A few weeks ago, CUSportsNation.com members voted Darian Hagan as the best quarterback in Colorado football history. Now, we turn to the running back position.
Our members gave their nominations which resulted in the seeding below. Check out the bracket and preview for this article's matchup below!
Round 1 matchup: Phillip Lindsay vs Byron White
The Lindsay Profile (info below from cubuffs.com)
- Largely unrecruited after tearing his ACL as a senior in high school, he proceeded to play in all 51 of CU’s games in his career (including the Alamo Bowl, with 30 starts
- Became Colorado’s all-time leader in all-purpose yards with 5,760 and yards from scrimmage 4,683 (5,926 and 4,849 including the 2016 Alamo Bowl, but CU does not include bowl stats in career numbers)
- He finished as the Buffs’ second all-time leading rusher with 3,707 yards and was the first player in CU history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons (and just the second to have two period)
- With 110 receptions for 976 yards, he also set school records for the most in each by a running back; he became the 14th player to join CU’s 500/500 Club (rushing and receiving yards), narrowly missing becoming the first to hit 1,000 in both (which he did counting the bowl game, but CU does not include those numbers—for any player) ... The only running back in CU history to have two 100-yard receiving games (both during his junior year)
- Also finished sixth in career kickoff return yardage (1,077; though he returned just one over his last two seasons)
- He had 750 career rushing attempts, but just 92 yards lost on those carries ... He had 11 100-yard rushing games, with two over 200
- Finished fourth on the scoring chart (234 points, second to only Eric Bieniemy by non-kickers), and also earned 234 first downs (195 rushing, 39 receiving), the most in school history by a non-quarterback
- Including the Alamo Bowl, he had 917 career touches (764 rush, 116 receiving, 36 return, 1 fumble advance) and fumbled just eight times, losing five; he ended his career with no fumbles in his last 392 touches over his last 15-plus games
- Just the third player at Colorado to score 10 or more touchdowns in back-to-back seasons (16 as a junior, 14 as a senior, joining Charlie Davis, 1971-72 and Chris Brown, 2001-02); scored at least once in 21 of his final 27 games
- Overall, he set 24 records and tied two others in his CU career.
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The White Profile (info below from cubuffs.com)
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice 1962-1993
- Rhodes Scholar
- Two-time All-Pro Halfback
- Member of College Football Hall of Fame
- Member of GTE Academic Hall of Fame
- Member of Big Eight Hall of Fame
- Colorado’s first All-American (1937)
Colorado’s first All-American and one of the greatest students in the history of the school, Byron “Whizzer” White retired as justice of the Supreme Court in March of 1993 after serving 31 years on the nation’s high court. White was a unanimous All-American after a brilliant 1937 season that saw him lead CU to an 8-0 record and a Cotton Bowl bid, as he set national records with 1,121 rushing yards and 122 points - marks which would stand until colleges went to 10- and 11- game schedules. White was a Rhodes Scholar, a two time All-Pro halfback with Pittsburgh and Detroit, a leading graduate of the Yale Law School in 1946, a decorated naval intelligence officer in World War II and a deputy U.S. Attorney General in addition to his role on the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a member of the National Football Foundation’s College Hall of Fame, the GTE Academic Hall of Fame and was selected to CU’s All-Century Team. White passed away on April 15, 2002 at the age of 84.
