There's no doubt Sanders had the best single season for a RB in college football history. But those 344 carries are doing A LOT of work on his behalf.
No one would argue he had the best college career, so then it sort of becomes a sample-size thing, no?
I know he was exciting and amazing and had all the highlight runs, but no one would teach a RB to run that way, lol. And as Sanders' single-season makes him stand out, dozens of guys had better ypc averages in fewer carries, just as Sanders does compared to all-time great RB careers.
So does Sanders get the halo effect because 344 carries is a magic number between "not enough" carries and a healthy career's worth? Or is it because of his running style? If it's the latter, I find that sort of silly.
Melvin Gordon's worst ypc season was his big one, at 7.5 ypc. His 631 career carries at a higher ypc than Sanders doesn't make him better because.....he should have juked more?!? I can't get on board with that, sorry.
OU's Greg Pruitt famously had a 9.4 ypc season on 178 carries. I guess it gets the "yeah, but" treatment due to the option offense he was in. But who else averaged 9.4 ypc for a season in that same system? Or is the argument that 178 carries isn't enough, but 344 is?
And what seems to be everyone's kryptonite, is Sanders' HOF NFL career the reason no one's college production can measure up to his?
Poor Felix Jones of Arkansas. His Thurman Thomas (Darren McFadden) didn't leave, just kept him as a backup, averaging 7.7 ypc on 386 career carries. He was super fast and shifty...but was never a starter. Maybe he should have juked more.
How many carries does it take for you to say a guy was "the best"? 344? 1? 100?
Maybe the answer is 1 season.
Of all high-ypc seasons from RBs, what sets Sanders apart is his number of carries. EVERY RB with a higher ypc for a season has far fewer carries. Career-wise, this is not the case, but in the 1-season sample, most higher-ypc RBs only have 90-150 carries.
Bryce Love, Travis Etienne, and a few others have 250 or so, but that's still 100 carries behind Sanders' effort in '88.
