Big Ten Football’s Best Running Backs
By Timothy Duey
Believe it or not, Big Ten football is better than the SEC’s brand this year!!! Okay, well no football fan who isn’t blinded by kool-aid will ever say that for during the year of 2014.
That’s not to say that a number of people don’t think the SEC hype machine has over valued the conference’s stock though (See: Bo Pelini’s high profile questioning of ESPN’s SEC partnership).
Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports
No matter who you ask, one position where the Big Ten can go man for man with any other in the land is at running back. Ameer Abdullah and Melvin Gordon are two of the best, if not the best, running backs in the nation.
What do you know about Jeremy Langford? He’s impressive in his own right. He’s set to post Michigan State’s first back-to-back 1,000 rushing yard seasons since Javon Ringer did it back in 2007 and 2008.
Don’t take my word for it, take that of the Michigan Wolverines. Langford grinded Brady Hoke’s boys into paste with a 177-yard three touchdown performance on October 25.
Then there’s Indiana’s Tevin Coleman. Here’s a back that’s already rushed for 1,300 yards this season! We just got to November! That’s sick!
Coleman leads the nation in yards per game at 162.5. If this kid had a defense to back him up, maybe Indiana could finally get out of the Big Ten cellar.
Its ridiculous that Minnesota’s David Cobb barely even gets a mention in the introduction to these rankings. He’s sixth in the nation in yards per game, by the way, but that just speaks to how loaded the conference is this season.
They take up three of six running back spots awarded to finalists for The Maxwell Award and hold four of the top ten spots of in average yards per game. They’re a salty lot, so lets learn a lot more about them.