Greatest RB era (4 years) in NU history

suh_fan93 said:
flatwaterfan said:
TGHusker said:
What do you think is the greatest RB era in NU history?

I think it is the Craig, Rosier, Rathman era of 82-85. All 3 were NFL pros and of course Rosier - the Heisman man and our best all time back IMO.

You can throw in QBs Gill and Taylor that added to the running total

Can the Philips, Benning, Green era match it? Is there another 4 year period that could be better?

You can throw in QBs Frazier and Frost that added to the running total.
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Jeff Smith, Doug Dubose, and Keith Jones also fall somewhere in the 82-85 range. I'll go with that time era.
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I idolized Doug Dubose when I was a kid. I loved his running style. I loved Keith 'End Zone' Jones too. Dude was the bomb.

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I was thinking the same thing. I remeber as a kid saying I was Doug Dubose running over my friends in backyard football lol

 
Hipp-notized.

Nice guy, too.

He was in most of my classes (same major).

Then somehow once he broke through and became the man we rarely saw him in class.

 
By sheer number of career 1,000 yard rushers, 85-88 could be called the best 4 year period. We had 12 guys on the roster in that 4 year span that gained 1,000 yards in their career at Nebraska. Of course, some of those yards were gained before or after that time period. Using the same criteria, there were no 4 year periods with 11 names, eight 4 year periods with 10 names, and seven periods with 9 names going back to 1969. The twelve;

Years/Name/Career Yards/Touchdowns/100 yd games/Ranking on Husker 1000 yard rushers list

81-85 Tom Rathman 1429-12-4-40th

82-85 Doug Dubose 2250-16-14-21st

83-85 Paul Miles 1097-9-2-54th

84-87 Keith Jones 2577-32-10-15th

85-88 Steve Taylor QB 2560-32-6-25th

85-88 Tyreese Knox 1391-12-6-42nd

87-89 Ken Clark 3112-29-12-6th

87-89 Gerry Gdowski QB 1281-17-3-47th

87-89 Bryan Carpenter 1069-7-1-55th

88-90 Leodis Flowers 1668-18-7-32nd

88-91 Mickey Joseph QB 1198-16-1-52nd

88-92 Lance Lewis 1012-6-0-58th

*totals do not include bowl games

** Yards listed are gross gained-does not include lost yardage.

 
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I suppose since I went to all the work of compiling these, I should list them for everybody.

I randomly picked Jeff Kinney to begin my list. No offense intended for the 12 prior 1000 yard rushers.

Years/Name/Career Yards/Touchdowns/100 yd games/Ranking on Husker 1000 yard rushers list

69-71 Jeff Kinney 2295-29-6-20th

71-72 Gerry Dixon 1042-14-1-59th

73-75 Tony Davis 2195-17-7-24th

73-75 John O'Leary 1461-14-2-41st

74-75 Monte Anthony 2126-18-5-26th

76-78 Rick Berns 2478-28-9-17th

77-79 I.M. Hipp 2913-21-10-7th

77-80 Andra Franklin 1753-10-3-31st

78-80 Craig Johnson 1293-18-6-45th

79-80 Jarvis Redwine 2213-17-10-23rd

79-82 Roger Craig 2493-26-7-18th

80-84 Jeff Smith 2014-19-5-27th

80-83 Turner Gill QB 1593-18-1-44th

81-83 Mike Rozier 4837-49-26-1st

[see list above for this time period]

90-92 Derek Brown 2784-23-12-11th

91-93 Calvin Jones 3215-40-16-5th

92-95 Tommie Frazier QB 2231-36-3-29th

93-95 Lawrence Phillips 2886-30-15-8th

93-96 Damon Benning 1623-20-3-34th

95-97 Ahman Green 3989-42-20-2nd

95-98 Joel Makovicka 1458-13-2-38th

96-97 Scott Frost QB 1778-28-3-35th

96-99 Deangelo Evans 1182-18-5-49th

97-00 Correll Buckhalter 2587-27-11-14th

97-00 Dan Alexander 2532-20-14-16th

98-01 Eric Crouch 3950-59-17-3rd

99-02 Dahrran Diedrick 2837-26-8-9th

00-03 Jammal Lord 3118-24-8-13th

02-05 Cory Ross 2877-17-12-10th

02-04 David Horne 1188-11-4-51st

04-06 Brandon Jackson 1475-14-4-39th

05-08 Marlon Lucky 2508-22-8-19th

07-10 Roy Helu Jr 3536-28-10-12th

09-11*present Rex Burkhead 2756-25-10-12th

10-11*present Taylor Martinez 2235-21-8-30th

*totals do not include bowl games from 1969-2001. 2002 and later include bowl games.

** Yards listed are gross gained-does not include lost yardage.

*** I do not know when the cutoff was for Burkhead and Martinez numbers.

Sorry for any typos or if my source is incorrect.

 
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JJHusker1 said:
By sheer number of career 1,000 yard rushers, 85-88 could be called the best 4 year period. We had 12 guys on the roster in that 4 year span that gained 1,000 yards in their career at Nebraska. Of course, some of those yards were gained before or after that time period. Using the same criteria, there were no 4 year periods with 11 names, eight 4 year periods with 10 names, and seven periods with 9 names going back to 1969. The twelve;

Years/Name/Career Yards/Touchdowns/100 yd games/Ranking on Husker 1000 yard rushers list

81-85 Tom Rathman 1429-12-4-40th

82-85 Doug Dubose 2250-16-14-21st

83-85 Paul Miles 1097-9-2-54th

84-87 Keith Jones 2577-32-10-15th

85-88 Steve Taylor QB 2560-32-6-25th

85-88 Tyreese Knox 1391-12-6-42nd

87-89 Ken Clark 3112-29-12-6th

87-89 Gerry Gdowski QB 1281-17-3-47th

87-89 Bryan Carpenter 1069-7-1-55th

88-90 Leodis Flowers 1668-18-7-32nd

88-91 Mickey Joseph QB 1198-16-1-52nd

88-92 Lance Lewis 1012-6-0-58th

*totals do not include bowl games

** Yards listed are gross gained-does not include lost yardage.
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GREAT LIST! A couple of guys I didn't think of - forgot about - Flowers, Knox

 
JJHusker1 said:
I suppose since I went to all the work of compiling these, I should list them for everybody.

I randomly picked Jeff Kinney to begin my list. No offense intended for the 12 prior 1000 yard rushers.

Years/Name/Career Yards/Touchdowns/100 yd games/Ranking on Husker 1000 yard rushers list

69-71 Jeff Kinney 2295-29-6-20th

71-72 Gerry Dixon 1042-14-1-59th

73-75 Tony Davis 2195-17-7-24th

73-75 John O'Leary 1461-14-2-41st

74-75 Monte Anthony 2126-18-5-26th

76-78 Rick Berns 2478-28-9-17th

77-79 I.M. Hipp 2913-21-10-7th

77-80 Andra Franklin 1753-10-3-31st

78-80 Craig Johnson 1293-18-6-45th

79-80 Jarvis Redwine 2213-17-10-23rd

79-82 Roger Craig 2493-26-7-18th

80-84 Jeff Smith 2014-19-5-27th

80-83 Turner Gill QB 1593-18-1-44th

81-83 Mike Rozier 4837-49-26-1st

[see list above for this time period]

90-92 Derek Brown 2784-23-12-11th

91-93 Calvin Jones 3215-40-16-5th

92-95 Tommie Frazier QB 2231-36-3-29th

93-95 Lawrence Phillips 2886-30-15-8th

93-96 Damon Benning 1623-20-3-34th

95-97 Ahman Green 3989-42-20-2nd

95-98 Joel Makovicka 1458-13-2-38th

96-97 Scott Frost QB 1778-28-3-35th

96-99 Deangelo Evans 1182-18-5-49th

97-00 Correll Buckhalter 2587-27-11-14th

97-00 Dan Alexander 2532-20-14-16th

98-01 Eric Crouch 3950-59-17-3rd

99-02 Dahrran Diedrick 2837-26-8-9th

00-03 Jammal Lord 3118-24-8-13th

02-05 Cory Ross 2877-17-12-10th

02-04 David Horne 1188-11-4-51st

04-06 Brandon Jackson 1475-14-4-39th

05-08 Marlon Lucky 2508-22-8-19th

07-10 Roy Helu Jr 3536-28-10-12th

09-11*present Rex Burkhead 2756-25-10-12th

10-11*present Taylor Martinez 2235-21-8-30th

*totals do not include bowl games from 1969-2001. 2002 and later include bowl games.

** Yards listed are gross gained-does not include lost yardage.

*** I do not know when the cutoff was for Burkhead and Martinez numbers.

Sorry for any typos or if my source is incorrect.
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What a list. We haven't talked about Redwine, Cory Ross either. So many great backs. I'd love to see us be known as I-Back U again.

 
Yeah, it's pretty tough to pick a four year period because there were so many good ones. Seeing how the list flows from one big name to another all the way back to the first 2 NC's, it is obvious, we didn't rebuild-we reloaded. And sometimes we were overloaded with RB talent. To be honest, when I started this exercise, I expected that string of great backs/rushers to come to a screeching halt in the early 2000's but, as I often do, I ignored the Solich/Callahan years and found that even at our low point and since, we still produce some amazing rushing talent. You sure don't hear of us referred to as I-Back U anymore but, if it isn't us then who? I would be very curious if anybody could come up with a forty year list that even begins to touch on this one for rushing talent. Of course, let's remember that most of those great time periods also had amazing O Line talent to lead the way. We wouldn't have all those 1000 yard rushers were it not for the road graders and pipeline.

Can anyone add any names of substance to this list? Guys that contributed and names we would remember even if they didn't gain 1000 yards here. Surely there are a couple flash in the pans that aren't listed here.

BTW- the biggest surprises for me on this list were Dahrran Diedrick at 9th overall and Dan Alexander at 16th. I knew they were decent and all but they are ahead of quite a few that I simply didn't expect to see them that high.

 
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Tim Wurth in the late 70's had some good games. Terry Rogers? Seemed to be hurt before he ever got started.

Dubose would of been really good and higher on the career list if not for the knee injuries and other 'stuff'

 
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Found 18 more guys, not previously listed, that have had a 100+ yard rushing day for the Huskers. Talk about some blasts from the past.

71 Bill Olds FB

72 Jeff Moran

75 Dave Gillespie

78 Tim Wurth

79 Jeff Quinn QB

79 Kenny Brown WB

86 Ken Kaelin FB

88 Terry Rodgers

90 Scott Baldwin

90 Keithen McCant QB

90 George Achola

95 Clinton Childs

01 Thunder Collins

01 Judd Davies FB

03 Josh Davis

04 Tierre Green

06 Kenny Wilson

09 Quentin Castille

 
DuBose was considered a prohibitive Heisman candidate in '86 before his knee. I don't know if he was quite the calibre of Rozier, but he was close. As it was, he had Keith Jones backing him up, who was no slouch either.

Ken Clark was a great back.... very underrated, IMO. I remember he went head to head with Barry Sanders and outgained him by 75 yards (and most of Barry's were after the game was out of hand).

 
JJHusker1 said:
Yeah, it's pretty tough to pick a four year period because there were so many good ones. Seeing how the list flows from one big name to another all the way back to the first 2 NC's, it is obvious, we didn't rebuild-we reloaded. And sometimes we were overloaded with RB talent. To be honest, when I started this exercise, I expected that string of great backs/rushers to come to a screeching halt in the early 2000's but, as I often do, I ignored the Solich/Callahan years and found that even at our low point and since, we still produce some amazing rushing talent. You sure don't hear of us referred to as I-Back U anymore but, if it isn't us then who? I would be very curious if anybody could come up with a forty year list that even begins to touch on this one for rushing talent. Of course, let's remember that most of those great time periods also had amazing O Line talent to lead the way. We wouldn't have all those 1000 yard rushers were it not for the road graders and pipeline.

Can anyone add any names of substance to this list? Guys that contributed and names we would remember even if they didn't gain 1000 yards here. Surely there are a couple flash in the pans that aren't listed here.

BTW- the biggest surprises for me on this list were Dahrran Diedrick at 9th overall and Dan Alexander at 16th. I knew they were decent and all but they are ahead of quite a few that I simply didn't expect to see them that high.
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Bingo :restore2 on the bold line above. Restoring the order begins with the line play. It would be interesting to see how our greatest years running matched awards/honors won by our linemen.

 
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