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I still maintain that Barry’s senior season is among the greatest seasons in sports history. His season *AVERAGE* was a career day for any other hall of fame RB.
There are a great many awards for college football. Every position or position group has an award. The awards listed for Barry Sanders Heisman - Oldest overall most outstanding player award. Walter Camp - Player of year. Like the Heisman, but voted on by coaches Maxwell Award - Another player of the year, voted on by Coaches and sports journalists (like the Heisman) All American - panels of people vote on best players by position to form a sort of "all star" team. One bit of trivia about Barry Sanders...his records for most all-purpose yards gained and points scored were recently broken, but when Barry played they only counted the 11-game regular season statistics, not bowl games (now all games are counted). If you add in his 222 yards and 5 touchdowns in the bowl game that year, he still has both records, in a 12 game season. The yards record was broken in a 15 game season and the points record in a 14 game season. On a per-game basis, Barry is still the unquestioned king of Running back greatness.
The fact that the 1987 Oklahoma State University Cowboys had two running backs who would be all time great Hall of Fame players in Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas is still mind blowing, and I've known that fact for 3/4 of my life.
@@DNReacts Barry was the better (and far more spectacular) runner, but Thurman was ahead of his time in how he contributed to the passing game. I say this as a Thurman Thomas fan: Barry was better, no question, but Thurman had more of the skills coaches want from running backs today.
@@DNReacts As stated, Barry is everyone's hero. For the first 5 or 6 years in the NFL career of Thurman Thomas, he was good a first down every other touch as he was an exceptional recieving back for his time. Barry took plenty of snaps for loss. He of course usually found a way to break a couple
Barry Switzer (coach for Oklahoma) once said " Don't hurt Thomas because Sanders is better". Barry Sanders was actually second team behind Thurman Thomas at Oklahoma State.
Scoring once every 9 touches is pretty insane. By comparison, the top halfbacks in college this past year (Bijan Robinson and Blake Corum) scored about once every 13-14 touches.
I'm sure there are players who are goal-line specialists who get put in the game due to being very large and strong and expected to be able to bull their way into the end zone from the one or two yard line. These same guys might be a tad slow to nail down the starting RB position, but are great to have on a team due to the fact the scoreboard registers points, not yards gained. Barry was smallish for a RB and not a short-yardage specialist. If back in college he scored once every nine time he touched the football, a lot, if not most, of those scores were coming from long range, which makes the stat even more mind-boggling. You have watched several American football compiltions by now, but they distort the reality of college or NFL games. It is actually a bit rare to watch a game live or on your TV and get to see a long touchdown run. Most runs are stopped for short gains, unless it is a third-and-twenty situation where the defense happily gives up a 15-yard run. No runner has ever broken loose for long gains and long TDs at the same rate as Barry Sanders.
Back then most college games weren't on TV. So these highlights are all against top competition. From this video, he rushed for 157 yards and 2 TDs and had a punt return for a TD against Texas A&M who had won its conference each of the previous 3 years. He rushed for 189 yards and had 4 TDs against perennial power Nebraska. He had 215 yards and 2 TDs vs perennial power Oklahoma. He had 222 yards and 5 TDs in the Holiday Bowl vs Wyoming (a smaller conference team with just 1 loss heading into that game). To put a little more context around this, Oklahoma State's all-time record vs A&M is 10W-18L. OSU's all time record vs Nebraska is 5W-37L-1T. OSU's all time record vs OU is 19W-91L-7T. It is extra impressive to put up these kind of numbers vs teams that OSU is typically a doormat against. Here are some of the big games from that 1988 season that we didn't see in this video. 304 yards 5 TDs vs Tulsa (broke OSU record for yardage), 320 yards 3 TDs vs Kansas State (broke OSU record for yardage), 312 yards 5TDs vs Kansas, 293 yards 4TDs vs Iowa State, 332 yards 4 TDs vs Texas Tech (broke OSU record for yardage)
If they were in any other conference they'd have won it, but could do no better than 3rd because both Oklahoma & Nebraska were in their prime. The Cowboys pretty much smoked every1 else they faced both this season & the season b4. Both times they wound up 10-2 w/ their only losses being against the Sooners & Huskers.
Getting a TD every 9 rushing attempts is incredible. TDs per rushing attempt is not a stat I see used a lot, so I looked at some Heisman winning RBs I'm familiar with to see how they measure up. They don't really. 37 TDs on 344 attempts in 1988 is unreal. 37 rushing TDs is still the single season record in college football and he did it back when they only played 11 games maximum. Now every team plays at least 12, most play 13 and 1 or 2 teams every year play 15 because of the playoffs.
What's crazy is that they include bowl statistics in the records today, but they didn't when Barry was playing. Montee Ball is in second place at 4 TDs behind Barry, but it took him 14 games including the Big 10 Championship and Wisconsin's bowl that year. If you count the touchdowns Barry scored in the bowl game, he's at an insane 42 rushing TDs on the year. If you add on the rushing yards, he gets even further ahead in that category as well, adding 222 yards to his already record 2628 yards (Melvin Gordon in second with 2587, also in 14 games). Easily the most dominant back in College Football history.
Coincidentally the quarterback for that Oklahoma State game I believe is now the head coach of the team now. Mike Gundy I believe his name, as a coach he had an epic rant protecting one of his players from the media he started shouting at them, " I'm a man, you come after me!" It gets alot of playtime.
Oh wait, was that during the 2007 College Season we watched? The name really rings a bell but I remember the 2007 season started with a sensational rant!
This is the (arguably) the best single college season ever. 3400 all purpose yards, like 40+ touchdowns, 34 NCAA records (fucking what???) and scored about every 9 times he touched the ball. Won every award there is to win in one season.
I'm not sure if the quote is his originally but Sanders is famous for saying (about scoring) "hand the ball to the ref and act like you've been there before"
In his last college season, in 11 games (11!), Barry ran for over 2600 yards and scored 37 TDs. That is 500 more yards than the NFL record of 2105 by Eric Dickerson who played in a 16 game season. He STILL has the the record for yards in a season though the TD record has been broken. Keep in mind today that, excluding the postseason, the college football season is 12 games now.
Sanders has hundreds of runs that I saw through his career that I haven't even seen on youtube. I was lucky enough to grow up watching him most Sunday's. Truly amazing to watch!
I also feel privileged watching Barry run in real time...Never missed a Detroit thanksgiving game.... Actually I did miss one, because I was in juvenile hall😂....Good ol days!
3:45 + I attended this game against Nebraska (as a Nebraska fan). Sanders carried the ball about thirty times, averaging roughly 12 yards per attempt against a very strong team. He scored 6 touchdowns, if memory serves. His team lost by 21 points (like I said, Nebraska was pretty good that year). At the end of the game, 80,000 Nebraska fans rose as one and gave him a standing ovation. That crowd collectively knew they had just witnessed one of the best who would ever play the game, in full form. It was truly remarkable to watch.
I live in Oklahoma and watched Barry in college. The quarterback was Mike Gundy, who now coaches OSU. He said he had the easiest job in college football; handoff to Barry, throw it to Hart Lee Dykes.
I made this comment on the other Barry Sanders video you watched, but getting to watch some of his regular plays actually makes you appreciate him even more than watching just his best highlights. I'm glad you guys got to watch this. He has so many runs that should have been a loss that he will somehow turn into a gain, and so many 2-yard gains that he will turn into an 8-yard run. It doesn't seem like that big of a difference, but in American Football, that difference is what allows an offense to keep getting 1st downs and possessing the ball. When you couple that with his big play ability, and the room he opened up for the passing game because of how much attention he drew from the defense, he was truly a difference maker on the field.
Maxwell Award- Best Overall player Walter Camp Award- Best player Heisman- Best player All American- Voted as best player at his position The main difference in the first 3 awards is just who votes on them. The Heisman is the most well know and prestigious out of the 3
That announcer from the Oklahoma state versus Nebraska series of clips… We don’t get football announcers like that anymore. Actually calling the game like that is a lost art unless you’re listening to some radio broadcasts.
Barry Sanders sadly retired too early from the NFL. I'd recommend watching Tim Tebow's college highlights. One of the best Heisman Trophy winning Quarterbacks in college football history.
Aside from looking good on video, what was spectacular about Sanders when he came onto the scene in 1988 was how he absolutely blew away the record books. Before him, a typical All-American/Heisman running back might get 1700 yards in the season and average 5.5 or 6.0 yards per carry. In a couple of exceptional cases runners passed 2000 yards. Sanders came in and got 2628 yards and 7.6 yards per carry. AND he was great as a kickoff returner at the same time.. I remember seeing the stats that year, I could hardly believe it.
Another amazing thing about Barry Sanders, he got tackled for losses many times, sometimes defenses would shut him down for most of the game… but… eventually, just when the defense convinced themselves they had his number… boom… he scorched them for 40-50-60+ yards. His yards per carry remained high and the defense’s rushing yards allowed also remained high.
1 TD per 9 carries isn’t really a normal stat, because some teams put different RBs in for different situations. Obviously it’s Barry Sanders so we know he’s the real deal. The more conventional stat is YPC, and averaging 6.8 yards per carry for a career is really really good.
I don’t know if this is true of every season, but a few years ago there was a season of college football in which if you took the leading rusher in the nation for each week from any team and added them up, it still wouldn’t have equaled Barry Sanders total for his Heisman year
Adrian Peterson's college highlights (2004-2006) are amazing as well, at OU, just down the road from Barry's OSU. AP, or AD was unfortunately robbed of the Heisman for being just a Freshman. Had huge games vs rivals Texas and OSU, in a run vs Oregon he ran over 4 guys lol.
Growing up in Ann Arbor in the 90s I saw a lot of Barry Sanders on TV. I'm pretty much just a college football fan with no real interest in the NFL, but I'm glad I saw him play a bunch as a kid.
No wonder he retired at 30. Guy ate as many carries as someone in the game 5 years longer than him. He averaged 300 rushing attempts per season. That's pretty brutal. Dude never once had an NFL season under 1000 rushing yards either. Incredible, incredible halfback.
11:53 - This wasn't a reverse. It was a play that people will either call a running back pass or a quarterback option. A reverse is where a run heads to one side of the field and then the runner hands the ball off to someone sweeping around in the other direction. The most famous quarterback option actually included a reverse within it. It's called the Philly Special and the Eagles did it in Super Bowl LII against the Patriots on a 4th and Goal at the end of the first half. The quarterback moved from the shotgun to the slot prior to the snap, they then snapped the ball to the running back who handed the ball off to the tight end on what looked like a reverse but he lobbed the ball to the quarterback who leaked out to the end zone. They were already up 3 and could have gone up 6 going into the half so it was a very ballsy call but it worked and helped them to the big upset win. Consensus All-American = Different organizations name All-American teams of players who they think were the best in the country at each position. This just meant that he was named to every All-American team there was that year. The Maxwell and Walter Camp awards (like the Heisman Trophy) are just other awards given out by different organizations for the best college football player in the country that year.
Scores once every nine times he touches the ball. To put that into perspective… Most NFL Running backs average 20 carry’s per game. That means Barry would average 2 TD per game. That’s a 32 TD season.
The RB just before Barry at OK State was Thurman Thomas, also a HOF running back in the NFL and still holds some Buffalo Bills team records. I saw them both play college ball and both were unreal.
Funny part about this is there were 2 running backs in the Oklahoma state backfield. Look up his team mate at the time THURMOND THOMAS. That was a monster backfield. Thomas was a different kind of runner but was just as good as Barry in college and the NFL. Both HALL OF FAMERS.
"just as good as Barry in college and NFL" Thomas was a great RB, but he wasn't quite on Barry's level in either league. Thomas' two best college seasons total to similar numbers to just Barry's senior season. Barry also put up far more numbers in the NFL despite calling it quits after 10 years and still being in his prime.
One thing to know about Barry and running backs up until the early 2000's is the running defenses were much more stout than they are now. Packing more players in the box instead of spreading them out and the popularity of the running game made defenses focus on the run more. So what they were doing was even more impressive than more recent backs who have the defense more spread out and concentrating more on the passing game.
About that comment about Barry just casually giving the ball to the referees, he did that his entire career. Never showboated or celebrated first downs or touch downs. Made it feel, when you watched him, like he expected to achieve what he did every time he had the ball. Class act. All-American is the best player at each position to form an all-star team. The Maxwell award, Heisman trophy and Walter Camp award are all basically the same. The difference is based on who votes on the recipient.
I'm from Oklahoma and I'm a big Oklahoma Sooners fan. The 1988 Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State game is one of the greatest college football games I've ever seen.
To put it into perspective, Mohamed Ibrahim and Izzy Abanikanda led the nation in rushing TDs last year with 20 a piece, they averaged 1 TD per 16 and 12 carries respectively. Last years NFL TD leader, Jamaal Williams, scored 17 TDs (13 from inside the 2-yard line) on 262 carries which averages out to roughly 1 TD/15 carries. Barry Sanders was monstrous.
Once every 9 times is insane. You could tell Barry was just a MAN among boys when he was in college. When watching at the time, you just knew he was going to the pros when he was done in school. The Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp, and Maxwell Awards are all given to the player of the year, but from different organizations. Walter Camp comes from Coaches and University staff, the Maxwell is from sports casters and media, and the Heisman is from a group called the Heisman Trust that was formed as an off shoot of a charity back in the 1930's during the Depression. Voters for the Heisman include former winners of the awards such as Barry himself. Barry was the opposite of Deion. He never showboated, never celebrated, and was always calm on the field. When he scored a touchdown, he always acted like it was no big thing, he's been in the end zone before, and he knew he would be back.
Two of the great OSU running backs in Thurman Thomas (1984-1987) finishing 7th in the Heisman voting in '87, and then Barry's great 1988 year winning the trophy. But the Big-8 conference was tough and dominated by Nebraska and Oklahoma. In 1987, Thurman's last season, Oklahoma was first, Nebraska second and OSU third - losing only to those two teams. With that fantastic next season Barry had, in 1988 the top two flipped as Nebraska won the conference, followed by Oklahoma and once again OSU was third - losing again only to those two teams. Great seasons but no conference championships, it just shows how tough that top of the Big-8 was in those days.
And even before that the Big 8 had the reputation for fearsome running offenses, like Oklahoma running the wishbone. It was a different game. Three running backs in the backfield, intricate ball handling and fakes by the QB, whose skills beyong that leaned toward joining in the run attack rather than passing. Lots of games with less than 10 pass attempts. The feeling of inevitable loss was palpable when one of these running offenses lined up and just moved the ball relentlessly to the end zone on every possession. The college game did change to more pass-oriented offenses in more recent decades, with the exception of the service academies, mainly Air Force, which still feature the run over the pass on offense. And then there's Michigan, who in recent years has demonstrated to the world their ability to dominate and win oodles of games with a run-first offense, so maybe the run game will be making a comeback. Universities known for running the football tend to attract really great high school runners during the recruiting season.
I remember seeing him early in that season--before there was any hype about him. It was amazing to see for the first time. He hadn't played much because he was behind future NFL Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas (another great RB). I was distraught when my Packers took bust Tony Mandarich over him in the 1989 draft. Later, the Packers (led by legend Reggie White), held Sanders to -1 rushing yards on 13 carries in a playoff win over the Lions. Reggie White is another guy you should watch. For my money he was the best defensive player of all-time.
You should check out Kenneth Walker III. He was a Michigan State RB (he had a phenomenal year) & currently the Seattle Seahawks RB (2nd year); he has some similarities in Barry Sanders' vision & footwork.
Hey, you guys need to check out Mike Alstott. He was more of a throwback type Running back/Fullback. Also, you should buy a quality American football and film your self's throwing and catching with each other, that will also give you guys a better understanding of just how much skill is involved.
Check out Melvin Gordon's "The Best Moments from RB Melvin Gordon as a Wisconsin Badger." He trails only Barry Sanders for most rushing yards in an NCAA season, and carries the highest career yards per attempt by a "Power 5" school running back. He was a first-round pick in the NFL, though perhaps didn't quite live up to that billing.
At 9:37, check out the current season numbers (and they are obviously still playing regular season games)--344 carries for 2,528 yards (!!!!) with 7.6 yards per carry (!!!!! 4 exclamation points :) ) and 37 touchdowns (5 exclamation points). In one ongoing season--holy crap!
If you want a Runningback to react to that will be in college next season for one of the top teams, watch Blake Corum from Michigan. (Blake Corum Ultimate Highlights)He is so quick, and makes some moves similar to Barry sanders. I think you would enjoy it!
If you noticed, the defenses would fill the box with defenders yet Barry more often than not would get past those defensive players. I think he is the best ever.
What a college player! This was his junior season (third year) and he set 34 NCAA records, most of which hold today. His desire was to stay one more year in college, as this was the first time away from home, his 8 sisters, and bossy father. But Father knows Best! Seven million is a lot of money to wait a year on, especially because a year - ANY year - contains so many surprises. SOme surprises are not profitable, no? So, off to Detroit (!) and a great career but it is considered a sort of yuck because he never went to the Stupor Bowel. Well, since football is big biz, even in the 1990's, the League needs the Superbowl to feature real teams with huge markets and even a pretty good presence at the Sports Betting line. If I could do it over again, I would put a gun to the head of De-twoit and force them to trade Sanders to a team that had the green light. Sanders would always perform well, period. He proved that since he was a child. But if he had a total package, he could be the feature player, but the team could go to the big game. Detroit actually had many great players, tried to get a top quarterback, and so on. But.... He is STILL fun to watch. Incidentally, go look at Pistol Pete Maravich's college tape "Maravich Memories - the LSU Years [HD]" and his game against the New York Knicks in which he scored 68, no three point line, and TWO shots disallowed and he fouled out with around 2 minutes to go! You both have good sense about what makes a top gamer exciting, how they cross the generational lines and show us the potential of the human body.
Consensus All American means every voter in the country voted him onto the All American team as RB. All American is a team of players voted as the best at their positions for that year. Maxwell Award is given to the best player of the year, and Walter Camp is also given to best player of the year but each award has different voters
When he made it to the NFL , a beat reporter would try and interview him. Barry would be unavailable as he was running wind sprints up the stadium steps or hitting the weight room. An hour and a half later, he would get his interview, and this was after a loss! He had to work hard to maintain his 34-inch thighes and ankles of steel to make those cuts...
Not in college! Up until high school! Could have played smaller college ball. But decided to go be a student at a big school instead! Oklahoma State was a great time. 🍊
@@DNReacts It’s especially impressive for a running back. A top end wide receiver might score with that ratio of touches to scores, but certainly not a running back.
*Gentleman* love your channel.! I've asked a few times, but I keep trying.! Can you react to *Lyle Alzado* The most intimidating player ever, IMHO.! Also....... a cautionary tale.! By the way, he fought Mohammed Ali and it shows a little bit of that.! He was a MONSTER that everyone feared..... If you can, that would be great...
@@DNReacts I understand guys, totally get it.! And I believe it's entitled *The most feared man* you'll see it, there's only one obvious choice that 2 or 3 others reacted to years ago.! Take care, have a great weekend....
Scoring handling the ball twice as much as that would probably be very good. I'm not sure of the stat. Sometimes a week team having a very good player will 'jack up' those numbers. But I don't think that was the case with Barry. He was a work horse but he wasn't the only horse in the stable. You would at least need a good offensive line to make a good runner your only offensive weapon.
I loved both Barry and Larry’s celebration style, just This is boring and routine, I’ve been here a million times before and I’m going to do it a million more times. Just give the ball to the ref with a poker face, I love it.
For a running back to score it has to be a touchdown as they do not kick the ball or score any other way. So, if he carries 18 times a game and he scores 2 touchdowns, that is pretty good average. Many runners will have 20 or more carries in a game but they are not the only person scoring in the game as there are wide receivers, the Quarterback, other running backs and kickers who can score as well, so your opportunities to actually score are not very high.
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I still maintain that Barry’s senior season is among the greatest seasons in sports history. His season *AVERAGE* was a career day for any other hall of fame RB.
Unreal player!
Junior (final) season.
There are a great many awards for college football. Every position or position group has an award.
The awards listed for Barry Sanders
Heisman - Oldest overall most outstanding player award.
Walter Camp - Player of year. Like the Heisman, but voted on by coaches
Maxwell Award - Another player of the year, voted on by Coaches and sports journalists (like the Heisman)
All American - panels of people vote on best players by position to form a sort of "all star" team.
One bit of trivia about Barry Sanders...his records for most all-purpose yards gained and points scored were recently broken, but when Barry played they only counted the 11-game regular season statistics, not bowl games (now all games are counted). If you add in his 222 yards and 5 touchdowns in the bowl game that year, he still has both records, in a 12 game season. The yards record was broken in a 15 game season and the points record in a 14 game season. On a per-game basis, Barry is still the unquestioned king of Running back greatness.
The fact that the 1987 Oklahoma State University Cowboys had two running backs who would be all time great Hall of Fame players in Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas is still mind blowing, and I've known that fact for 3/4 of my life.
I got to see both of them devour Miami of Ohio back in 87'. The score was 77 - 10.
Thurman Thomas was unkind to my Browns. He always performed well against them, if my memory serves me.
Incredible Adam! Love this. Definitely need to see Thurman Thomas
@@DNReacts Barry was the better (and far more spectacular) runner, but Thurman was ahead of his time in how he contributed to the passing game. I say this as a Thurman Thomas fan: Barry was better, no question, but Thurman had more of the skills coaches want from running backs today.
@@DNReacts As stated, Barry is everyone's hero. For the first 5 or 6 years in the NFL career of Thurman Thomas, he was good a first down every other touch as he was an exceptional recieving back for his time. Barry took plenty of snaps for loss. He of course usually found a way to break a couple
You touched on it but I always found it so endearing that Barry would make the most remarkable play and simply get up and go back to the huddle.
Barry Switzer (coach for Oklahoma) once said " Don't hurt Thomas because Sanders is better". Barry Sanders was actually second team behind Thurman Thomas at Oklahoma State.
I saw Thomas get pulled at halftime because the score was so lopsided and they brought Barry in. It got WAY UGLY.
Scoring once every 9 touches is pretty insane. By comparison, the top halfbacks in college this past year (Bijan Robinson and Blake Corum) scored about once every 13-14 touches.
Thanks for this Brandon, great context! Had a feeling every 9 touches was madness. This confirms it, appreciate the comment
@@DNReacts when will you get to
Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving
I'm sure there are players who are goal-line specialists who get put in the game due to being very large and strong and expected to be able to bull their way into the end zone from the one or two yard line. These same guys might be a tad slow to nail down the starting RB position, but are great to have on a team due to the fact the scoreboard registers points, not yards gained.
Barry was smallish for a RB and not a short-yardage specialist. If back in college he scored once every nine time he touched the football, a lot, if not most, of those scores were coming from long range, which makes the stat even more mind-boggling. You have watched several American football compiltions by now, but they distort the reality of college or NFL games. It is actually a bit rare to watch a game live or on your TV and get to see a long touchdown run. Most runs are stopped for short gains, unless it is a third-and-twenty situation where the defense happily gives up a 15-yard run. No runner has ever broken loose for long gains and long TDs at the same rate as Barry Sanders.
Back then most college games weren't on TV. So these highlights are all against top competition.
From this video, he rushed for 157 yards and 2 TDs and had a punt return for a TD against Texas A&M who had won its conference each of the previous 3 years. He rushed for 189 yards and had 4 TDs against perennial power Nebraska. He had 215 yards and 2 TDs vs perennial power Oklahoma. He had 222 yards and 5 TDs in the Holiday Bowl vs Wyoming (a smaller conference team with just 1 loss heading into that game).
To put a little more context around this, Oklahoma State's all-time record vs A&M is 10W-18L. OSU's all time record vs Nebraska is 5W-37L-1T. OSU's all time record vs OU is 19W-91L-7T. It is extra impressive to put up these kind of numbers vs teams that OSU is typically a doormat against.
Here are some of the big games from that 1988 season that we didn't see in this video. 304 yards 5 TDs vs Tulsa (broke OSU record for yardage), 320 yards 3 TDs vs Kansas State (broke OSU record for yardage), 312 yards 5TDs vs Kansas, 293 yards 4TDs vs Iowa State, 332 yards 4 TDs vs Texas Tech (broke OSU record for yardage)
If they were in any other conference they'd have won it, but could do no better than 3rd because both Oklahoma & Nebraska were in their prime. The Cowboys pretty much smoked every1 else they faced both this season & the season b4. Both times they wound up 10-2 w/ their only losses being against the Sooners & Huskers.
Getting a TD every 9 rushing attempts is incredible. TDs per rushing attempt is not a stat I see used a lot, so I looked at some Heisman winning RBs I'm familiar with to see how they measure up. They don't really. 37 TDs on 344 attempts in 1988 is unreal. 37 rushing TDs is still the single season record in college football and he did it back when they only played 11 games maximum. Now every team plays at least 12, most play 13 and 1 or 2 teams every year play 15 because of the playoffs.
What's crazy is that they include bowl statistics in the records today, but they didn't when Barry was playing. Montee Ball is in second place at 4 TDs behind Barry, but it took him 14 games including the Big 10 Championship and Wisconsin's bowl that year. If you count the touchdowns Barry scored in the bowl game, he's at an insane 42 rushing TDs on the year. If you add on the rushing yards, he gets even further ahead in that category as well, adding 222 yards to his already record 2628 yards (Melvin Gordon in second with 2587, also in 14 games). Easily the most dominant back in College Football history.
Coincidentally the quarterback for that Oklahoma State game I believe is now the head coach of the team now. Mike Gundy I believe his name, as a coach he had an epic rant protecting one of his players from the media he started shouting at them, " I'm a man, you come after me!" It gets alot of playtime.
Oh wait, was that during the 2007 College Season we watched? The name really rings a bell but I remember the 2007 season started with a sensational rant!
Yep, same guy. Probably the most underrated coach in college football. FEAR THE MULLET!
"IM A MAN, IM 40!"
Love that rant, sticking up for his young player. Im a Nebraska fan, always. Nothing but respect for Mike Gundy since that!
This is the (arguably) the best single college season ever. 3400 all purpose yards, like 40+ touchdowns, 34 NCAA records (fucking what???) and scored about every 9 times he touched the ball. Won every award there is to win in one season.
For real, the mind boggling part to me is still the 34 records broken. Nobody ever touches on that subject and it's quite ridiculous.
I'm not sure if the quote is his originally but Sanders is famous for saying (about scoring) "hand the ball to the ref and act like you've been there before"
In his last college season, in 11 games (11!), Barry ran for over 2600 yards and scored 37 TDs. That is 500 more yards than the NFL record of 2105 by Eric Dickerson who played in a 16 game season. He STILL has the the record for yards in a season though the TD record has been broken. Keep in mind today that, excluding the postseason, the college football season is 12 games now.
He still has it for just rushing touchdowns. Unfair to include passing touchdowns
That year he won the Heisman he averaged 239 rushing yards per game and had 37 rushing touchdowns in just 11 games played.
Just wow!
39
Sanders has hundreds of runs that I saw through his career that I haven't even seen on youtube. I was lucky enough to grow up watching him most Sunday's. Truly amazing to watch!
I also feel privileged watching Barry run in real time...Never missed a Detroit thanksgiving game.... Actually I did miss one, because I was in juvenile hall😂....Good ol days!
3:45 +
I attended this game against Nebraska (as a Nebraska fan). Sanders carried the ball about thirty times, averaging roughly 12 yards per attempt against a very strong team. He scored 6 touchdowns, if memory serves.
His team lost by 21 points (like I said, Nebraska was pretty good that year). At the end of the game, 80,000 Nebraska fans rose as one and gave him a standing ovation.
That crowd collectively knew they had just witnessed one of the best who would ever play the game, in full form. It was truly remarkable to watch.
I live in Oklahoma and watched Barry in college. The quarterback was Mike Gundy, who now coaches OSU. He said he had the easiest job in college football; handoff to Barry, throw it to Hart Lee Dykes.
I made this comment on the other Barry Sanders video you watched, but getting to watch some of his regular plays actually makes you appreciate him even more than watching just his best highlights. I'm glad you guys got to watch this. He has so many runs that should have been a loss that he will somehow turn into a gain, and so many 2-yard gains that he will turn into an 8-yard run. It doesn't seem like that big of a difference, but in American Football, that difference is what allows an offense to keep getting 1st downs and possessing the ball. When you couple that with his big play ability, and the room he opened up for the passing game because of how much attention he drew from the defense, he was truly a difference maker on the field.
The man processed the greatest combination of Strength, agility and balance of any human being to ever have lived.
my favorite player of all time. An absolute freak and the most humble football player ever.
Maxwell Award- Best Overall player
Walter Camp Award- Best player
Heisman- Best player
All American- Voted as best player at his position
The main difference in the first 3 awards is just who votes on them. The Heisman is the most well know and prestigious out of the 3
Thank you Luke. Appreciate the breakdown!
About 60 offensive plays per game per team. So a score every 9 touches would mean about 46.7pts per game. This is very good.
That announcer from the Oklahoma state versus Nebraska series of clips… We don’t get football announcers like that anymore. Actually calling the game like that is a lost art unless you’re listening to some radio broadcasts.
Barry Sanders sadly retired too early from the NFL. I'd recommend watching Tim Tebow's college highlights. One of the best Heisman Trophy winning Quarterbacks in college football history.
Aside from looking good on video, what was spectacular about Sanders when he came onto the scene in 1988 was how he absolutely blew away the record books. Before him, a typical All-American/Heisman running back might get 1700 yards in the season and average 5.5 or 6.0 yards per carry. In a couple of exceptional cases runners passed 2000 yards. Sanders came in and got 2628 yards and 7.6 yards per carry. AND he was great as a kickoff returner at the same time.. I remember seeing the stats that year, I could hardly believe it.
Great read, thanks Big_Tex
The Quarterback that Barry played with in college is now the Head Coach of the Oklahoma State Football team. Just a cool lil nugget of information
Another amazing thing about Barry Sanders, he got tackled for losses many times, sometimes defenses would shut him down for most of the game… but… eventually, just when the defense convinced themselves they had his number… boom… he scorched them for 40-50-60+ yards. His yards per carry remained high and the defense’s rushing yards allowed also remained high.
Scoring once every 9 times you touch the ball is ridiculously insane.
If you watch Barry, he never spikes the ball or anything. When he scores he always gives the ball to the officials. Just very humble and classy dude.
Barry, John Elway, and Jerry Rice were my guys...awesome talent
1 TD per 9 carries isn’t really a normal stat, because some teams put different RBs in for different situations. Obviously it’s Barry Sanders so we know he’s the real deal. The more conventional stat is YPC, and averaging 6.8 yards per carry for a career is really really good.
Yeah he was very very good!
I don’t know if this is true of every season, but a few years ago there was a season of college football in which if you took the leading rusher in the nation for each week from any team and added them up, it still wouldn’t have equaled Barry Sanders total for his Heisman year
Barry Sanders and Reggie Bush were absolutely insanely spectacular in college.
Adrian Peterson's college highlights (2004-2006) are amazing as well, at OU, just down the road from Barry's OSU. AP, or AD was unfortunately robbed of the Heisman for being just a Freshman. Had huge games vs rivals Texas and OSU, in a run vs Oregon he ran over 4 guys lol.
Growing up in Ann Arbor in the 90s I saw a lot of Barry Sanders on TV. I'm pretty much just a college football fan with no real interest in the NFL, but I'm glad I saw him play a bunch as a kid.
Sounds awesome Jon!
No wonder he retired at 30. Guy ate as many carries as someone in the game 5 years longer than him. He averaged 300 rushing attempts per season. That's pretty brutal. Dude never once had an NFL season under 1000 rushing yards either. Incredible, incredible halfback.
11:53 - This wasn't a reverse. It was a play that people will either call a running back pass or a quarterback option. A reverse is where a run heads to one side of the field and then the runner hands the ball off to someone sweeping around in the other direction. The most famous quarterback option actually included a reverse within it. It's called the Philly Special and the Eagles did it in Super Bowl LII against the Patriots on a 4th and Goal at the end of the first half. The quarterback moved from the shotgun to the slot prior to the snap, they then snapped the ball to the running back who handed the ball off to the tight end on what looked like a reverse but he lobbed the ball to the quarterback who leaked out to the end zone. They were already up 3 and could have gone up 6 going into the half so it was a very ballsy call but it worked and helped them to the big upset win.
Consensus All-American = Different organizations name All-American teams of players who they think were the best in the country at each position. This just meant that he was named to every All-American team there was that year.
The Maxwell and Walter Camp awards (like the Heisman Trophy) are just other awards given out by different organizations for the best college football player in the country that year.
Keep it up fellas. It’s been fun watching y’all try to get the hang of this game. You’re doing great. The channel is doing pretty good too.
Thank you, appreciate the comment! We’ll keep going 💪
Scores once every nine times he touches the ball. To put that into perspective… Most NFL Running backs average 20 carry’s per game. That means Barry would average 2 TD per game. That’s a 32 TD season.
The RB just before Barry at OK State was Thurman Thomas, also a HOF running back in the NFL and still holds some Buffalo Bills team records. I saw them both play college ball and both were unreal.
Thurman Thomas was definitely a stud. A bit like Marshall Faulk before Marshall Faulk was Marshall Faulk.
As a CFB junkie, I can attest to just how fun he was to watch. Winning the Heisman trophy was no-brainer. He was an anomaly.
Funny part about this is there were 2 running backs in the Oklahoma state backfield.
Look up his team mate at the time THURMOND THOMAS. That was a monster backfield. Thomas was a different kind of runner but was just as good as Barry in college and the NFL. Both HALL OF FAMERS.
Thank you, we will check him out!
"just as good as Barry in college and NFL" Thomas was a great RB, but he wasn't quite on Barry's level in either league. Thomas' two best college seasons total to similar numbers to just Barry's senior season. Barry also put up far more numbers in the NFL despite calling it quits after 10 years and still being in his prime.
One thing to know about Barry and running backs up until the early 2000's is the running defenses were much more stout than they are now. Packing more players in the box instead of spreading them out and the popularity of the running game made defenses focus on the run more. So what they were doing was even more impressive than more recent backs who have the defense more spread out and concentrating more on the passing game.
oh sweet, i have been looking for somone to look at a reaction of his college highlights.
Hope you enjoy John. Appreciate the comments 🙏
About that comment about Barry just casually giving the ball to the referees, he did that his entire career. Never showboated or celebrated first downs or touch downs. Made it feel, when you watched him, like he expected to achieve what he did every time he had the ball. Class act.
All-American is the best player at each position to form an all-star team.
The Maxwell award, Heisman trophy and Walter Camp award are all basically the same. The difference is based on who votes on the recipient.
I'm from Oklahoma and I'm a big Oklahoma Sooners fan. The 1988 Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State game is one of the greatest college football games I've ever seen.
To put it into perspective, Mohamed Ibrahim and Izzy Abanikanda led the nation in rushing TDs last year with 20 a piece, they averaged 1 TD per 16 and 12 carries respectively.
Last years NFL TD leader, Jamaal Williams, scored 17 TDs (13 from inside the 2-yard line) on 262 carries which averages out to roughly 1 TD/15 carries.
Barry Sanders was monstrous.
Once every 9 times is insane. You could tell Barry was just a MAN among boys when he was in college. When watching at the time, you just knew he was going to the pros when he was done in school. The Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp, and Maxwell Awards are all given to the player of the year, but from different organizations. Walter Camp comes from Coaches and University staff, the Maxwell is from sports casters and media, and the Heisman is from a group called the Heisman Trust that was formed as an off shoot of a charity back in the 1930's during the Depression. Voters for the Heisman include former winners of the awards such as Barry himself. Barry was the opposite of Deion. He never showboated, never celebrated, and was always calm on the field. When he scored a touchdown, he always acted like it was no big thing, he's been in the end zone before, and he knew he would be back.
Two of the great OSU running backs in Thurman Thomas (1984-1987) finishing 7th in the Heisman voting in '87, and then Barry's great 1988 year winning the trophy. But the Big-8 conference was tough and dominated by Nebraska and Oklahoma. In 1987, Thurman's last season, Oklahoma was first, Nebraska second and OSU third - losing only to those two teams. With that fantastic next season Barry had, in 1988 the top two flipped as Nebraska won the conference, followed by Oklahoma and once again OSU was third - losing again only to those two teams. Great seasons but no conference championships, it just shows how tough that top of the Big-8 was in those days.
And even before that the Big 8 had the reputation for fearsome running offenses, like Oklahoma running the wishbone. It was a different game. Three running backs in the backfield, intricate ball handling and fakes by the QB, whose skills beyong that leaned toward joining in the run attack rather than passing. Lots of games with less than 10 pass attempts. The feeling of inevitable loss was palpable when one of these running offenses lined up and just moved the ball relentlessly to the end zone on every possession. The college game did change to more pass-oriented offenses in more recent decades, with the exception of the service academies, mainly Air Force, which still feature the run over the pass on offense. And then there's Michigan, who in recent years has demonstrated to the world their ability to dominate and win oodles of games with a run-first offense, so maybe the run game will be making a comeback. Universities known for running the football tend to attract really great high school runners during the recruiting season.
Sanders in 1988 still holds the college football record for rushing yards in a season - with one less game played than nowadays.
Saquan Barkley college highlights are phenomenal.
I remember seeing him early in that season--before there was any hype about him. It was amazing to see for the first time. He hadn't played much because he was behind future NFL Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas (another great RB). I was distraught when my Packers took bust Tony Mandarich over him in the 1989 draft. Later, the Packers (led by legend Reggie White), held Sanders to -1 rushing yards on 13 carries in a playoff win over the Lions. Reggie White is another guy you should watch. For my money he was the best defensive player of all-time.
You should check out Kenneth Walker III. He was a Michigan State RB (he had a phenomenal year) & currently the Seattle Seahawks RB (2nd year); he has some similarities in Barry Sanders' vision & footwork.
Barry is the GOAT.
Love this!
G.O.A.T. it's an acronym
@@benjaminodem392 Source?
Great reaction Gents. Gosh, we (Chicagoans) miss him 🐻
Thank you so much 🙏
Fun reaction…thanks!
Thank you Chris!
My first reaction to he scores once every nine times is that sounds impossible.
Hey, you guys need to check out Mike Alstott. He was more of a throwback type Running back/Fullback. Also, you should buy a quality American football and film your self's throwing and catching with each other, that will also give you guys a better understanding of just how much skill is involved.
YES!!! Loved Alstott. The exact opposite style of Barry, but just as entertaining.
Check out Melvin Gordon's "The Best Moments from RB Melvin Gordon as a Wisconsin Badger." He trails only Barry Sanders for most rushing yards in an NCAA season, and carries the highest career yards per attempt by a "Power 5" school running back. He was a first-round pick in the NFL, though perhaps didn't quite live up to that billing.
At 9:37, check out the current season numbers (and they are obviously still playing regular season games)--344 carries for 2,528 yards (!!!!) with 7.6 yards per carry (!!!!! 4 exclamation points :) ) and 37 touchdowns (5 exclamation points). In one ongoing season--holy crap!
Can’t argue those stats Greg! Incredible Yards per Carry alone
Bru, he was and is AWESOME. You guys should try out Herschel Walker. Hey, thank you guys for this amazing video. 😊
Thank you! Herschel Walker coming, got him on the list 😀
Fun to watch him against Nebraska. Oklahoma State still lost 63 to 42 but Barry gave them a lot of trouble.
He was too good!
Back in the 70s and 80s college football was very Run heavy, running backs was the Stars, look at the Heisman trophy winners over that time
If you want a Runningback to react to that will be in college next season for one of the top teams, watch Blake Corum from Michigan. (Blake Corum Ultimate Highlights)He is so quick, and makes some moves similar to Barry sanders. I think you would enjoy it!
1:47 is that a dog guy here? How did the dog get out a football game? How is it making enough noise for the TV microphones to pick it up?😂😂
Maybe take a look at Mike Alstott. A totally different style of runner and the last great fullback.
Thanks Jonathan, got him on the list
Once every 9 times is absolutely ridiculous!
The qb in this video, gundy, is now the coach at osu
Barry's 1988 season at Oklahoma State is still the single greatest college football season of all time. Absolutely absurd.
The greatest single college football season in history...
Barry has very good top end speed. He is fast, but can occasionally get caught from behind.
PS It might be worth mentioning that Barry Sanders only played two fourth quarters in his Junior year because the tea was ahead most of the time!
1 TD every 9 touches is ridiculous at any level 🙆
If you noticed, the defenses would fill the box with defenders yet Barry more often than not would get past those defensive players. I think he is the best ever.
He made it look easy at times!
What a college player! This was his junior season (third year) and he set 34 NCAA records, most of which hold today. His desire was to stay one more year in college, as this was the first time away from home, his 8 sisters, and bossy father. But Father knows Best! Seven million is a lot of money to wait a year on, especially because a year - ANY year - contains so many surprises. SOme surprises are not profitable, no? So, off to Detroit (!) and a great career but it is considered a sort of yuck because he never went to the Stupor Bowel. Well, since football is big biz, even in the 1990's, the League needs the Superbowl to feature real teams with huge markets and even a pretty good presence at the Sports Betting line.
If I could do it over again, I would put a gun to the head of De-twoit and force them to trade Sanders to a team that had the green light. Sanders would always perform well, period. He proved that since he was a child. But if he had a total package, he could be the feature player, but the team could go to the big game. Detroit actually had many great players, tried to get a top quarterback, and so on. But....
He is STILL fun to watch.
Incidentally, go look at Pistol Pete Maravich's college tape "Maravich Memories - the LSU Years [HD]" and his game against the New York Knicks in which he scored 68, no three point line, and TWO shots disallowed and he fouled out with around 2 minutes to go! You both have good sense about what makes a top gamer exciting, how they cross the generational lines and show us the potential of the human body.
Barry also had so many ridiculous nfl highlights it’s worth a watch too!
Pretty sure others have said it, but the Heisman Trophy = College Football Ballon d’Or
Consensus All American means every voter in the country voted him onto the All American team as RB. All American is a team of players voted as the best at their positions for that year. Maxwell Award is given to the best player of the year, and Walter Camp is also given to best player of the year but each award has different voters
In that era, a "workhorse" type running back like Barry would carry the ball between 20 and 25 times a game.
When he made it to the NFL , a beat reporter would try and interview him. Barry would be unavailable as he was running wind sprints up the stadium steps or hitting the weight room. An hour and a half later, he would get his interview, and this was after a loss! He had to work hard to maintain his 34-inch thighes and ankles of steel to make those cuts...
Wow, that’s incredible! Thank you for the info 🙏
This is when I started watching football
What a time to start Wesley!
GO POKES! C/O 2014 here!
Did you play?
Not in college! Up until high school! Could have played smaller college ball. But decided to go be a student at a big school instead! Oklahoma State was a great time. 🍊
Scoring once every nine times is ridiculously good.
Thanks Kent! Wasn’t 100% sure but thought it sounded extremely good
@@DNReacts It’s especially impressive for a running back. A top end wide receiver might score with that ratio of touches to scores, but certainly not a running back.
you've got to watch jadeveon clowney's college highlights
now we need adrian peterson college highlights
It is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous
Y’all would be impressed with Jamar chase. He’s a elite WR
*Gentleman* love your channel.! I've asked a few times, but I keep trying.! Can you react to *Lyle Alzado* The most intimidating player ever, IMHO.! Also....... a cautionary tale.! By the way, he fought Mohammed Ali and it shows a little bit of that.! He was a MONSTER that everyone feared..... If you can, that would be great...
Thanks David, really appreciate that, have got Lyle Alzado on the list, just such a big list!
@@DNReacts I understand guys, totally get it.! And I believe it's entitled *The most feared man* you'll see it, there's only one obvious choice that 2 or 3 others reacted to years ago.! Take care, have a great weekend....
The quarterback in most of these highlights was future and current OSU head coach Mike Gundy.
Remembered the name from our 2007 College Season Watch! We’ve gotta see some of Mike Gundy
You guys need to watch the greatest college football comeback ever. It's UCLA vs Texas A&M
I would love to see a reaction to highlights or a short film on superbowl 43 steelers vs cardinals keep up the great work🙏
Thanks Tito, we will. Have added this one to our list!
Would love for you guys to react to the A-Train Mike Alstott
100% on the list, fairly high up too, hoping to get him out in the next couple of months 🤞
Coaches on the other side having to deal with the once in a lifetime fenom. Must have been rough.
You guys should do a Josh Allen NFL highlights review! You won’t be disappointed
you should react to south Carolina v.s. Michigan 2013 outback bowl highlights.
Scoring handling the ball twice as much as that would probably be very good. I'm not sure of the stat. Sometimes a week team having a very good player will 'jack up' those numbers. But I don't think that was the case with Barry. He was a work horse but he wasn't the only horse in the stable. You would at least need a good offensive line to make a good runner your only offensive weapon.
Easily in the top 5 running backs.
Certainly #1 in the most exciting players of all time.
There is another game we play in college and pro LaCrosse it is a native American game you should check it out
I loved both Barry and Larry’s celebration style, just This is boring and routine, I’ve been here a million times before and I’m going to do it a million more times. Just give the ball to the ref with a poker face, I love it.
For a running back to score it has to be a touchdown as they do not kick the ball or score any other way. So, if he carries 18 times a game and he scores 2 touchdowns, that is pretty good average. Many runners will have 20 or more carries in a game but they are not the only person scoring in the game as there are wide receivers, the Quarterback, other running backs and kickers who can score as well, so your opportunities to actually score are not very high.