We’ve reached the top 10 running backs in the astonishing running history of the Big Ten’s Wisconsin Badgers. We’re completely sure you’ll agree with each and every choice without a single ounce of push-back! Did I lay the sarcasm on thick enough?
Either way, here they are:
10. Brent Moss (1991-94)
Brent Moss carved out his spot in the top 10 because of the immense impact he had on the program as a whole. He was the first true building block of the litany of runners that helped build Wisconsin into Running Back U over the last 30 years.
In 1993, the Badgers rode Moss all the way to a Big Ten Conference Championship and a rare Rose Bowl appearance. Moss, who put up 16 rushing touchdowns and 1,637 rushing yards on the season, led the Badgers to their first ever Rose Bowl victory over UCLA. With his two touchdowns in that game, while helping the Badgers rush for 250 yards on the day, the program was forever altered for the better. The Badgers were now seen as successful on the national stage. They were actually capable of being Champions.
Moss was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 1993, the first such award in program history, after leading the Big Ten in rushing yards and total touchdowns.
He had decent seasons in 1992 and 1994, but his 1993 season was the stuff of legends. Barry Alvarez’s plan to build Wisconsin into a running back-led power house had been realized — Moss, and his 34 career touchdowns, was a key cog in that fulfilled promise.
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (1993)
9. James White (2010-13)
Never the featured back in Madison, White made the most of his opportunities. He played on the depth chart behind John Clay, Montee Ball, and Melvin Gordon, but still he put up incredible numbers. Twice he rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a season, three times putting up more than 12 touchdowns in a season. He was instrumental in the Badgers winning the Big Ten three years in a row (2010-12), including two the first two ever Conference Championship games.
Those conference titles simply don’t happen without White providing a lethal one-two (or one-two-three) punch out of the backfield. Do you know many backup running backs that rush for over 1,000 yards? In fact, in 2013 both White and Melvin Gordon rushed for more than 1,400 yards in the same season — the first and only time in NCAA history that’s happened.
At most universities, White would have been at least a two or three year starter. White often played bigger than his frame, all while possessing the most lethal juke in Wisconsin history.
White’s career yards per rush was 6.2 and he caught 73 passes wearing the cardinal red and white. He even threw a touchdown; he could do it all. His overall intelligence was evident. White played in three Rose Bowls, but ultimately his legacy is somewhat “hurt” by losing all four of the bowl games he played in, including those three Rose Bowls. His fault? Absolutely not. However he is, without question, one of the best and most accomplished NFL backs to ever come out of Wisconsin.
In our opinion, he should have an MVP Award under his belt for Super Bowl LI. He’s famously one of Tom Brady’s favorite teammates. His career will go down as one of the best in Badgers history in the pros.
We wonder, which trio was better? Clay, Ball, and White or White, Ball, and Gordon? The fact that that’s even something to ponder is incredible.
8. Anthony Davis (2001-04)
Davis is the Badgers’ classic case of “what if?” His numerous injuries derailed what was an electrifying career. One of the shiftiest, fastest running backs the Badgers have ever had on campus. He always seemed to know when to cut upfield to gain additional yardage; in his highlights you can see how effortlessly he ran with the ball in his hands. After back-to-back 1,400+ rushing seasons to begin his career (not many backs have ever posted two straight seasons with that many rushing yards), his junior and senior seasons were riddled with injuries.
We’ll never know, of course, but had he continued his freshman and sophomore pace for four complete seasons, he’d easily have amassed over 6,000 yards rushing and at least 50 touchdowns. Even with his injuries he still led the Big Ten in rushing yards once.
The NFL didn’t pan out for Davis, but again, the what-ifs are all we’re left with. What Davis doesn’t get enough credit for is how he continued the Badgers’ immense success at the running back position after Ron Dayne and Michael Bennett had moved on to the pros. Davis didn’t let the program’s standard at the running back position fall back to average and it’s remained elite to this day.
Doak Walker Award Semi-Finalist (2001)
7. Billy Marek (1972-75)
The Wisconsin Badgers experienced some very lean years between 1963 and 1980, but one of the lone brights spots was Billy Marek. The Badgers’ top running back of the subpar era led Wisconsin to its best season of the decade in 1974, his junior season. That year Wisconsin won seven games, the only time in an 18 year stretch they did so. They also beat No. 4 Nebraska in one of the biggest upset wins in program history. That year Marek amassed 1,215 rushing yards and 19 total touchdowns. He led all of college football in points scored that year, scoring an incredible 13 touchdowns in the final three games of the season.
Marek posted three consecutive seasons of 1,200+ rushing yards, an incredibly rare feat while maintaining a 5.2 career yards per rush. Despite Marek’s consistency he was snubbed on national attention and awards. He was the first Badger to ever rush for 300 yards in a single game. His then-program record 304 against Minnesota culminated in a 49-14 win, taking Paul Bunyan’s Axe back for the first time in four years.
Marek broke Alan Ameche’s record for most career rushing yards and points scored in Badgers history by the time his career was over. Twice he was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 1974-75. He’s the unknown Badger all-time great running back that almost no one thinks about.
Make no mistake, he earned his place on this list.
6. Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch (1942) & Pat Harder (1941-1942)
Okay, so we cheated a little bit here and threw two guys together (lets call these two runners 6A and 6B). We made this decision for a couple of reasons.
1. These two men played before the modern era of college football (which we loosely define as 1950 to present day) and there just isn’t much specific information to work with and virtually no highlights to consume. So we are left, mostly, with their myths.
2. They both played at Wisconsin at the same time and both had limited careers with the Badgers due to serving in the military as World War II raged on. Quite a legit reason for a shorter career if we do say so ourselves.
To be clear though, both deserve mention on this list and deserve to be ranked this highly. Hirsch and Harder are names worthy of remembrance. They’re heroes and great football players. As expected, both went on to star in the NFL, however Hirsch actually made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as an end (wide receiver) and not a running back. That said, there’s actually an argument to be made that Harder should be in, too. You could say he had an even better pro career. But that is for another day.
Lets take a look at the 1942 season in Madison, shall we?
In 1942, Hirsch played in his sole season for the Badgers and he made the most of it (I mean, his name is etched in Camp Randall’s inner facade). He was listed as a halfback and he was one of Wisconsin’s biggest stars on an 8-1-1 team. He obviously ran the ball but also passed, punted and played defensive back. His number 40 is retired at Wisconsin for his efforts and subsequent success after Madison. The Badgers had been awful for years before Hirsch enrolled.
However Harder, listed as a fullback, actually led the Big Ten in rushing and scoring in 1941 and in that famed 1942 season. Both were named First-Team All-Big Ten for their efforts. Wisconsin even defeated the reigning national champion Ohio State Buckeyes.
This running back duo was incredible foreshadowing of what was to come in Madison, with more than one elite back in the same backfield.
For you Packers fans look at it like this: In 1942, Hirsch was the Paul Hornung and Harder was the Jim Taylor for the Badgers. That eight win season was the first such season since 1905 for the Badgers. That’s how impactful they were. There wouldn’t be another eight win season in Madison until 1962 and not another after that until the Badgers finally won their first Rose Bowl, under Barry Alvarez’s direction, in 1993. Harder doesn’t get enough credit for actually being the workhorse of that team; old “Crazy Legs” tends to be the revered name.
Only Hirsch has his name up on Camp Randall’s facade, but we believe Harder should be mentioned if Hirsch is mentioned on this all-time list. Although the impact of these two players may seem trivial, they no doubt helped lay of foundation of pride and success in the Wisconsin Badgers backfield. That cannot be downplayed.
(Both are Members of the College Football Hall of Fame)
Alright, on to the top five all-time of all-time!
5. Montee Ball (2009-12)
Ultimately the object of football is to score more points than the other team. And no running back in college football has ever helped his team do that more than Ball. Literally.
Game after game, year after year, Ball showcased a surprising ability to dominate football games. No player has ever had a nose for the end zone quite like Ball, as he’s NCAA’s all-time touchdown leader among running backs (83). What else needs to be said? He helped bring his team to three consecutive Rose Bowls and he scored a touchdown in each game, the first player to ever accomplish that.
Ball is Wisconsin’s greatest cut-back runner of all-time. He had an innate ability to reverse field and leave defenders gasping for air.
Although what’s most extraordinary about Ball’s career was his ability to adapt. In the year before Russell Wilson was his quarterback he was used sparingly and still scored 18 touchdowns. With Wilson at the helm, the best passer he got to play with, he became a versatile threat out of the backfield catching six touchdowns on top of his record-breaking ground game. The following year, with Wilson gone, he became the hard-nosed workhorse back the team needed in a successful attempt to get Bucky back to the “Grandaddy of Them All.”
What’s incredible about his career touchdown record is that he was only the bonafide starter for two years, rushing for more than 1,800 yards in both of them. So, how impressive is that the all-time leader in touchdowns is only fifth on the Badgers’ all-time list? I mean, seriously. His 39 touchdowns in 2011 are a Big Ten record, by a mile, and he earned the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Award for his efforts. Mostly, he’ll be remembered as a three-time Big Ten Conference Champion. For most programs Ball would be the clear-cut all-time best running back. That says everything.
Doak Walker Award Winner (2012); Consensus All American (2011 and 2012); Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (2011)
4. Melvin Gordon (2011-14)
Gordon announced his dominance at his first Big Ten Conference Championship Game in 2012, as a redshirt freshman, running for 216 yards on just nine attempts. That night, he was otherworldly. For those mathematically challenged, that’s 24 yards per rush.
In 2014 Gordon put together, arguably, the greatest single season in Wisconsin Badgers history. And yes, I’m including Ron Dayne’s award-filled 1999 season. Gordon deserved the Heisman Trophy that year, we’ll never stop arguing that. His second place finish to Marcus Mariota was a crime.
His 2,587 rushing yards in 2014 are the second most in college football history trailing only Barry Sanders’ legendary 1988 season at Oklahoma State (2,628 rushing yards). However, Gordon amassed more total yards, including receiving yards, than Sanders. The Oklahoma State star put up 2,734 total yards in his revered Heisman Trophy winning season, Gordon put up 2,740 total yards when he was snubbed in 2014.
Gordon was smart to not come back for his senior season, but had he come back, he would potentially be higher on this list — maybe even atop it. He was that good while in Madison. What’s incredible is that there isn’t anything that he wasn’t elite at. Gordon had immense speed, impressive tackle-breaking ability, balance, vision and an ability to continually find the end zone on the biggest of stages. There’s literally nothing he couldn’t do as a running back.
The brilliance of that 2014 season is what put Gordon ahead of Ball on this incredibly competitive all-time countdown.
He has the highest yards per attempt average in NCAA history (minimum 600 attempts). Not much else needs to be said. He’d have the all-time yardage record for a single game had he played the fourth quarter against Nebraska in 2014 as he had 408 yards in three quarters as picturesque snow fell.
Gordon’s Outback Bowl performance, in Barry Alvarez’s final game coaching, is the stuff of legend. He put up 251 rushing yards and three touchdowns in a 34-31 overtime win over Auburn in his final game in cardinal red and white. In the NFL, he’s put up 12+ touchdowns in three different seasons already.
Similarly to Ball, we’d argue that Melvin Gordon would be most college football programs’ greatest running back of all-time. At Wisconsin, he couldn’t quite crack the top three. We hope Badgers fans appreciate what they’ve been given to root for over the years.
Doak Walker Award Winner (2014); Consensus All-American (2014); Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (2014)
3. Alan Ameche (1951-54)
The first Heisman Trophy winner in Wisconsin Badgers History was Alan Ameche. When his collegiate career ended, he was the all-time leading rusher in NCAA history. Those are some pretty damn good accolades for Ameche.
In fact, for most college football programs those two proclamations would easily land that player atop the list for the running back position. Not at Wisconsin.
Ameche, nicknamed the “Iron Horse”, was a relatively big back for his time and he helped put Wisconsin football on the map. He led the team to its first ever bowl game appearance, the 1953 Rose Bowl (a 7-0 loss to USC). He ran with a recklessness through would-be arm tackles and always kept his legs churning. The few highlights that exist of his time in Wisconsin demonstrate this fearless running style. For his contributions, his number 35 is retired forever at Wisconsin.
He would go on to find great success in the NFL, too. That, in turn, helped to elevate his status and that of Wisconsin as a program where running backs can thrive.
Humbling to think that by the time Ameche left Madison, he had amassed more rushing yards than any player in college football history. And remember, college football was the big-time football attraction from the late 1800s until, arguably, the time Ameche played. His transition from college to the NFL coincided with America’s collective shift in fandom to respect NFL football as an elite sport. In the NFL, Ameche and teammate Johnny Unitas helped usher in the “modern era” of professional football when Ameche scored the overtime game-winning touchdown of the “greatest game ever played.”
Ameche was big for the NFL, but even bigger for the Badgers.
Heisman Trophy Winner (1954); Walter Camp Award Winner (1954); Consensus All-American (1954); Member of the College Football Hall of Fame
The next two guys found on page 3 are truly in a class of their own!
Alan Ameche had to play linebacker also. Can you imagine what he could have done with a break while the defense was on the field. Dayne, Taylor, Gordon and many others you mentioned only played offense.
If Packers let another Team get Melvin Gordon, I think it will be a time for me to consider backing another pro Team.