College Football's 2,000-Yard Rushers in a Season

Rushing for over 2,000 yards in a single season is an amazing feat and very few college football players have hit the mark. It is a goal of every running back in the FBS and, interestingly enough, the number who make it seems to be increasing every year.

Star Running Backs Who Rushed for 2,000 Yards

College football is filled with star players and among running backs, those who can rush for over 2,000 yards join a special club of elite athletes.

As of the end of the 2015 season, only 26 have topped this lofty goal and they are among the best players the FBS has seen.

This distinguished group is led by the spectacular Barry Sanders, who ran for 2,628 yards for Oklahoma State in 1988. Other high-profile backs to pull off the feat include Marcus Allen, LaDainian Tomlinson, Ricky Williams, and Larry Johnson.

With spread offenses, faster-paced games, and longer schedules, more running backs are joining this club than ever before. You will notice that 5 of the 26 players on this list have been added since 2010, that's almost one-fifth of the club.

	School	Year	Yards	Yards per Carry
Barry Sanders*	Oklahoma State	1988	2,628	7.64
Melvin Gordon*	Wisconsin	2014	2,587	7.54
Kevin Smith*	UCF	2007	2,567	5.70
Marcus Allen*	USC	1981	2,342	5.81
Derrick Henry*	Alabama	2015	2,219	5.62
Troy Davis	Iowa State	1996	2,185	5.44
Andre Williams *	Boston College	2013	2,177	6.13
Ladainian Tomlinson*	TCU	2000	2,158	5.85
Tony Dorsett*	Pittsburgh	1976	2,150	5.81
Mike Rozier*	Nebraska	1983	2,148	7.81
Matt Forte	Tulane	2007	2,127	5.89
Ricky Williams*	Texas	1998	2,124	5.88
Ron Dayne*	Wisconsin	1996	2,109	6.49
Larry Johnson*	Penn State	2002	2,087	7.70
Donald Brown*	Connecticut	2008	2,083	5.68
Lorenzo White*	Michigan State	1986	2,066	4.93
Byron Hanspard	Texas Tech	1996	2,084	6.15
Damien Anderson*	Northwestern	2000	2,063	6.63
Rashaan Salaam *	Colorado	1994	2,055	6.90
Charles White*	Southern California	1979	2,050	6.17
Tevin Coleman	Indiana	2014	2,036	7.54
Ron Dayne*	Wisconsin	1999	2,034	6.04
Christian McCaffrey*	Stanford	2015	2,019	5.99
J.J. Arrington *	California	2004	2,018	6.98
Ray Rice*	Rutgers	2007	2,012	5.29
Troy Davis	Iowa State	1995	2,010	5.83

*Includes bowl game stats.
Stats according to Sports-Reference.com.

The Official Stats Are a Little Murky

College football stats have changed many times over the years and some 'official' lists do not include all of the players listed above. Also, there was a point in the early 2000s when bowl games began to count toward a player's official season yards.

At times in this transition, the school would count the bowl game while the NCAA did not.

At any rate, it's important to acknowledge that each of these players did rush for over 2,000 yards in the season. That alone is a great accomplishment, especially when compared to the NFL where, as of 2016, only seven running backs have joined the 2,000-yard club and the last was Adrian Peterson in 2012.

As student athletes, these players deserve the credit.