Favorite Friday = Who is Your favorite Gophers running back?

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For a career, MBIII - as he was relentless, and was my late son’s very favorite.

For one game/day, though . . . and his (let this sink in) 57 attempts, 266 yard performance vs. Illinois in 1977, I give you Kent Kitzmann.

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1. Darrell Thompson - The RB from my childhood
2. Marion Barber III - A perfect blend of speed + power
3. Mohammed Ibrahim - Hard to believe just how dominant he was
4. Chris Darkins - He had to do an awful lot on some bad teams
 

Mo. Marion and Maroney are great, but because of my age when they were here, I didn't truly understand the game and don't remember the little things aside from the big runs. With Mo, I was old enough to appreciate every single rush where there was no hole whatsoever in the line and him still popping out on the other side for a 2-3 yard gain. He was a monster with some absolutely amazing vision, and carried us when our offensive talent in the passing game dropped off following 2019.
 






Maroney is the only person with two of the top 10 single season rushing yards records

Terry Jackson is the only guy with two of the top 10 single game rushing yards records


That being said I have to go with Ibrahim
 

So many good options even if you only started at the 21st Century, but to me nobody has exceeded the level of excitement when Maroney would get the ball in his hands, just pure electricity.

I will say Darius Taylor is an absolute treat to watch run the ball and will almost certainly go down as one of my all time favorites even if he never puts up the numbers some of these other guys did.
 



Darrell Thompson -MN grown, outstanding as a player, and Mr Gopher since.
Imagine if he hadn’t torn up his legs on terrible Metrodome turf.
 

A quick copy/paste from the last time we had a favorite running backs thread...way back in October of '24....

Marion Barber Jr. - I had cut out the picture of him on the cover of the Minneapolis Tribune TV Week and taped it to my wall. I then became an official Gopher football fan for life.
Darrell Thompson - Same age as me, so I like to think we were basically the same.
Laurence Maroney - I just loved watching him run
Mo - Well, duh!
 

Marion the Barbarian #1

But before Marion I hero-worshipped Darrell Thompson. He was a human highlight reel on a mediocre team.
 

Mo Ibrahim, followed closely by Darrell Thompson. So many great RB’s from this program.
 


My fandom started in 1986. I've seen a lot of very good RBs on often on some really bad teams. Top three:

Darryl Thompson - the 98-yard TD against Michigan was a thing to behold. I wish DT could have played on better teams. He deserved it.
Marion Barber III - tough as nails. Heart of a champion. Gone too soon, and the punishment he took as a RB was probably a factor in that.
Mo Ibrahim and Laurence Maroney - Tie. Maroney was a homerun threat every time he touched the ball. Mo was a no-nonsense back who played with heart and a drive that almost matched MBIIIs. He toted the rock with purpose. Despite some pretty putrid play around him (OLine play has been mystifying under Fleck) and questionable coaching, his success was impressive. He also deserved a much better team around him.
 



FredCoxRocks said:
A quick copy/paste from the last time we had a favorite running backs thread...way back in October of '24....

Marion Barber Jr. - I had cut out the picture of him on the cover of the Minneapolis Tribune TV Week and taped it to my wall. I then became an official Gopher football fan for life.
Darrell Thompson - Same age as me, so I like to think we were basically the same.
Laurence Maroney - I just loved watching him run
Mo - Well, duh!
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Absolutely love that statement. Marion Barber the II was great.

I have to say though I think my all-time favorite single game effort was Tellis Redmon in the Micron PC bowl.

Edit: 246 yards in 42 carries.
 

spermophilus said:
For a career, MBIII - as he was relentless, and was my late son’s very favorite.

For one game/day, though . . . and his (let this sink in) 57 attempts, 266 yard performance vs. Illinois in 1977, I give you Kent Kitzmann.

View attachment 36180
Click to expand...
I said Tellis for a single game effort forgetting about Kitzmann's game against Illinois.
 

spermophilus said:
For a career, MBIII - as he was relentless, and was my late son’s very favorite.

For one game/day, though . . . and his (let this sink in) 57 attempts, 266 yard performance vs. Illinois in 1977, I give you Kent Kitzmann.

View attachment 36180
Click to expand...
Can you imagine is an RB had 57 Carrie's now days? Coach would be fired, before he got into the locker room.
 

spermophilus said:
For a career, MBIII - as he was relentless, and was my late son’s very favorite.

For one game/day, though . . . and his (let this sink in) 57 attempts, 266 yard performance vs. Illinois in 1977, I give you Kent Kitzmann.

View attachment 36180
Click to expand...
I don't remember too many individual performances by any RB, but I remember that game. I was 9 yrs old, digging potatoes out of the garden with my Dad in rural central MN and listening to Ray Christensen on the radio: "Kitzmann left for 6 yrs, Kitzmann right for 4, Kitzmann left for 8"..... All day long. My 1st memory of Gopher football.
 

Kitzmann57 said:
I don't remember too many individual performances by any RB, but I remember that game. I was 9 yrs old, digging potatoes out of the garden with my Dad in rural central MN and listening to Ray Christensen on the radio: "Kitzmann left for 6 yrs, Kitzmann right for 4, Kitzmann left for 8"..... All day long. My 1st memory of Gopher football.
Click to expand...
Your name checks out!
 

Since everyone is covered, I'll throw out a could've been. Bucky Irving. From the first time he touched the ball, on a kickoff return, you could see he was special. Would've done amazing things here had he stayed. 1000 yards and 8 Td's with the Bucs last year despite only being on the field for 40% of their snaps.
 

I just miss the Mason era running game. Almost anyone they put out there. From '99 to '05 the Gophers averaged over 5 YPC 6 out of 7 seasons. This was the only period in my 40 years as a fan where the Gophers were truly a 'running team'.

Since at least 1982 the Gophers have only averaged 5 YPC in one season outside those years (5.0 in 1987 with Darrell Thompson)

The Kill-Claeys-Fleck era Gophers have oscillated between 4.0-4.7 YPC for 15 years now. 2024 was the first team that didn't rush for over 4 YPC since Brew.

Brew's teams were stuck in the 3.1-3.8 range for his final 3 seasons, once he had brought in his own failed system.

Most of the 90s and 80s teams were in the 3 range.
 



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