I ran across this photo of Georgia’s 1988 running backs (check out some of those skinny ties), and it prompted me to consider the Bulldogs’ greatest stable/group of backs in history.
From 1942 (Sinkwich, Trippi, “Racehorse” Davis, Dick McPhee) to 2014 (Gurley, Chubb, Michel, Marshall), and maybe two or three in between, I can think of a few groups of backs at Georgia that probably top the ’88 unit. Still, I think this group would definitely rank in the top 10, maybe top 5, of the program’s all-time greatest running-back units.
Leading up to the 1988 football season, I recall a preseason magazine—I forget which one—ranking Georgia as having the best group of running backs in college football—and that was coming on the heels of the Bulldogs losing to the NFL their second all-time leading rusher, Lars Tate, and back in a day when Georgia would seldom appear atop any position rankings.
This group would live up to the hype. That season, Georgia’s running backs—the players in the photo—combined to average more than 240 rushing yards per game, nearly six yards per carry, and score 32 touchdowns. They also predominately returned kickoffs for the team, averaging an impressive 26 yards per return, while totaling 40 of the squad’s 100 receptions during the regular season.
Tailbacks Tim Worley and Rodney Hampton both earned All-SEC honors—and both were ultimately first-round picks. Fullback Keith Henderson, who remains one of fewer than 10 Georgia players in history to average more than six yards per carry for a career, was a third-round pick.
What season(s) come to your mind when you think of Georgia’s greatest running-back units?
From 1942 (Sinkwich, Trippi, “Racehorse” Davis, Dick McPhee) to 2014 (Gurley, Chubb, Michel, Marshall), and maybe two or three in between, I can think of a few groups of backs at Georgia that probably top the ’88 unit. Still, I think this group would definitely rank in the top 10, maybe top 5, of the program’s all-time greatest running-back units.
Leading up to the 1988 football season, I recall a preseason magazine—I forget which one—ranking Georgia as having the best group of running backs in college football—and that was coming on the heels of the Bulldogs losing to the NFL their second all-time leading rusher, Lars Tate, and back in a day when Georgia would seldom appear atop any position rankings.
This group would live up to the hype. That season, Georgia’s running backs—the players in the photo—combined to average more than 240 rushing yards per game, nearly six yards per carry, and score 32 touchdowns. They also predominately returned kickoffs for the team, averaging an impressive 26 yards per return, while totaling 40 of the squad’s 100 receptions during the regular season.
Tailbacks Tim Worley and Rodney Hampton both earned All-SEC honors—and both were ultimately first-round picks. Fullback Keith Henderson, who remains one of fewer than 10 Georgia players in history to average more than six yards per carry for a career, was a third-round pick.
What season(s) come to your mind when you think of Georgia’s greatest running-back units?
