White RBs and 100-yard games

[El Gringo]

With the way NFL defenses are spread out - lots of nickel defenses and light linebackers you would think fullbacks would make a comeback to become the physical runners that would exploit poor tackling DBs and linebackers who lack the ability to attack downhill.

That’s exactly right Leonardfan. If you look at Owen Schmitts early highlights at wvu he destroyed defenses on quick handoffs from the split back formation with the quarterback in the shotgun. In order for it to work it calls for the tailback to chip block on a linebacker /defensive end and the prima Donna tailbacks don’t want to block anymore.

 

[Leonardfan]

That’s exactly right Leonardfan. If you look at Owen Schmitts early highlights at wvu he destroyed defenses on quick handoffs from the split back formation with the quarterback in the shotgun. In order for it to work it calls for the tailback to chip block on a linebacker /defensive end and the prima Donna tailbacks don’t want to block anymore.

Schmitt - another name lost to the caste memory hole. He should of been a household name and could of easily been a productive FB/HB hybrid.

 

[Don Wassall]

Schmitt - another name lost to the caste memory hole. He should of been a household name and could of easily been a productive FB/HB hybrid.

No question. This thread is bringing me back to happier days when at least some White guys could run some as fullbacks and were damn good -- Scott Greene at Michigan State, Mike Alstott at Purdue, Marc Edwards was beastly at Notre Dame, Rob Konrad at Syracuse, plus the others mentioned in recent posts plus others I can't even remember right now.

Here's an Owen Schmitt tribute video, produced by "cfhighlightvideo" nine years ago, clearly someone from CF, Dwid maybe?

 

[El Gringo]

Now if we could only find Rob Konrads Syracuse highlights! Granted they were all fullback dives but it would be cool. He was probably the most talented of all that were mentioned.

 

[El Gringo]

Check this one out!! High school tailback turned fullback at penn st. I loved the Milne and Witman backfield in short yardage. Imagine having a guy like this plunging up the middle freeing up room for mcaffery. I think this is the type of offense you envision Leonard fan.

 

[Leonardfan]

No question. This thread is bringing me back to happier days when at least some White guys could run some as fullbacks and were damn good -- Scott Greene at Michigan State, Mike Alstott at Purdue, Marc Edwards was beastly at Notre Dame, Rob Konrad at Syracuse, plus the others mentioned in recent posts plus others I can't even remember right now.

Here's an Owen Schmitt tribute video, produced by "cfhighlightvideo" nine years ago, clearly someone from CF, Dwid maybe?

Don, try to catch a Purdue game or two this season. Zander Horvath is fun to watch.

Zack Zwinak and Mark Weisman are two more power runners from the not so distant past that time has forgotten.

 

[Don Wassall]

Don, try to catch a Purdue game or two this season. Zander Horvath is fun to watch.

Zack Zwinak and Mark Weisman are two more power runners from the not so distant past that time has forgotten.

I know there's still a few around, will try to watch Horvath as I always liked Purdue and they seem to be trending in a more positive direction.

Gringo, seemed like Joe Paterno always had a bruising White fullback or two in the '70s, '80s and into the '90s who got to run and catch some. But John Cappelletti was the last featured White running back at Penn State even though he won a Heisman Trophy. Cappelletti symbolizes the decline of the White tailback as all of a sudden there were very few that came after him and that's going back almost half a century now of non-stop slotting and racism against White football players.

 

[Don Wassall]

Now if we could only find Rob Konrads Syracuse highlights! Granted they were all fullback dives but it would be cool. He was probably the most talented of all that were mentioned.

Konrad did a lot more than run fullback dives. I think he could have been a Hall of Fame featured back in the NFL. He was huge, fast and had swivel, yet was totally screwed by Jimmy Johnson after the Dolphins took him in the second round. To look at a talent like that and see only "blocking fullback" epitomizes the Caste System and the thinking and agenda behind it.

 

[Don Wassall]

BTW, I don't think it's been mentioned before here, but Konrad was knocked off his fishing boat while alone 9 miles offshore with no life jacket and lived by spending the next 16 hours swimming a total of about 27 miles to shore. Talk about amazing and having a very strong will to live. Here's a short YouTube video about it:

 

[Leonardfan]

Not to beat a dead horse but one more just popped into mind - Pitt FB George Aston - had one good year in 2016 with 10 total TDs - he was a short yardage specialist but could of easily been a 4.0 ypc runner if he was given a chance.

 

[Booth]

Since I live my life in the past here's a couple more. Larry Csonka from Syracuse, Jim Otis from Ohio State, Steve Owens from Oklahoma, Steve Worster from Texas, and finally my two favorites from the same small college Marv Hubbard & Mark Van Eeghen from Colgate and the great Raiders team of the past.

 

[wile]

Nice find, I can remember looking for Muster highlights before but not finding any. Highlights of White players from before roughly 2005 are hard to find on YouTube, they come and go or just don't exist at all.

I always enjoyed watching Muster play. Taken in the first round in '88 during the Ditka years, peaked in 1990 with 664 rushing yards. Before Muster was Matt Suhey, who ran a fair amount as Walter Payton's fullback and peaked at 681 rushing yards in '83 Ditka's Bears always had cool White players to root for on both sides of the ball, in great contrast to what's happened to the Bears since.

A small tidbit about the decline. One day for lack of football viewing options this Packers fan had to watch a Bears game and Muster was on track to get a 100yd game but they went away from him. Well since it was the closest he had come as a Bear to such a game and because the coaches went away from it supposedly a McCaskey came down out of the box (the unpopular McCaskey I think) and told the coaches to get Brad his carries so he could claim at least one 100yd on his record. This is all from memory but could you imagine that happening now, maybe the reverse.

 

[Freethinker]

While I’m not going to update the master list because he’s not a running back, Taysom Hill’s effort should be noted. On Thursday 12/2, Hill rushed for 101 yards on only 11 carries.

Sadly, I haven’t updated our list since 2019. McCaffrey had a 97 yard game in 2020 and 2 90-something games this year. Our best chance to get one will be Burkhead getting a high volume of carries the rest of the way for the Texans. Next year could be better with a healthy CMac, a healthy Funk and potentially Borghi in a good spot. Then the long shot guys like Burkhead, Laird and Nall could still be around somewhere.

 

[Danny Vado]

Looking forward to his NFL days, he's at Kent State right now

Carson Steele

Matt Borghi at Washington State another one to watch.

With McCaffrey out, who do we got left, hmmmm? We could use some help.

 

[dwid]

No question. This thread is bringing me back to happier days when at least some White guys could run some as fullbacks and were damn good -- Scott Greene at Michigan State, Mike Alstott at Purdue, Marc Edwards was beastly at Notre Dame, Rob Konrad at Syracuse, plus the others mentioned in recent posts plus others I can't even remember right now.

Here's an Owen Schmitt tribute video, produced by "cfhighlightvideo" nine years ago, clearly someone from CF, Dwid maybe?

Yes, this is my channel. Even though there are tons of highlight videos of NFL players, somehow my videos kept getting taken down and getting copyright violations (for some reason music violations don't count, only footage) so I didn't want my college videos to be lost so I made one specifically for pros. I think the only college video I've received a strike for is the Tebow one showcasing his running skills asking why wasn't he considered as a halfback. I have since re-uploaded it to the pro channel, but it had hundreds of thousands of views before and now only 842 and of course it's a little too late for him.... It was taken down while he was big and still in the league.... So speaking of runners, Tebow would have made an excellent power back.

 

[Freethinker]

Another quarterback addition to the thread as Josh Allen rushed for 109 yards on 12 carries vs the Tampa Bay Bucs on 12/12/21.

I’d love to update our list with a running back but at least we have athletic quarterbacks like Allen, Hill, Jones, Heinicke and Herbert showing off as dual threat runners from week to week.

 

[Freethinker]

*UPDATED* MASTER LIST OF 100 YARD GAMES BY WHITE RUNNING BACKS DURING THE CASTE ERA

2020-2029: Total of 1 so far
1) Rex Burkhead: 1

2010-2019: Total of 19
1) Christian McCaffrey: 10
2) Peyton Hillis: 7
3) Toby Gerhart: 1
4) Rex Burkhead: 1

2000-2009: Total of 8
1) Mike Alstott: 4
2) Brock Forsey: 1
3) Peyton Hillis: 1
4) Brian Leonard: 1
5) Brad Hoover: 1

1990-1999: Total of 9
1) Mike Alstott: 3
2) Gil Fenerty: 2
3) Merrill Hoge: 1
4) Brad Muster: 1
5) Tommy Vardell: 1
6) Scott Lockwood: 1

1980-1989: Total of 53
1) John Riggins: 19
2) Craig James: 9
3) Rob Carpenter: 8
4) Merrill Hoge: 3
5) Larry Moriarty: 3
6) Matt Suhey: 3
7) Mark van Eeghen: 2
8) Dan Doornink: 1
9) Joe Dudek: 1
10) Hokie Gajan: 1
11) John Cappelletti: 1
12) Rick Kane: 1
13) Jim Jodat: 1

The decade we can use for comparison purposes, 1970-1979. The last decade before the full implementation of the Caste System against White RBs. The list from this decade is still under construction, but 138 100 yard rushing performances have been identified so far.

1) Larry Csonka: 19
2) John Riggins: 15
3) Marv Hubbard: 10
4) Ed Podolak: 9
5) Jim Otis: 9
6) Mark van Eeghen: 7
7) Donny Anderson: 5
8) Rocky Bleier: 5
9) Norm Bulaich: 5
10) Andy Johnson: 4
11) Doug Kotar: 4
12) John Cappelletti: 3
13) Paul Hofer: 3
14) Don Nottingham: 3
15) Steve Owens: 3
16) Ken Willard: 3
17) Rob Carpenter: 2
18) Jim Kiick: 2
19) Jeff Kinney: 2
20) Jon Keyworth: 2
21) Scott Laidlaw: 2
22) Rob Lytle: 2
23) Ed Marinaro: 2
24) Don McCauley: 2
25) Larry Schreiber: 2
26) Pete Banaszak: 1
27) Jim Bertelsen: 1
28) Bill Brown: 1
29) Vince Clements: 1
30) Scott Dierking: 1
31) Dan Doornink: 1
32) Doug Dressler: 1
33) Walt Garrison: 1
34) Les Josephson: 1
35) Rick Kane: 1
36) Dave Osborn: 1
37) Mike Adamle: 1
38) Fred Willis: 1
39) Bobby Anderson: 1
40) Bob Burns: 1

Edited to add: Texan’s running back Rex Burkhead broke a 2 year drought and rushed for 149 yards on 22 carries against the Chargers. He accounted for 2 touchdowns and it was definitely the best overall game of his career.

 

[Warhawk_46]

I imagine we will see McCaffrey post quite a few more 100 yard games throughout the rest of the decade. I predict a Jake Funk one soon as well. Rex may have another few if he is given enough carries. Could the forgotten stud Ryan Nall be given a chance (likely due to injury) now that the Rodent is out?

Not to mention there are guys like Borghi and others currently in college coming soon.

 

[Rocky B]

I imagine we will see McCaffrey post quite a few more 100 yard games throughout the rest of the decade. I predict a Jake Funk one soon as well. Rex may have another few if he is given enough carries. Could the forgotten stud Ryan Nall be given a chance (likely due to injury) now that the Rodent is out?

Not to mention there are guys like Borghi and others currently in college coming soon.

Will Shipley being the front runner......

 

[Warhawk_46]

Absolutely. Will Shipley is going to be a multiple-season 1,000 yard back. He has a very solid frame and excellent speed.

 

[white lightning]

I agree with Will Shipley. I do believe that Max Borghi has the potential to as well if an nfl team gives him a chance to be a 1st or 2nd rb on their squad.

 

[Rocky B]

Borghi has been linked to the Bills.
That would be awesome.....

 

[white lightning]

Borghi has been linked to the Bills.
That would be awesome.....

It would be even better if they also got Cmac and they could split carries. That would be so sweet!

 

[Freethinker]

*BUMP FOR THE 22/23 SEASON* MASTER LIST OF 100 YARD GAMES BY WHITE RUNNING BACKS DURING THE CASTE ERA

2020-2029: Total of 3 so far
1) Christian McCaffrey: 2
2) Rex Burkhead: 1

2010-2019: Total of 19
1) Christian McCaffrey: 10
2) Peyton Hillis: 7
3) Toby Gerhart: 1
4) Rex Burkhead: 1

2000-2009: Total of 8
1) Mike Alstott: 4
2) Brock Forsey: 1
3) Peyton Hillis: 1
4) Brian Leonard: 1
5) Brad Hoover: 1

1990-1999: Total of 9
1) Mike Alstott: 3
2) Gil Fenerty: 2
3) Merrill Hoge: 1
4) Brad Muster: 1
5) Tommy Vardell: 1
6) Scott Lockwood: 1

1980-1989: Total of 53
1) John Riggins: 19
2) Craig James: 9
3) Rob Carpenter: 8
4) Merrill Hoge: 3
5) Larry Moriarty: 3
6) Matt Suhey: 3
7) Mark van Eeghen: 2
8) Dan Doornink: 1
9) Joe Dudek: 1
10) Hokie Gajan: 1
11) John Cappelletti: 1
12) Rick Kane: 1
13) Jim Jodat: 1

The decade we can use for comparison purposes, 1970-1979. The last decade before the full implementation of the Caste System against White RBs. The list from this decade is still under construction, but 138 100 yard rushing performances have been identified so far.

1) Larry Csonka: 19
2) John Riggins: 15
3) Marv Hubbard: 10
4) Ed Podolak: 9
5) Jim Otis: 9
6) Mark van Eeghen: 7
7) Donny Anderson: 5
8) Rocky Bleier: 5
9) Norm Bulaich: 5
10) Andy Johnson: 4
11) Doug Kotar: 4
12) John Cappelletti: 3
13) Paul Hofer: 3
14) Don Nottingham: 3
15) Steve Owens: 3
16) Ken Willard: 3
17) Rob Carpenter: 2
18) Jim Kiick: 2
19) Jeff Kinney: 2
20) Jon Keyworth: 2
21) Scott Laidlaw: 2
22) Rob Lytle: 2
23) Ed Marinaro: 2
24) Don McCauley: 2
25) Larry Schreiber: 2
26) Pete Banaszak: 1
27) Jim Bertelsen: 1
28) Bill Brown: 1
29) Vince Clements: 1
30) Scott Dierking: 1
31) Dan Doornink: 1
32) Doug Dressler: 1
33) Walt Garrison: 1
34) Les Josephson: 1
35) Rick Kane: 1
36) Dave Osborn: 1
37) Mike Adamle: 1
38) Fred Willis: 1
39) Bobby Anderson: 1
40) Bob Burns: 1

Edited to add: Christian McCaffrey went for 108 yards rushing against the NO Saints on 9/25/22.

 

[Warhawk_46]

McCaffrey with another 100 yard game. I anticipate seeing several more of these this year (I predict 7 total for the year including at least one monster 150+ yard game) as Baker Mayfield begins to improve and the offensive line continues to gel. McAdoo needs to start calling better plays for McCaffrey though.