Top 10 Running Backs in Indiana Football History

The Indiana Hoosiers' position group with the best history is their running backs. IU has had nearly a dozen All-Americans, a Heisman Finalist, and plenty of 1,000-yard rushers.

Narrowing down the entire history of Indiana running backs to just ten meant leaving off some familiar names, but IU is more loaded at the position than many might think.

Ranking the Greatest Running Backs in Indiana Football History

Oct 11, 2014; Iowa City, IA, USA; Indiana Hoosiers running back Tevin Coleman (6) runs for a touchdown against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Indiana Top Running Back Quick Hits

Anthony Thompson, Vaughn Dunbar, Tevin Coleman headline Indiana's all-time great backs
Several great Hoosier rushers didn't make the elite top 10
Old-school legends Corby Davis and John Isenbarger still stand among IU's best ever

10. Devine Redding

Hoosier Career: 2014-2016
Career Stats: 2,252 yards, 17 TD (4.4 ypc), 40 catches, 245 yards 2 TD
Honors: Most Rushing Yards in IU Bowl History, Back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons

Devine Redding is largely slept on by many college football and IU fans. Most of his time was spent as the second fiddle to Tevin Coleman and Jordan Howard. However, he was a productive back for IU.

Redding holds the IU record for most rushing yards in a bowl game (2015 Pinstripe Bowl) with 227 yards. In 2015, he filled in for a banged-up Jordan Howard and ran for 1,012 yards and nine touchdowns.

He followed that up as the full-time starter in 2016, running for 1,122 yards and seven touchdowns. He was the most consistent offensive player on the 2016 team and helped lead IU to the post season.

9. Stevie Scott III

Hoosier Career: 2018 to 2020
Career Stats: 2,543 yards, 30 TD (4.5 ypc), catches, 383 yards 2 TD
Honors: 2nd Team All-Big Ten (2019, 2020), All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2018)

Scott was pressed into emergency running back duty after injuries to players in front of him forced the switch from linebacker. It was a position Scott did not give up.

In 2018, Scott set IU's true freshman record for rushing yards with 1,137 and scored 10 touchdowns. He followed that up with 845 rushing yards and 1,056 total yards in 2019 as he helped IU to an 8-5 season.

2020 impacted his career numbers as IU's season was limited to just eight games. In the COVID-shortened season,

Scott ran for 10 more touchdowns and 561 yards as the Hoosiers finished 12th in the final AP Poll. Scott left early for the NFL Draft after the 2020 season; if he had not, his numbers would be even more impressive.

9. Jordan Howard

Hoosier Career: 2015
Career Stats: 1,213 yards, 9 TD (4.5 ypc), 11 catches, 106 yards 1 TD
Honors: 1st Team All-Big Ten

Howard transferred to Indiana from UAB, and while his time in Indiana was short, it was tremendously impactful. He immediately filled the shoes of Tevin Coleman and gave the Hoosiers a running game that was nearly unstoppable.

An ankle injury suffered against Ohio State and reaggravated later in the season limited Howard to just nine games. If he had played the final 2.5 games, Howard would have been close to crossing the 2,000-yard mark.

7. John Isenbarger

Hoosier Career: 1967-1969
Career Stats: 2,453 yards, 14 TD (5.0 ypc) 26 catches 363 yards 2 TD
Honors: All-American (1967, 1969), All-Big Ten (1967-69)

A two-time All-American and three-time All-Big Ten selection, John Isenberger was a key piece in Indiana's 1967 Big Ten Championship team that went to the Rose Bowl as he led the team in rushing with 567 yards.

His production increased every season. Isenbarger ran for 669 yards and five touchdowns in 1968 and finished his senior year in 1969 with 1,217 yards and five scores. He still sits 10th on IU's all-time career rushing list.

6. Corby Davis

Hoosier Career: 1934-1937
Career Stats: Unrecorded
Honors: All-American (1937), All-Big Ten (1937), Big Ten MVP (1937)

Corby Davis's stats are buried somewhere never to be found again, but his impact on IU football has not been lost. Davis was an All-American in 1937 as he also won the Big Ten MVP. He went on to be the number one overall pick in the 1938 NFL Draft.

5. Tevin Coleman

Hoosier Career: 2012 to 2014
Career Stats: 3,219 yards, 28 TD (7.1 ypc), 54 catches, 383 yards
Honors: 7th in Heisman Trophy voting (2014); All-American (2014), All-Big Ten (2014)

There have been many great running backs in Indiana history, but no one had a year like Coleman pulled off in 2014.

In his junior season before turning pro early, Coleman nearly beat the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes single-handedly with a 228-yard, three-touchdown game as part of a 2,036-yard, 15-touchdown season.

He finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting and earned first-team All-American honors, setting the IU single-season rushing record.

Coleman played three seasons for the Hoosiers and finished fifth on the school's all-time rushing yards list and in all-purpose yards and seventh in touchdowns (29). He also ran for the second-most yards in a single game (307 at Rutgers in 2014).

45 YD Tevin Coleman (@Teco_Raww ) TD run AND the first W against the Nittany Lions for @IndianaFootball?

You bet. #WinningWednesday🥇 pic.twitter.com/prF5HmfIbh
— Indiana On BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) September 29, 2021

4. Levron Williams

Hoosier Career: 1998-2001
Career Stats: 3,095 yards, 31 TD (6.8 ypc), 94 catches, 1,088 yards 7 TD
Honors: All-American (2001), All-Big Ten (2001)

Levron Williams was the Robin to Antwaan Randle El's Batman in the late 90's for the Hoosiers. He finished his career third on IU's career touchdowns scored list, second for career all-purpose yards and sixth for career rushing yards.

His best performance still stands as the best in Indiana football history. On October 6, 2001, Williams torched the Wisconsin Badgers for a mind-blowing six touchdowns and 280 yards rushing on just 20 carries.

3. George Taliaferro

Hoosier Career: 1945, 1947-48
Career Stats: 719 yards, 6 TD (7.1 ypc), 5 catches, 77 yards
Honors: All-American (1945, 1947-48), All-Big Ten (1945, 1948), College Football Hall of Fame (1981)

George Taliaferro was the best player on the field in most of the games he played in.

The Hoosiers got the ball in his hands anyway that they could, including using him as a passer and punter. He led the Hoosiers to an undefeated 9-0-1 season in 1945, where they captured the school's first Big Ten Championship.

Had his career not been interrupted in 1946 by military service, Taliaferro would have been a four-time All-American. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

2. Vaughn Dunbar

Hoosier Career: 1990-91
Career Stats: 3,029 yards, 25 TD (5.0 ypc), 42 catches, 370 yards
Honors: 6th in Heisman Trophy Voting (1991) All-American (1991), All-Big Ten (1990-91)

Dunbar only had two seasons at IU after transferring from junior college, but he made the most of the opportunity. His 1991 season total of 1,805 yards stood as the most in IU history for 13 years.

He finished 6th in the 1991 Heisman race while earning All-American honors. His 100-yard performance against Baylor in the Copper Bowl helped IU earn a postseason win. His production has placed him on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.

1. Anthony Thompson

Hoosier Career: 1986-1989
Career Stats: 5,299 rushing yards, 65 TD; 91 catches, 823 receiving yards, 3 TD
Honors: 2nd in Heisman Trophy Voting (1989), Maxwell Award (1989), Walter Camp Award (1989), All-American (1989, 1990), All-Big Ten (1987-89), Big Ten MVP (1988, 1989), College Football Hall of Famer (2007)

Anthony Thompson is the most decorated Indiana player of all-time. He came achingly close to winning the Heisman Trophy in 1989, but a late loss to Purdue cost him the win. However, he took home the Maxwell and Walter Camp Awards for the nation's best player.

A two-time Big Ten MVP, Thompson still holds the IU record for most touchdowns (67) and career rushing yards (5,299). He held the NCAA records for most rushing yards in a game (377) and career touchdowns for over a decade.

Thompson was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

Add us as a preferred source on Google