30 best college football running backs of the 21st century

KANSAS CITY, MO - DECEMBER 4: Adrian Peterson #28 of the University of Oklahoma Sooners carries the ball against the University of Colorado Buffaloes in the Big 12 Championship game on December 4, 2004 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Oklahoma defeated Colorado 42-3 to win the Big XII Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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Running back Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /

29. Bryce Love – Stanford 2015-18

Bryce Love is another player that has a story you’ve probably heard before. He’s a player that was the best in the nation for one season, but the very next year an injury knocked him out. The first two years of his career, he was the backup of Christian McCaffrey, who conspicuously hasn’t appeared on this list yet,

During his junior season, he ran for a ridiculous 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns. One year after taking over for one of the best in the history of Stanford, Love immediately won the Doak Walker Award, the Lombardi Award, first-team All Pac 12, unanimous All America and was the runner up to Baker Mayfield for the Heisman Trophy. His resumè is so stacked and most of it came from the 2017 season.

Love had 100 yards in every game besides one in the 2017 season. He even did his best to carry a bad team around him. He averaged 136 yards per game in losses (he averaged 179 yards in wins). He scored a touchdown in every game except one. The Cardinal played top-10 teams in three of the last four games. Against number 9 Washington, Love scored all three of Stanford’s touchdowns in a huge win. He ran for 125 yards against No. 8 Notre Dame, another upset win. They ended up losing to USC, but Love ran for 125 yards and a touchdown.

His senior season was filled with injuries and ended when he tore his ACL in the regular-season finale. He ended with just 739 yards, 4.5 yards per carry and just six touchdowns. It was one of the biggest disappointments for a college football season in recent memory, but it doesn’t take away from the pure domination that was his junior season.

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