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Best college football running back from every state

By Nicholas Ian Allen

LOUISIANA, NO - JANUARY 1: Running back Herschel Walker #34 of the University of Georgia Bull Dogs carries the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the Sugar Bowl game January 1, 1981 at the Louisiana Superbowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bull Dogs won the game 17-10. Walker played at the University of Georgia from 1980-1983, and won the Heisman Trophy in 1982. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
LOUISIANA, NO - JANUARY 1: Running back Herschel Walker #34 of the University of Georgia Bull Dogs carries the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the Sugar Bowl game January 1, 1981 at the Louisiana Superbowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bull Dogs won the game 17-10. Walker played at the University of Georgia from 1980-1983, and won the Heisman Trophy in 1982. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /
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STILLWATER, OK – 1986-88: Runningback Barry Sanders
STILLWATER, OK – 1986-88: Runningback Barry Sanders /

Kansas

Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State Cowboys

Wichita-born Barry Sanders put together the greatest single season in college football history, hands down. As a junior at Oklahoma State in 1988, after two years backing up All-American running back Thurman Thomas, Sanders etched himself into the history books with 2,628 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns, officially. He averaged a record 238.9 rushing yards per game and 7.6 yards per carry despite receiving 344 carries in the regular season, which was the second most in the country.

Counting his performance in the Holiday Bowl, a 222-yard, five-score masterpiece that still stands as one of the greatest postseason performances of all-time, Sanders amassed 2,850 rushing yards and 42 TDs in a single season while averaging an eye-popping 7.7 yards per carry.

Sanders’ official stats came in 11 games, and are still the most in FBS history. Runner-up Melvin Gordon III ran for 2,587 yards in 14 games in 2014. Monte Ball, like Gordon a Wisconsin running back, scored 33 rushing TDs in 14 games in 2011 as the second best single-season mark.

In addition to winning the 1988 Heisman Trophy in a landslide ahead of USC quarterback Rodney Peete (Sanders’ future teammate with the Detroit Lions), Sanders won the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Award and was a unanimous All-American selection.

Though he spent just one season as a starter for the Cowboys, when accounting for his 928 rushing yards and 11 TDs combined between 1986-87, Sanders left Oklahoma State with 3,556 career rushing yards and 48 touchdowns. He also added a TD catch, three kick return TDs and three punt returns for touchdowns in only 30 career games.

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