Running Back to the 80's

[treeplanter]

Let's hop into the DeLorean and return now to those thrilling, synthesizer driven days of yesteryear when women with big hair and football players alike shared a penchant for oversized shoulder pads

The 1980's, as I recall, were something of a golden age for running backs in college football

What with the likes of:

Marcus Allen
Eric Dickerson
Herschel Walker
Marcus Dupree
Bo Jackson
Barry Sanders
Emmitt Smith

Here, though, is a question for all of you:

Where among this pantheon of all time greats do you rank any of our Husker I-backs of that era?

Standouts such as... Jarvis Redwine, Roger Craig, Doug Dubose...?

I'm particularly interested in your thoughts as regarding Mike Rozier

Statistically, Rozier outperformed each and every one of these college backs and yet, rarely if ever, is he mentioned on lists purporting to compile the best of the decade

How do you think Rozier stacks up?

 

[Nebraska Red]

Let's hop into the DeLorean and return now to those thrilling, synthesizer driven days of yesteryear when women with big hair and football players alike shared a penchant for oversized shoulder pads

The 1980's, as I recall, were something of a golden age for running backs in college football

What with the likes of:

Marcus Allen
Eric Dickerson
Herschel Walker
Marcus Dupree
Bo Jackson
Barry Sanders
Emmitt Smith

Here, though, is a question for all of you:

Where among this pantheon of all time greats do you rank any of our Husker I-backs of that era?

Standouts such as... Jarvis Redwine, Roger Craig, Doug Dubose...?

I'm particularly interested in your thoughts as regarding Mike Rozier

Statistically, Rozier outperformed each and every one of these college backs and yet, rarely if ever, is he mentioned on lists purporting to compile the best of the decade

How do you think Rozier stacks up?

To me Sanders is the best back of all time... probably go with Walker next....assuming we are speaking of college only. But I would say Rozier is right after walker and on par with Dickerson and Jackson

 

[treeplanter]

To me Sanders is the best back of all time... probably go with Walker next....assuming we are speaking of college only. But I would say Rozier is right after walker and on par with Dickerson and Jackson

Yeah, college only - Rozier, for whatever reason{s}, never found the level of success that some of those other backs did in the professional ranks

Speaking of Sanders, do you think he would have put up the same numbers for us that he did for Okie St had we not turned him away in favor of a legacy recruit {Terry Rodgers}?

 

[Nebraska Red]

Yeah, college only - Rozier, for whatever reason{s}, never found the level of success that some of those other backs did in the professional ranks

Speaking of Sanders, do you think he would have put up the same numbers for us that he did for Okie St had we not turned him away in favor of a legacy recruit {Terry Rodgers}?

I don't know to be honest.... here is why I say that... he seemed more effective in a one back set....

 

[dwc13]

I'm going to vote for Red Grange as the best college RB of all-time. IMO, he also has the best nickname of any RB: "The Galloping Ghost". Another one, "The Wheaton Iceman" wasn't bad, either.

Red Grange - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[NUinID]

Rozier never had the pro career that any of those guys had. and really his wasn’t terrible it just wasn’t HOF like most of those guys.

I never understood the love for Herchal Walker in college. The sports writers loved him and he is a great back.

But I always remember them saying Walker had 107 yards on 23 Carries and 2tds,

I would always think yeah but Mike Rozier had 134 yards on 16 carries and 3 tds. Isn’t that better?

 

[Florida Husker]

I think Rozier’s ankle injury in the Orange Bowl was a major factor. He then went right into spring football with the Maulers in the USFL. He played in the USFL and NFL in 1985. That was 32 games in 10 months plus preseason games. A lot of wear and tear on his body.

 

[N_trepid]

Rozier's day was usually well over by halftime. He'd spend the second half on the bench, watching his backups in mop-up duty. And when he went on to the pros, didn't he wind up under a run 'n gun Houston Oilers system?

 

[KleinTxHusker]

Let's hop into the DeLorean and return now to those thrilling, synthesizer driven days of yesteryear when women with big hair and football players alike shared a penchant for oversized shoulder pads

The 1980's, as I recall, were something of a golden age for running backs in college football

What with the likes of:

Marcus Allen
Eric Dickerson
Herschel Walker
Marcus Dupree
Bo Jackson
Barry Sanders
Emmitt Smith

Here, though, is a question for all of you:

Where among this pantheon of all time greats do you rank any of our Husker I-backs of that era?

Standouts such as... Jarvis Redwine, Roger Craig, Doug Dubose...?

I'm particularly interested in your thoughts as regarding Mike Rozier

Statistically, Rozier outperformed each and every one of these college backs and yet, rarely if ever, is he mentioned on lists purporting to compile the best of the decade

How do you think Rozier stacks up?

I don’t understand why Dupree is on the list. He wasn’t that great. Any of the Huskers would be above him.

Rozier is the only one on that list for college, and I would put him up there possibly exceeded only by Allen and maybe Dickerson.

 

[JaxFLHusker]

Pure "college only" = Allen, Walker, Sanders, Jackson "combined college and pro" = Allen, Sanders, Dickerson, Smith

 

[Strategery]

I'm particularly interested in your thoughts as regarding Mike Rozier

Statistically, Rozier outperformed each and every one of these college backs and yet, rarely if ever, is he mentioned on lists purporting to compile the best of the decade

How do you think Rozier stacks up?

Rozier is consistently and surprisingly underrated. He is the best RB we've ever had, better than Ahman and LP. He sits just below the group you list above.

 

[treeplanter]

I don’t understand why Dupree is on the list. He wasn’t that great. Any of the Huskers would be above him.

Rozier is the only one on that list for college, and I would put him up there possibly exceeded only by Allen and maybe Dickerson.

Granted, Dupree flamed out spectacularly as a sophomore, but he was pretty special as a true freshman in '82

Impressed Switzer enough to dump the wishbone and install an I-formation offense in order to showcase his talents

Didn't even start until 4 games in, but finished with 1400 yards rushing - averaging better than 8 yds per carry

 

[treeplanter]

I don't know to be honest.... here is why I say that... he seemed more effective in a one back set....

Yeah, Sanders would have likely gone down as our all time greatest had he played in Lincoln, but I don't see him putting up the same kind of numbers as he did at Oklahoma St...

He wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so - he would have had far fewer carries at Nebraska!

1988
Sanders = 373 carries for 2,850 yds
Ken Clark = 232 carries for 1,497 yds

With all the offensive talent {QBs, FBs, WBS} we had in addition to Clark; they got their touches, too
Not to mention that the backup I-backs were liberally substituted into games
And, finally, let's not forget that our starters were typically done for the day midway through the 3rd qtr

 

[Sooner 24]

Of all the backs I have seen in person Eric Dickerson was by far the best. I honestly believe if he had played for one team his entire NFL career he would be a lot higher in the all time rushing leaders.

 

[Mr.Bennett]

It's been mentioned, but the reason Rozier is the same regard as the others is his pro career. He went through the supplemental draft due to his USFL time so he couldn't claim top pick status. He had a fine career, couple 1,000 yard seasons, but nothing that stood out when compared to the others. Sanders was so electric. Allen had the SB MVP. Dickerson set the single season rushing record, Bo had the two sport thing AND Tecmo Super Bowl .

I never understood the love for Herchal Walker in college. The sports writers loved him and he is a great back.

But I always remember them saying Walker had 107 yards on 23 Carries and 2tds,

I would always think yeah but Mike Rozier had 134 yards on 16 carries and 3 tds. Isn’t that better?

I get what your saying about Herschel. He was a special cat. First, he didn't look human, he looked like the freaking Hulk. First, he made such a giant splash; he starred and lead his team to the NC as a Freshman (and should have won the Heisman, sorry George Rogers) at a time that Freshmen didn't play. 2nd, he had the NFL trade, Cowboys to Vikings. There's an aura in being traded for that much stuff. Lastly, the guy was/is a physical specimen. He competed in the freaking Olympics while being an active NFL player, and he looks like the Hulk.