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The two biggest surprises regarding the University of Alabama offense this past season both had to do with the running game.
1) T.J. Yeldon did not lead the Crimson Tide in rushing, and;
2) The Crimson Tide didn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher.
When the final handoff had been made for the 2014 season sophomore Derrick Henry had 990 rushing yards while Yeldon, who has already declared that he’s going pro, tallied 979 despite having 22 more carries than his younger colleague (194 to 172).
Granted, they came only 31 yards short of being the second 1,000-yard rushing tandem in Crimson Tide history (Eddie Lacy and Yeldon in 2012), and Yeldon just missed becoming the first running back at Alabama to record three 1,000-yard seasons, it was just the second time since 2008 that UA did haven’t have a 1,000-yard running back.
The other was 2010, when Alabama finished 10-3.
Here are the game, season and career rushing leaders for those playing when Saban was the head coach at Toledo in 1990, Michigan State from 1995-99, LSU from 2000-04 and Alabama:
Game
Yards, Name, School, Opponent, Year
250 Alley Broussard, LSU vs. Ole Miss, 2004
246 Mark Ingram, Alabama vs. South Carolina , 2009
238 Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State vs. Penn State, 1997
229 Marc Renaud, Michigan State vs. Minnesota, 1995
218 Glen Coffee, Alabama vs. Kentucky, 2008
203 Trent Richardson, Alabama at Auburn, 2011
201 Justin Vincent, LSU vs. Georgia, 2003
183 LaBrandon Toefield, LSU vs. Utah State, 2001
183 Trent Richardson, Alabama at Ole Miss, 2011
181 Trent Richardson, Alabama at Florida, 2011
181 Eddie Lacy, Alabama vs. Georgia, 2012
Season
Name, School, Year, Carries, Yards
Trent Richardson, Alabama, 2011, 283, 1,679
Mark Ingram, Alabama, 2009, 271, 1,658
Glen Coffee, Alabama, 2008, 233, 1,383
Eddie Lacy, Alabama, 2012, 204, 1,322
Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State, 1997, 246, 1,270
T.J. Yeldon, Alabama, 2013, 207, 1,246
Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State, 1998, 272, 1,167
T.J. Yeldon, Alabama, 2012, 175, 1,108
Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State, 1996, 237, 1,067
Marc Renaud, Michigan State, 1995, 216, 1,057
Career
Name, School, Years, Carries, Yards
Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State, 1996-98, 755, 3,504
T.J. Yeldon, Alabama, 2012-14, 3,322
Mark Ingram, Alabama, 2008-10, 572, 3,281
Trent Richardson, Alabama, 2009-11, 540, 3,130
Eddie Lacy, Alabama, 2010-12, 355, 2,402
LaBrandon Toefield, LSU, 2000-02, 511, 2,149
Glen Coffee, Alabama, 2007-08, 362, 1,928
Marc Renaud, Michigan State, 1995 1997, 355, 1,848
Domanick Davis, LSU, 2000-02, 391, 1,782
Joseph Addai, LSU, 2001-04, 303, 1,665
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
