Ranking The Top 7 Minnesota Gopher Running Backs (1. Mo, 2. Maroney, 3. DT, 4. MB3, 5. Rodney Smith)

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Jesse:

The Minnesota Gophers football program has seen its fair share of exceptional running backs in the past 50 years. From elusive speedsters to bruising power backs, these Minnesota Gopher greats have left an indelible mark on the program. The running back rankings were based on an in-depth analysis of career statistics, peak seasonal production, consistency, records, and several other factors.

1. Mohamed Ibrahim​

Mohamed Ibrahim finished his collegiate career as the Minnesota Gopher’s all-time leader in rushing yards (4,668) and rushing touchdowns (53). He played from 2018-2022 and was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and the 2020 Big Ten Running Back of the Year. Despite his impressive career stats, Ibrahim’s journey to the top of the Gopher leaderboard wasn’t easy.

The Baltimore native started his career by rushing for 1,160 yards and nine touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2018 and was named the MVP of the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl. When senior running back Rodney Smith returned from injury in 2019, Ibrahim’s production dropped. His breakout season came in 2020 when he rushed for 1,076 yards and 15 touchdowns in a shortened seven-game season. Ibrahim was primed for a big season in 2021 but tore his torn ACL in the season opener against Ohio State. Ibrahim returned for his final season in 2022 and had one of the best rushing seasons in Minnesota Gopher history.

2. Laurence Maroney​

Laurence Maroney played for the Gophers from 2003-2005 and was a two-time All-Big Ten selection. He rushed for 3,933 yards and 32 touchdowns in his career, an improbable feat considering he shared the backfield for two full seasons. Maroney was a key part of the Gophers’ high-powered offense that set numerous school records in 2003, including rushing yards, offensive yards, and points per game. He played three seasons for the Minnesota Gophers and left for the NFL following his junior year, and was drafted in the first round by the New England Patriots.​

Maroney was remarkably consistent, playing three full seasons and 36 games. He had three excellent seasons and averaged 6 yards per carry for this career. Had he not left early for the NFL, he likely would be Minnesota’s all-time leading rusher.

3. Darrell Thompson​

For over 30 years, Darrell Thompson was the Minnesota Gophers’ all-time rushing leader until Ibrahim broke his record in 2022. Hailing from Rochester, Minnesota, Thompson was a powerful runner who could break tackles and had a nose for the end zone. He played from 1986-1989, scored 40 rushing touchdowns, and was a two-time All-Big Ten selection.

For many fans, Thompson is synonymous with the Minnesota Gophers football team because of his on-field accomplishments and work in the broadcast booth. He is one of the top all-time Gopher running backs and is #3 on this list.

lastwordonsports.com

Ranking The Top Minnesota Gopher Running Backs

From elusive speedsters to bruising power backs, these are the top Minnesota Gopher running backs from the last 50 years.
lastwordonsports.com

Go Gophers!!
 

Injuries and competition for playing time limited his carries, but Shannon Brooks will always stand very tall in my mind. He finished his runs with a purpose that reminded me of MBIII.
 

You gotta respect all the research and attention to detail this writer put in:

"Ibrahim was primed for a big season in 2021 but tore his torn ACL in the season opener against Ohio State."
 





Well, since this was based on career yardage... Laurence Maroney shared the backfield with another 1,000-yard rusher in each of his 3 seasons with the Gophers. The first 2 had him sharing carries with Marion Barber III. Maroney (as well as Barber) would have had significantly higher career yardage totals without the competition for carries.

Few seem to remember that in 2005, Gary Russell was the other running back... in his sophomore season, he rushed for 1130 yards, averaged 6.1 yards per carry, and scored 18 touchdowns... then, poof, he was gone.

I've always wondered what might have happened if Gary Russell could have kept himself in school...
 


Certainly an area where the Gophers have had some great players. Maybe the best part of the last 20 years is the mix of running backs Minnesota could use in the rushing attack.
  • 2001 - Redmon, Barber III and Tapeh combined for 1,971 yards, 16 touchdowns
  • 2002 - Jackson, Barber III and Tapeh combined for 2,292 yards and 14 touchdowns
  • 2003 - Barber III, Maroney and Tapeh combined for 2,887 yards and 38 touchdowns
  • 2004 - Barber III, Maroney and Russell combined for 2,761 yards and 23 touchdowns
  • 2005 - Maroney, Russell and Pinnix combined for 3,067 and 29 touchdowns
Then post 2011
  • 2012 - Kirkwood, Williams Jr. and Cobb combined for 1,231 yards and 8 touchdowns
  • 2013 - Cobb, Kirkwood and Williams Jr. combined for 1,654 yards and 10 touchdowns
  • 2014 - Cobb, Kirkwood, Edwards and Williams Jr. combined for 1,972 yards and 20 touchdowns
  • 2015 - Smith, Brooks and Williams Jr. combined for 1,487 yards and 10 touchdowns
  • 2016 - Smith, Brooks and McCrary combined for 2,050 yards and 24 touchdowns
  • 2017 - Smith, Brooks and McCrary combined for 1,842 yards and 16 touchdowns
  • 2018 - Smith, Brooks, Williams and Ibrahim combined for 1,973 yards and 14 touchdowns
  • 2019 - Smith, Brooks and Ibrahim combined for 2,175 yards and 16 touchdowns
  • 2020 - Ibrahim, Wiley and Potts combined for 1,376 yards and 17 touchdowns*
  • 2021 - Ibrahim, Williams, Potts, Irving and Thomas combined for 2,424 yards and 21 touchdowns*
  • 2022 - Ibrahim, Potts and Williams combined for 2,385 yards and 26 touchdowns
2020 of course was the COVID shortened season and in 2021 three of those running backs went down with injuries early. With the latter, they still all collectively rushed for over 2,400 yards.

I think one thing is clear from this is how much the running back position fell off during the Brewster era but Kill was able to get it on solid ground fairly quickly and Fleck had a lot to work with via Smith and Brooks.
 



I would never say anything bad about Mo as he was a great back for the Gophs. However, I would have to say my top pick is Darrell Thompson (DT) in terms talent but never had any support. I know many don't look back this far, but it's actually pretty amazing the stats DT put up despite the OL he had in front of him. Again, nothing against MO, but he had an OL with a talent level that was very close to if not better (in some cases) than other Big10 competition. That was never the case for the Gutekunst led teams from the late 80's where they were regularly out-classed. Yet, despite that DT still ended his career with an avg of 5.0 yds per attempt and 40 TDs. I will throw out the same comment for Maroney, as Mason was putting out some pretty good O-lines on the early 2000's compared to what we saw with Gutekunst.
 
Last edited:


BleedGopher said:
Per Jesse:

The Minnesota Gophers football program has seen its fair share of exceptional running backs in the past 50 years. From elusive speedsters to bruising power backs, these Minnesota Gopher greats have left an indelible mark on the program. The running back rankings were based on an in-depth analysis of career statistics, peak seasonal production, consistency, records, and several other factors.

1. Mohamed Ibrahim​

Mohamed Ibrahim finished his collegiate career as the Minnesota Gopher’s all-time leader in rushing yards (4,668) and rushing touchdowns (53). He played from 2018-2022 and was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and the 2020 Big Ten Running Back of the Year. Despite his impressive career stats, Ibrahim’s journey to the top of the Gopher leaderboard wasn’t easy.

The Baltimore native started his career by rushing for 1,160 yards and nine touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2018 and was named the MVP of the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl. When senior running back Rodney Smith returned from injury in 2019, Ibrahim’s production dropped. His breakout season came in 2020 when he rushed for 1,076 yards and 15 touchdowns in a shortened seven-game season. Ibrahim was primed for a big season in 2021 but tore his torn ACL in the season opener against Ohio State. Ibrahim returned for his final season in 2022 and had one of the best rushing seasons in Minnesota Gopher history.

2. Laurence Maroney​

​
Laurence Maroney played for the Gophers from 2003-2005 and was a two-time All-Big Ten selection. He rushed for 3,933 yards and 32 touchdowns in his career, an improbable feat considering he shared the backfield for two full seasons. Maroney was a key part of the Gophers’ high-powered offense that set numerous school records in 2003, including rushing yards, offensive yards, and points per game. He played three seasons for the Minnesota Gophers and left for the NFL following his junior year, and was drafted in the first round by the New England Patriots.​


Maroney was remarkably consistent, playing three full seasons and 36 games. He had three excellent seasons and averaged 6 yards per carry for this career. Had he not left early for the NFL, he likely would be Minnesota’s all-time leading rusher.

3. Darrell Thompson​

For over 30 years, Darrell Thompson was the Minnesota Gophers’ all-time rushing leader until Ibrahim broke his record in 2022. Hailing from Rochester, Minnesota, Thompson was a powerful runner who could break tackles and had a nose for the end zone. He played from 1986-1989, scored 40 rushing touchdowns, and was a two-time All-Big Ten selection.

For many fans, Thompson is synonymous with the Minnesota Gophers football team because of his on-field accomplishments and work in the broadcast booth. He is one of the top all-time Gopher running backs and is #3 on this list.

lastwordonsports.com

Ranking The Top Minnesota Gopher Running Backs

From elusive speedsters to bruising power backs, these are the top Minnesota Gopher running backs from the last 50 years.
lastwordonsports.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
Little known stat on DT. He threw 2 passes in his career both for TDs. Who knows, in today's offenses he might have run a little wildcat.
 

This list is suffering from recency bias. DT is beyond a doubt the greatest RB the Gophers have ever had. Love all the rest, especially Maroney and Redmon but DT is beyond compare.
 





Mick Turition said:
This list is suffering from recency bias. DT is beyond a doubt the greatest RB the Gophers have ever had. Love all the rest, especially Maroney and Redmon but DT is beyond compare.
Click to expand...
Maroney's numbers stack up very well to DT actually, even when factoring in the system. I do think those two should be 1-2 on this list. There's a reason they were both first round draft picks.
 


All time I would add Paul Giel, no. 2 in Heisman vote in 1953
 

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