Every 1,000-Yard Rusher in SEC History

Saturday Down South has compiled an exclusive, one-of-a-kind, searchable database of every 1,000-yard rusher in SEC history.

First, the caveats: This database includes 1,000-yard rushers from every current and past SEC team. (Looking at you Tulane! And obviously newcomers Texas and Oklahoma.) SDS scoured and compared multiple websites and media guides in building the database. In some cases, schools prefer to include bowl totals that the NCAA didn’t recognize until 2002, so their numbers are slightly inflated and different. We’ve noted such discrepancies.

Along the way, we discovered all kinds of interesting nuggets.

Here’s the complete history of every player who rushed for 1,000 yards in a season at an SEC school.

SEC’s 1,000-Yard Rushers

This searchable database includes every player who rushed for 1,000 yards for a team that is or was in the SEC (* indicates the player was not in the SEC at the time; ** indicates the team no longer is in the SEC.)

Every SEC Team’s Single-Season Rushing Record Holder

Only 1 team crowned a new single-season rushing champion in 2024: Tennessee, with Dylan Sampson establishing the new mark with 1,491 yards.

South Carolina’s Heisman winner George Rogers has held a school record for the longest time. Rogers wasn’t in the SEC at the time, but he has been atop the Gamecocks’ single-season rushing list since 1979. In 1980, he broke his own mark to set SC’s current standard. (It’s worth noting that South Carolina chooses to include Rogers’ bowl stats in his total.)

Here is every current SEC team’s leading rusher, entering the 2025 season (* denotes the player was not in the SEC at the time).

Every SEC Team’s First 1,000-Yard Rusher

In 1942, Auburn’s Monk Gafford became the first SEC player to rush for 1,000 yards. Mizzou obviously wasn’t in the SEC at the time, but that same season, Ben Steuber became the first Tiger to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

Here is every current SEC team’s first 1,000-yard rusher (* indicates the player was not in the SEC at the time):

SEC QBs Who Rushed for 1,000 Yards in A Season

Entering 2025, 16 SEC quarterbacks have rushed for 1,000 yards in a season. Four of these QBs (noted by *) won the Heisman Trophy.

This list also includes quarterbacks who weren’t in the SEC at the time (**) — because how could we not recognize Jalen Hurts (and others — most notably Mizzou’s all-time leading rusher, Brad Smith, who rushed for 1,000 yards 3 times in his career). Kyler Murray gets (***) because the former Texas AM starter wasn’t in the SEC when he won the Heisman at Oklahoma in 2018.

Players with 3 or More 1,000-Yard Rushing Seasons in SEC History

Texas Longhorns great Cedric Benson didn’t play in the SEC, but he is the only player from a current SEC school to rush for 1,000 yards 4 times in a college career. Here is the complete list of every player from a current SEC program who has rushed for 1,000 yards in a season 3 or more times (* indicates the player was not in the SEC at the time).

Top 10 Rushing Seasons in SEC History

This ranking isn’t retroactive. It only includes those who played in the SEC.

Here are the SEC’s top 10 rushing totals in a single season, entering 2025:

What The SEC’s Top 10 Would Look Like …

The top 10 single-season rushing leaders would look a lot different if we included everybody who played for a current SEC team (* indicates the player was not in the SEC at the time):

Arkansas single-season record holder Darren McFadden would be the first man out of this revised ranking. Figures. McFadden ran for 1,830 yards in 2007, the year he had a legitimate case to join this list of those snubbed in Heisman voting.

Every 1,000-Yard Rusher by SEC School

Here’s the complete history for every SEC school’s 1,000-yard rushers and single-season record holders:

• Alabama’s 1000-yard rushers
• Arkansas’ 1000-yard rushers
• Auburn’s 1000-yard rushers
• Florida’s 1000-yard rushers
• Georgia’s 1000-yard rushers
• Kentucky’s 1000-yard rushers
• LSU’s 1000-yard rushers
• Mississippi State’s 1000-yard rushers
• Missouri’s 1000-yard rushers
• Oklahoma’s 1000-yard rushers
• Ole Miss’ 1000-yard rushers
• South Carolina’s 1000-yard rushers
• Tennessee’s 1000-yard rushers
• Texas’ 1000-yard rushers
• Texas A&M’s 1000-yard rushers
• Vanderbilt’s 1000-yard rushers

Chris Wright

Managing Editor

A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.