If you haven’t noticed, it’s G.O.A.T week here at the Spartans Wire (and across the entire college wire universe). We’ve already done the G.O.A.T coaches, G.O.A.T quarterbacks and G.O.A.T teams.
Today, we salute the greatest to ever tote the pill for Michigan State football.
Now, let me get something off my chest before we get going.
This was really frickin’ hard. There are unquestionably great running backs that will not be on this list. Michigan State, through many years of up and down football, has always been able to produce great college running backs. I could make the argument that it’s the best position MSU has had in the last 40 years. Narrowing that group down to just five players is a tough ask.
I even threw this out on Twitter, telling my followers I was struggling with it, and I got many responses with people telling me “so and so has to be on it” and folks, there’s truly only one guaranteed spot and if you know anything about Michigan State football and its history, you already know to whom I’m referring.
Luckily I’ve got the 2019 media guide right next to me and in it there is a handy-dandy records section, because I’ve got some parsing to do with these names.
Also, I’m going to keep this list to just the last 40 years or so. There will be an honorable mention section and there I’ll give a nod to some of the older names worthy of it, but as far the top five goes, they’ll be more recent players. It just doesn’t make sense to include someone like John Pingel, because unless you’re in your 90s and watched him live, none of us saw him play.
With all of that said, let’s get into the list.
Honorable Mention
John Pingel
Pingel was a do-it-all All-American for the then Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, which was the period between MAC and MSU. He helped Michigan State to the Orange bowl in 1938 his senior season. He is a “Ring of Fame” member and was one of the top rushers, passers and punters in the 1938 season. College football used to be so weird.
Clinton Jones
Jones helped lead Michigan State to back-to-back Big Ten and national championships in 1965-66. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015. He’s 19th in all-time rushing yards at MSU and 18th in all-time rushing touchdowns. He also ran for 268 yards in a single game in the 1966 season against Iowa.
Tico Duckett
Everyone loves T.J. but his brother Tico was a hell of a running back in his own right. Tico was the Co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 1990 and is 3rd all time in program history in rushing yards. He also ranks 11th in career rushing touchdowns.
Eric Allen
This list is ridiculous. Eric Allen has pretty crazy stats. He’s 12th in career rushing yards, 20th in rushing average and 9th in rushing touchdowns. He has the 7th most rushing yards in a single season in program history with 1,494 in 1971. He also scored 18 touchdowns that season, tied for 5th most in a single season at MSU. He also holds the record for most rushing yards in a single game ever, with 350 against Purdue, which at the time was the NCAA record. He finished 10th in Heisman voting in 1971.
Jehuu Caulcrick
I know. I know. We’re getting there. Caulcrick had a wonderful MSU career but was overshadowed by a certain running mate we’ll get to later. He finished 13th in career rushing yards at MSU and 3rd in career touchdowns, thanks to his 2007 season during which he scored 21 times. He had really nice career and would probably be higher on the list if he had the backfield unto himself.
T.J. Duckett
Yeah, this is about to get real. It took me so long to make this selection and I’ve still got to list one more person at honorable mention. It’s a sick joke the world is playing on me. Duckett finished his career at MSU 6th in rushing yards and 8th in touchdowns and he did that in just three seasons. He has the 8th and 9th highest single season marks in rushing yards per game. He ran for 248 yards in a game in 2000 against Iowa. He also has the 10th most rushing yards in a single season in MSU history. I left him off because his career numbers were just a little lower than the rest and he didn’t have that single season that blew everyone out of the water. It’s totally semantics at this point and I understand if you hate me for leaving him off.
Sedrick Irvin
Sedrick Irvin rushed for more than 1,000 yards for three straight seasons. He’s 5th in career rushing yards and 4th in career touchdowns. He scored 16 touchdowns in 1996, good for 9th most in a single season. Oh and he did all this in just three seasons. So why isn’t he in the top five? Well, because it’s a top five and there are too many good running backs. That’s it. That’s the reason. Like Duckett, I don’t really have a knock on him. His efficiency wasn’t the best and I could argue he was a little bit of a compiler being the only show in town. He was great. Full stop. Just not great enough to crack the top five.
I’M SO HAPPY THIS PART IS OVER. LET’S GET TO THE TOP FIVE WHERE SURELY WE WILL ALL AGREE ON THE RANKINGS.
#5. Blake Ezor
Ezor probably should be higher on this list, but he had to share time with a certain somebody that will be named later. A total stud, Ezor finished 4th in career rushing yards and tied for 5th in career touchdowns. He rushed for damn year 2,800 yards and 30 TDs in his junior and senior seasons. And he had the most breathtaking mullet you’ll ever see. He has the 6th-best single season rushing mark in school history and the 4th most TDs scored in a single season. Oh, and those weren’t in the same season. He still holds the school record for rushing touchdowns in a game, scoring 6 against Northwestern in 1989.
#4. Jeremy Langford
Langford was the star back for two of the best Michigan State seasons ever. Had he been a running back his entire career, he could be even higher on the list. He finished his time at MSU 8th in career rushing yards and 2nd in touchdowns. He’s got the 5th most rushing yards in a single season and scored the most touchdowns in a single season in school history with 22 in 2014. In 2013 he scored 18 touchdowns, good for 5th all time in school history. Also, you won’t find him on any of the single game marks. Langford was consistently prolific and didn’t have any single games skewing his total numbers. Another nice touch, he finished his career with 5.14 yards per carry, which is 2nd best among the players in the top five.
#3 Le’Veon Bell
Note than I’m only using NFL careers as tiebreak if necessary. In two-and-a-half seasons as the guy, Bell racked up enough yards and touchdowns to finish 7th all-time in both spots. His 2012 campaign was incredible, given that he was the entire offense. He rolled up 1,793 yards that year, good for the 2nd-best season in school history. That year he rushed for 137.9 yards per game, also 2nd-best in school history. He has the 6th and 7th-best single games in school history for rushing yards. He did all of that all while leaving school early for the NFL. If Bell had a senior season in East Lansing, he’d be number one just about everywhere.
#2 Javon Ringer
No drama from here on out! Ringer finished his MSU career 2nd all-time in rushing yards and 5th all-time in touchdowns, all while sharing carries with the aforementioned Jehuu Caulcrick. He has the 3rd-best single season rushing mark in school history and is tied for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season in school history with 22. He’s got the 4th-best game in school history in terms of rushing yards and 2nd-best game in terms of touchdowns. Here’s why he’s above Bell and Langford: He’s 15th in school history in rushing average, the highest of anybody else on the list. Combine that efficiency with the fact that he’s 2nd in school history in rushing attempts and he has to be in the number two spot.
#1 Lorenzo White
This was the easiest part of this entire exercise. Let me tell you why. Lorenzo White is the MSU record holder in the following: Career rushing attempts, career rushing yards, career rushing touchdowns, single season rushing attempts, single season rushing yards (2,066!!), single season rushing yards per game and single game rushing attempts (56!!!!!!). He also has the 7th and 9th most touchdowns in a single season, the 4th most rushing yards in a single season, the 4th-highest rushing yards per game in a season, the 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 10th most attempts in a single game and the 2nd and 3rd most rushing yards in a single game. He’s in the College Football Hall of Fame. He’s newly inducted into the MSU Ring of Fame. He was a Big Ten Player of the Year. He was twice a Heisman Finalist and All-American. He’s simply put, the greatest and most prolific running back to ever don the green and white and the easy pick for the greatest running back in school history.
