Arizona State Sun Devils

Ranking the 10 best small school college football RBs of all time

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:20 p.m. ET

Fansided, Zach Bigalke/FanSided via Saturday Blitz

Oct 21, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego State Aztecs running back Donnel Pumphrey (19) runs for a second quarter touchdown against the San Jose State Spartans at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

A lot of talented running backs have played for smaller college football programs over the years. Out of all the greats, which 10 have been the best of the bunch?

Year in and year out, some of the most dynamic running backs in college football play for small schools. Whether they were overlooked coming out of high school or merely blossomed within a system, the annual leaderboards regularly feature Group of Five running backs at or near the top.

For the purposes of this exercise, we must first define what constitutes a "small school" player. For players from recent years, small schools are defined as those outside of the Power Five structure. During the BCS era, the delineation was marked by the Big Six which also included the Big East.

Before that, things are a bit less clear. The current power conferences (and their antecedents, such as the Big 8 and SWC for the Big 12) are all considered large schools for the purposes of this exercise. Independent programs that are now in major conferences are also included as major schools. Notre Dame will also never be confused for a small school.

Prior to the 1950s, the college football landscape was vastly different. Thus we will focus on the modern era from the late 1950s onward. Each of the players on this list garnered Heisman consideration and remain among the top running backs overall in college football history. Click ahead to see who we rated as the 10 best running backs from small schools.

Ian Johnson

Boise State

Ian Johnson will always be best remembered for his part in Boise State's landmark 2007 Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma. Johnson ran in the winning two-point conversion on the Statue of Liberty play. Then he went to his girlfriend, Boise State head cheerleader Chrissy Popadics, and proposed amidst the postgame celebration.

What people forget about that game is that Johnson rushed for 101 tough yards and a touchdown against the Sooner defense. He put together a complete game, not just a highlight finish. And because that moment came during his sophomore season, the question was how he would follow up such a resounding performance.

Ultimately, a collapsed lung prevented Johnson from playing every game in 2006 and derailed his Heisman candidacy. Unable to recreate the magic of his sophomore campaign, Johnson nevertheless developed into an effective pass catcher out of the backfield and posted another 1,000-yard season as a junior. He never made it on to the active roster of any NFL teams after spending a few years bouncing around practice squads.

Paul Palmer

Temple

Though he never got the chance to play in a bowl game, Paul Palmer still put together one of the best overall careers among small school running backs. The Temple star did a little bit of everything during his time in Philadelphia. He rushed for over 600 yards as a freshman, nearly 900 as a sophomore, and over 1,500 as a junior. Palmer's career was capped by a 1986 season where he finished second to Vinny Testaverde in the Heisman voting.

That season, Palmer led the country in both rushing yards (1866) and rushing touchdowns (15). He added another 110 yards on 12 receptions and threw a 33-yard touchdown pass. On special teams, Palmer also returned 28 kickoffs for another 657 yards. Unfortunately, though, Temple lost three of its final four games to fall out of bowl contention.

Palmer's historic 1986 season on the field should not be discounted due to his violation of NCAA policies when he signed with an agent prior to the expiration of his eligibility. Those games were ultimately played, and Palmer did rack up all that yardage to grow into one of the most consistent small school running backs in history. He was a first-round selection by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1987, but Palmer's career never did get off the ground in the pros like it did at Temple.

LeShon Johnson

Northern Illinois

LeShon Johnson is an example of how junior college can allow an unheralded player to blossom into one of the most dominant running backs to ever play at a small school. Johnson spent his first two years playing at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College before transferring to Northern Illinois for his junior and senior years.

In his first year playing a I-A schedule, Johnson racked up 1,300 rushing yards and six touchdowns. As a senior in 1993, the Huskies affiliated with the Big West after years as an independent school. Johnson went on to dominate his senior year, leading the nation with 1,976 rushing yards. He finished sixth in the Heisman voting, earning five first-place votes.

After college, Johnson was drafted in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He played for four years before lymphoma cancer derailed his career. He returned from treatment to play in 1999 for the New York Giants and moved on for a final year in the XFL before retiring from the game.

Oct 15, 2016; Boulder, CO, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky during the fourth quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field. The Buffaloes defeated theSun Devils 40-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Woody Green

Arizona State

It is hard to remember, but there was a time in the not-too-distant past when Arizona and Arizona State were small schools. Until realigning with the expanded Pac-10 in 1978, the two schools in the Copper State were part of the Western Athletic Conference. For three years in the early 1970s, Woody Green dominated WAC competition en route to a brief NFL career.

Between 1971 and 1973, the Sun Devils went 32-4 under head coach Frank Kush. Green played a major role in Arizona State's success. His first year as a starter resulted in over 1,200 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns. The following year, Green posted 1,363 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns to rank second nationally. In his final year in Tempe, Green regressed to rush for only 1,182 yards and nine touchdowns. But he added another 328 receiving yards and five scores.

Arizona State ultimately finished in the top 15 of the AP poll each of Green's three years with the Sun Devils. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 1974 NFL Draft and featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a rookie. Unfortunately, though, multiple knee injuries derailed his career and Green was out of pro football after just three years with Kansas City.

LaDainian Tomlinson

TCU

Before LaDainian Tomlinson became an NFL star, he was running roughshod over WAC defenses. During his freshman season, Tomlinson was eased into action in a platoon with Basil Mitchell. As a sophomore, Patrick Batteaux was also sharing substantial carries in the TCU backfield. By 1999, however, the Horned Frogs had made Tomlinson the focus of their offense.

He repaid them immediately with a junior season where he rushed for 1974 yards and 20 touchdowns. Those marks put him second nationally in rushing yards and first in rushing scores. As a senior, Tomlinson blew the lid off his own numbers as TCU threatened to become the first BCS Buster. Ultimately the Horned Frogs fell to San Jose State, derailing their BCS dreams, but Tomlinson led the country in rushing yards (2,158) and rushing touchdowns (22).

After that, the rest was history. Tomlinson finished fourth in the Heisman voting and was named a consensus All-American. He was then drafted fifth overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 2001 NFL Draft. With San Diego he was a five-time Pro Bowler and was named both the Offensive Player of the Year and the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 2006. In an 11-year pro career, Tomlinson gained over 18,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 162 touchdowns. He added another 644 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns in 10 career postseason games.

Kevin Smith

UCF

As a freshman in 2005, Kevin Smith began to display some of the skills that would make him among the most feared running backs in the country over his three years in college. That year Smith ran for 1,178 yards and nine touchdowns. He also added a 12-yard touchdown pass and eight receptions.

His sophomore year saw Smith slump a bit. He managed to play in just nine games, as he missed action against South Florida, Tulane, and UAB. Despite missing three outings, Smith still finished with nearly 1,000 yards on the season and added seven touchdowns. It wasn't really until his junior year that Smith truly took off.

In fact, 2007 was a great year for both Smith and UCF, as the Knights won the Conference USA title and finished 10-4. Smith led the country with 450 rushing attempts, 2,567 rushing yards, and 29 touchdowns on the ground. He added a receiving touchdown and 24 catches to finish with over 2,800 total yards from scrimmage and 30 touchdowns on the year. Smith spent five years with the Detroit Lions out of college and is now the running backs coach under Lane Kiffin at FAU.

Donnel Pumphrey

San Diego State

The youngest player on this list is Donnel Pumphrey, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Pumphrey broke the FBS career rushing record over his four years at San Diego State. He was a pivotal player for Aztecs teams that won two straight Mountain West titles in 2015 and 2016.

As a freshman in 2013, Pumphrey spelled veteran back Adam Muema and piled up 752 rushing yards and nearly 1,000 yards from scrimmage to go with 10 touchdowns. As a sophomore, he took over the lead duties in the backfield and excelled immediately. Pumphrey finished fourth nationally among running backs with 1867 yards on the ground in 2014. San Diego State won 10 straight in 2015 and took the Mountain West championship as Pumphrey finished with 20 touchdowns and over 2000 yards from scrimmage.

Pumphrey's senior season amounted to a coronation of sorts, as he chased SDSU legend Marshall Faulk's running back records and the NCAA marks. San Diego State successfully defended its position as Mountain West champ as their star back finished with an NCAA-leading 2,133 rushing yards and 2,364 yards from scrimmage. We shall now see if he can put up a similar pro career to his fellow Aztec alumnus on this list.

DeAngelo Williams

Memphis

Back in the early 2000s, DeAngelo Williams deconstructed Conference USA defenses and helped lead Memphis to several big upsets. He starred in upsets of Ole Miss in 2003 and 2004, and helped lead Memphis back to relevance after two decades of futility. Even as a freshman his 684 yards led the team in rushing.

Williams really came onto the scene as a sophomore when he gashed the Rebels for 166 total yards and three scores. With over 1,800 yards rushing and receiving, Williams led the nation in yards from scrimmage. He replicated the feat in 2004 as a junior, rushing for 1,948 yards and adding another 210 receiving yards to go with 23 total touchdowns.

As a senior, Williams focused primarily on the ground game. He led all running backs in 2005 with 1964 rushing yards, though he finished only fourth in yards from scrimmage. Williams was drafted in the first round by the Carolina Panthers at the 2006 NFL Draft. Now with Pittsburgh, Williams has put in 11 years in the NFL. Over that time, he has racked up over 10,000 yards from scrimmage and 70 touchdowns.

Marshall Faulk

San Diego State

Like LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk is better remembered for his NFL exploits than what he did in college. That is a shame, because what Faulk did at San Diego State is nothing short of spectacular. Faulk was one of the most consistent running backs at any level of college football, finishing in the top six in the I-A rushing charts in each of his three seasons.

That level of consistency did not go unnoticed on a national level. After finishing his freshman year with over 1,600 yards from scrimmage and 23 touchdowns, Faulk finished ninth in the 1991 Heisman voting. A year later, Faulk led the nation with 1,630 rushing yards and finished second behind Gino Torretta in the Heisman race. As a junior, Faulk completed his college career with a multidimensional display that included over 1,500 rushing yards and another 600 receiving yards. In both 1991 and 1993, Faulk led the nation in touchdowns from scrimmage.

The Indianapolis Colts made Faulk the second overall pick in the 1994 NFL Draft. After five seasons with the Colts, Faulk was traded to St. Louis. Faulk won Super Bowl XXXIV as an integral part of the Greatest Show on Turf. He was also named the 2000 NFL Most Valuable Player. Faulk retired from the NFL after 12 seasons as a pro, finishing his career with over 12,000 rushing yards and another 6,000 receiving yards and 136 total touchdowns.

Ed Marinaro

Cornell

College football's early history is marked by the dominance of Ivy League schools, which were the original powerhouses of the sport. But after the conference de-emphasized football in the mid-1950s, Ivy schools turned nearly overnight from bluebloods into small schools. At the time Ed Marinaro was suiting up for Cornell from 1969 to 1971, the official split had not occurred within Division I football. But the Ivy League was decidedly a mid-major league.

Fans of Hill Street Blues remember Ed Marinaro as Officer Joe Coffey. But before he started his career as an actor, Marinaro was setting records in the Big Red backfield. The runner-up behind Pat Sullivan in the 1971 Heisman Trophy race, Marinaro averaged over 170 yards and nearly two touchdowns per game on the ground. He led the nation in rushing in both 1970 and 1971. His per-game averages put him on a league unseen in the modern game, among small school and Power Five running backs alike.

Marinaro was also the first running back to post over 4,000 career yards in college, passing the mark midway through his senior season. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 1972 NFL Draft and played six seasons as a pro. He played in Super Bowls VIII and IX for the Vikings, but finished his career with only 1,300 rushing yards and 13 total touchdowns.