touchdowns.

They lost to LSU in the Sugar Bowl 13-10 and somehow finished 7-4.

 

[cuseattle]

Dickerson and James from SMU.

 

[sufandu]

I suppose in today's pro offense single back sets you'd go with GOAT. Otherwise I'd rather have two HOFers on the field at the same time.

My reflex is Jim Brown but after thinking about it Little and Larry.

In the NFL, Csonka and Little combined to outgain Brown by only about 2,000 yards. And that was with Brown retiring young. I thought that was interesting.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Ok State had Thurman Thomas & Barry Sanders. Crazy

 

[Hoo's That]

Exc. QBs. Little / Csonka best ever?
Others?
Who ya got?

Army 1944-46 seasons - Doc Blanchard (1945) and Glenn Davis (1946) both won the Heisman Trophy. I'll let a Domer talk about The Four Horsemen.

Here's a question. You can have Little and Csonka or Jim Brown by himself. Which do you take?

Jim Brown.

 

[sufandu]

How about Jim Nance and Little in 1964?

Senior Nance was 2nd in the NCAA in rushing w/1021 yds - 23 yards behind Wake Forest's James Caan, I mean Brian Piccolo (who had 50 more carries). Big Jim also scored 13 touchdowns and averaged 5.0 yds per carry.

Sophomore All-American Floyd Little rushed for 874 yds averaging 5.6 yds per carry while scoring 10 touchdowns.

They lost to LSU in the Sugar Bowl 13-10 and somehow finished 7-4.

I have to admit, I didn't know much about Nance aside from his name. How was it that Little was an AA that year and not Nance? He was a stud. I also didn't realize he was so big. He was buslike long before Bettis came along.

 

[PhatOrange]

Abdul Adams and Mychale Salahuddin

 

[sutomcat]

Anthony Davis and Sam Cunningham were at USC together in 1972.

It pains me to say it, but Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris played together at Penn State from 1969-71. John Cappelletti was a freshman on the 1971 team but played defense initially.

And the Nebraska backfield of 1983 was pretty good too. Mike Rozier at tailback, Turner Gill at quarterback, Irving Fryar at wingback and Mark Schellen at fullback.

 

[Toga]

I have to admit, I didn't know much about Nance aside from his name. How was it that Little was an AA that year and not Nance? He was a stud. I also didn't realize he was so big. He was buslike long before Bettis came along.

Nance was an AA - in wrestling.

 

[sufandu]

Nance was an AA - in wrestling.

I saw that. I wonder how close he was to AA in football. The trivia when Qadry Ismail was AA in track and football about who our last two sport AA was would have been answered with Nance instead of Jim Brown.

 

[CA Monk]

I have to admit, I didn't know much about Nance aside from his name. How was it that Little was an AA that year and not Nance? He was a stud. I also didn't realize he was so big. He was buslike long before Bettis came along.

Nance also led the AFL in rushing in '66 and '67. He picked up the SU RB mantel after Brown retired at 29 from the NFL.

 

[sufandu]

Nance also led the AFL in rushing in '66 and '67. He picked up the SU RB mantel after Brown retired at 29 from the NFL.

I saw that too. I wonder how he would be viewed if he had played his entire career in the NFL.

 

[NineOneSeven]

2001 Miami hurricanes.

Clinton Portis
Willis McGahee
Frank Gore
Najeh Davenport

 

[CA Monk]

2001 Miami hurricanes.

Clinton Portis
Willis McGahee
Frank Gore
Najeh Davenport

And to think Gore is still playing professional football. And at running back no less. How many punishing hits can a guy take?

 

[NineOneSeven]

And to think Gore is still playing professional football. And at running back no less. How many punishing hits can a guy take?

Remarkable. Even more remarkable is each of those 4 guys played in the NFL and here are the career rushing #s for top 3:

Portis- 9923 yards, 75 TD
McGahee- 8474 yards, 65 TD
Gore- 14026 yards, 77 TD

 

[Trueblue25]

2001 Miami hurricanes.

Clinton Portis
Willis McGahee
Frank Gore
Najeh Davenport

Winner

 

[sutomcat]

Nance was an AA - in wrestling.

Don't think Jim was named to any AA teams despite leading the country in yards rushing and TDs rushing as a senior. Floyd Little was one of the guys who beat him out.

Jim Nance College Stats | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
1964 College Football All-America Team - Wikipedia

 

[sufandu]

2001 Miami hurricanes.

Clinton Portis
Willis McGahee
Frank Gore
Najeh Davenport

They were all on the same team, but didn't play together due to injury, right?