BEST RB COMBOS
May 31, 2011 02:23 PM | General
They say good things come in pairs. Well, here are some WVU backfield pairings that kept defensive coordinators awake at night trying to figure out how to stop them.
My list of WVU's 10-best running back combinations of the last 60 years:
10. Robert Alexander and Walter Easley (1980)
Robert Alexander and Walt Easley not only shared the same hometown, Charleston, but also the same backfield at WVU in 1980. Both players’ careers were revitalized with Don Nehlen came to Morgantown, Alexander, when Nehlen switched from the Veer to the I, and Easley, when Nehlen decided to move him from linebacker to fullback. Alexander ran for a career-high 1,064 yards and scored five touchdowns in ‘80, while Easley plowed his way for 833 yards and eight scores. Both played briefly in the NFL, Alexander for the Rams and Easley with the world champion San Francisco 49ers.
Stats: 393 attempts, 1,897 yards, 4.8 ave., 13 TDs
9. Kerry Marbury and Pete Wood (1971)
The old-timers still say Kerry Marbury was the most electric back to ever play at WVU. During his senior year in 1972, Marbury ranked among the NCAA leaders in scoring before his ill-fated decision to leave school a year early to play in the Canadian League. As a sophomore in 1971, Marbury teamed with fullback Pete Wood to rush for a combined 1,614 yards and score 16 touchdowns for coach Bobby Bowden’s high-powered Mountaineer offense. Wood later became an executive at Ford.
Stats: 290 attempts, 1,614 yards, 5.6 ave., 16 TDs
8. A.B. Brown and Undra Johnson (1988)
Pitt transfer A.B. Brown and Undra Johnson teamed with quarterback Major Harris and fullback Craig Taylor to give West Virginia one of the most explosive offenses in the country in 1988. Brown did most of his damage between the tackles, running for 962 yards and scoring seven touchdowns as WVU’s No. 1 tailback. Johnson, a speed burner whose 55-yard touchdown run right before the end of the first half against Penn State put a cap on the best first-half offensive performance in school history, was West Virginia’s home run hitter, Johnson leading the Mountaineers with 11 rushing touchdowns in ‘88. WVU had the sixth best rushing offense in the country that year averaging 293.5 yards per game.
Stats: 318 attempts, 1,671 yards, 5.3 ave., 18 TDs
7. Artie Owens and Ron Lee (1975)
“King Arthur” Owens and Ron Lee combined to rush for 1,678 yards and score 15 touchdowns in leading West Virginia to a 9-3 record and a victory over N.C. State in the 1975 Peach Bowl. Owens became the first back in school history to post back-to-back 1,000 yard campaigns in 1974-75, finishing the ’75 season with 1,055 yards and five scores. Lee, a bruising fullback from Bellaire, Ohio, ran for 623 yards while tallying 10 touchdowns as Owens’ complimentary back. Dwayne Woods, Owens’ backup that year, was also an effective runner for the Mountaineers carrying 93 times for 493 yards and scoring six touchdowns. Owens and Lee both played in the NFL - Owens with the Chargers and the Bills and Lee with the Baltimore Colts.
Stats: 314 attempts, 1,678 yards, 5.3 ave., 15 TDs
6. Bobby Moss and Joe Marconi (1955)
Speedster Bobby Moss and power-back Joe Marconi helped make West Virginia the sixth-best rushing offense in the country in 1955, averaging 263.9 yards per game. Moss was within 200 yards of becoming the school’s first-ever 1,000 yard rusher, finishing ’55 with 807 yards while averaging a phenomenal 8.2 yards per carry. Marconi did most of his work near the yard markers, finishing the season with 380 yards and six touchdowns. A third back, Larry Krutko, managed to run for 420 yards and score three touchdowns. Marconi later became an all-pro fullback for the Chicago Bears while Krutko spent three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Stats: 164 attempts, 1,187 yards, 7.2 ave., 15 TDs
5. Garrett Ford and Dick Leftridge (1965)
West Virginia’s first two African-American runners helped the Mountaineers rank seventh in the country in scoring offense in 1965, averaging 27.9 points per game. Ford and Leftridge were both power runners, Ford gaining 894 yards and scoring six touchdowns as a sophomore in ’65 while Leftridge pounding out 774 yards and scoring a team-best eight TDs as a senior. Leftridge was a No. 1 draft selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1966, but was out of the league a year later. In 1966 Ford became the first back in school history to rush for 1,000 yards, and later played one year with the Denver Broncos in 1968 before a nagging ankle injury forced his premature retirement.
Stats: 288 attempts, 1,668 yards, 5.8 ave., 14 TDs
4. Steve Slaton and Noel Devine (2007)
Junior Steve Slaton, freshman Noel Devine, quarterback Pat White and fullback Owen Schmitt paired up in 2007 to give West Virginia one of the most potent backfields in college football. Slaton, though slowed by a nagging hamstring injury for most of the season, still managed to produce his third consecutive 1,000-yard campaign. Devine, one of the nation’s top recruits in ’07, added 627 yards and six touchdowns as Slaton’s backup. The Mountaineers in ’07 finished third in the country in rushing offense, averaging 297.2 yards per game.
Stats: 284 attempts, 1,678 yards, 5.9 ave., 23 TDs
3. Steve Slaton and Owen Schmitt (2006)
Slaton is a repeat performer on my list, this time teaming with Schmitt and quarterback Pat White to give West Virginia the nation’s No. 2-ranked rushing offense in 2006, averaging 303 yards per game. Slaton’s sophomore campaign in ’06 was the best any runner has ever accomplished at WVU, gaining 1,744 yards and scoring 18 touchdowns to earn consensus All-America honors. Schmitt provided a great change of pace by adding 351 yards and seven scores. Slaton is now playing professionally with the Houston Texans while Schmitt is playing for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Stats: 313 attempts, 2,095 yards, 6.7 ave., 25 TDs
2. Bob Gresham and Jim Braxton (1969)
Jim Carlen recruited so many good runners to WVU in the late 1960s that he had to change his offense to accommodate the growing stable of big-time backs that he had stockpiled. Gresham from Yukon, W.Va., and Braxton, from nearby Vanderbilt, Pa., teamed up in Carlen’s wishbone attack to give the Mountaineers the fifth-best rushing offense in the country in 1969, averaging 292.5 yards per game. Gresham broke Garrett Ford’s school record for rushing, finishing the ’69 campaign with 1,155 yards and nine touchdowns. Braxton added 843 yards and 12 scores, while Carlen’s third back, Eddie Williams, set the Peach Bowl rushing record in West Virginia’s victory over South Carolina and finished the year with 589 yards and four TDs. Gresham and Braxton both went on to become NFL starters.
Stats: 405 attempts, 1,998 yards, 4.9 ave., 21 TDs
1. Avon Cobourne and Quincy Wilson (2002)
Avon Cobourne remains the most productive ground gainer in WVU history while also becoming the first back in Big East annals to rush for more than 5,000 career yards. In 2002, Cobourne ran for 1,710 yards and scored 17 touchdowns to help West Virginia rank second in the country in rushing offense, averaging 283.6 yards per game. Quincy Wilson, Cobourne’s backfield mate in coach Rich Rodriguez’s no-huddle spread offense, almost reached the 1,000-yard barrier, too, gaining 901 yards and scoring six touchdowns that season. The two combined to run for 2,611 yards in ‘02, easily the most yardage by any running back tandem in school history. A year later, following Cobourne’s graduation, Wilson added his name to West Virginia’s list of 1,000-yard rushers when he became the school’s featured back. Cobourne is still active in professional football playing in the Canadian League.
Stats: 475 attempts, 2,611 yards, 5.5 ave., 23 TDs
How did I do? Tweet me your thoughts.
My list of WVU's 10-best running back combinations of the last 60 years:
10. Robert Alexander and Walter Easley (1980)
Robert Alexander and Walt Easley not only shared the same hometown, Charleston, but also the same backfield at WVU in 1980. Both players’ careers were revitalized with Don Nehlen came to Morgantown, Alexander, when Nehlen switched from the Veer to the I, and Easley, when Nehlen decided to move him from linebacker to fullback. Alexander ran for a career-high 1,064 yards and scored five touchdowns in ‘80, while Easley plowed his way for 833 yards and eight scores. Both played briefly in the NFL, Alexander for the Rams and Easley with the world champion San Francisco 49ers.
Stats: 393 attempts, 1,897 yards, 4.8 ave., 13 TDs
9. Kerry Marbury and Pete Wood (1971)
The old-timers still say Kerry Marbury was the most electric back to ever play at WVU. During his senior year in 1972, Marbury ranked among the NCAA leaders in scoring before his ill-fated decision to leave school a year early to play in the Canadian League. As a sophomore in 1971, Marbury teamed with fullback Pete Wood to rush for a combined 1,614 yards and score 16 touchdowns for coach Bobby Bowden’s high-powered Mountaineer offense. Wood later became an executive at Ford.
Stats: 290 attempts, 1,614 yards, 5.6 ave., 16 TDs
8. A.B. Brown and Undra Johnson (1988)
Pitt transfer A.B. Brown and Undra Johnson teamed with quarterback Major Harris and fullback Craig Taylor to give West Virginia one of the most explosive offenses in the country in 1988. Brown did most of his damage between the tackles, running for 962 yards and scoring seven touchdowns as WVU’s No. 1 tailback. Johnson, a speed burner whose 55-yard touchdown run right before the end of the first half against Penn State put a cap on the best first-half offensive performance in school history, was West Virginia’s home run hitter, Johnson leading the Mountaineers with 11 rushing touchdowns in ‘88. WVU had the sixth best rushing offense in the country that year averaging 293.5 yards per game.
Stats: 318 attempts, 1,671 yards, 5.3 ave., 18 TDs
7. Artie Owens and Ron Lee (1975)
“King Arthur” Owens and Ron Lee combined to rush for 1,678 yards and score 15 touchdowns in leading West Virginia to a 9-3 record and a victory over N.C. State in the 1975 Peach Bowl. Owens became the first back in school history to post back-to-back 1,000 yard campaigns in 1974-75, finishing the ’75 season with 1,055 yards and five scores. Lee, a bruising fullback from Bellaire, Ohio, ran for 623 yards while tallying 10 touchdowns as Owens’ complimentary back. Dwayne Woods, Owens’ backup that year, was also an effective runner for the Mountaineers carrying 93 times for 493 yards and scoring six touchdowns. Owens and Lee both played in the NFL - Owens with the Chargers and the Bills and Lee with the Baltimore Colts.
Stats: 314 attempts, 1,678 yards, 5.3 ave., 15 TDs
6. Bobby Moss and Joe Marconi (1955)
Speedster Bobby Moss and power-back Joe Marconi helped make West Virginia the sixth-best rushing offense in the country in 1955, averaging 263.9 yards per game. Moss was within 200 yards of becoming the school’s first-ever 1,000 yard rusher, finishing ’55 with 807 yards while averaging a phenomenal 8.2 yards per carry. Marconi did most of his work near the yard markers, finishing the season with 380 yards and six touchdowns. A third back, Larry Krutko, managed to run for 420 yards and score three touchdowns. Marconi later became an all-pro fullback for the Chicago Bears while Krutko spent three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Stats: 164 attempts, 1,187 yards, 7.2 ave., 15 TDs
5. Garrett Ford and Dick Leftridge (1965)
West Virginia’s first two African-American runners helped the Mountaineers rank seventh in the country in scoring offense in 1965, averaging 27.9 points per game. Ford and Leftridge were both power runners, Ford gaining 894 yards and scoring six touchdowns as a sophomore in ’65 while Leftridge pounding out 774 yards and scoring a team-best eight TDs as a senior. Leftridge was a No. 1 draft selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1966, but was out of the league a year later. In 1966 Ford became the first back in school history to rush for 1,000 yards, and later played one year with the Denver Broncos in 1968 before a nagging ankle injury forced his premature retirement.
Stats: 288 attempts, 1,668 yards, 5.8 ave., 14 TDs
4. Steve Slaton and Noel Devine (2007)
Junior Steve Slaton, freshman Noel Devine, quarterback Pat White and fullback Owen Schmitt paired up in 2007 to give West Virginia one of the most potent backfields in college football. Slaton, though slowed by a nagging hamstring injury for most of the season, still managed to produce his third consecutive 1,000-yard campaign. Devine, one of the nation’s top recruits in ’07, added 627 yards and six touchdowns as Slaton’s backup. The Mountaineers in ’07 finished third in the country in rushing offense, averaging 297.2 yards per game.
Stats: 284 attempts, 1,678 yards, 5.9 ave., 23 TDs
3. Steve Slaton and Owen Schmitt (2006)
Slaton is a repeat performer on my list, this time teaming with Schmitt and quarterback Pat White to give West Virginia the nation’s No. 2-ranked rushing offense in 2006, averaging 303 yards per game. Slaton’s sophomore campaign in ’06 was the best any runner has ever accomplished at WVU, gaining 1,744 yards and scoring 18 touchdowns to earn consensus All-America honors. Schmitt provided a great change of pace by adding 351 yards and seven scores. Slaton is now playing professionally with the Houston Texans while Schmitt is playing for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Stats: 313 attempts, 2,095 yards, 6.7 ave., 25 TDs
2. Bob Gresham and Jim Braxton (1969)
Jim Carlen recruited so many good runners to WVU in the late 1960s that he had to change his offense to accommodate the growing stable of big-time backs that he had stockpiled. Gresham from Yukon, W.Va., and Braxton, from nearby Vanderbilt, Pa., teamed up in Carlen’s wishbone attack to give the Mountaineers the fifth-best rushing offense in the country in 1969, averaging 292.5 yards per game. Gresham broke Garrett Ford’s school record for rushing, finishing the ’69 campaign with 1,155 yards and nine touchdowns. Braxton added 843 yards and 12 scores, while Carlen’s third back, Eddie Williams, set the Peach Bowl rushing record in West Virginia’s victory over South Carolina and finished the year with 589 yards and four TDs. Gresham and Braxton both went on to become NFL starters.
Stats: 405 attempts, 1,998 yards, 4.9 ave., 21 TDs
1. Avon Cobourne and Quincy Wilson (2002)
Avon Cobourne remains the most productive ground gainer in WVU history while also becoming the first back in Big East annals to rush for more than 5,000 career yards. In 2002, Cobourne ran for 1,710 yards and scored 17 touchdowns to help West Virginia rank second in the country in rushing offense, averaging 283.6 yards per game. Quincy Wilson, Cobourne’s backfield mate in coach Rich Rodriguez’s no-huddle spread offense, almost reached the 1,000-yard barrier, too, gaining 901 yards and scoring six touchdowns that season. The two combined to run for 2,611 yards in ‘02, easily the most yardage by any running back tandem in school history. A year later, following Cobourne’s graduation, Wilson added his name to West Virginia’s list of 1,000-yard rushers when he became the school’s featured back. Cobourne is still active in professional football playing in the Canadian League.
Stats: 475 attempts, 2,611 yards, 5.5 ave., 23 TDs
How did I do? Tweet me your thoughts.
SWIM: What it Means to Represent West Virginia
Wednesday, April 29
SWIM: What it Means to Become a Mountaineer
Wednesday, April 29
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
