Dawn of the Dawg
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Who is on the Mount Rushmores of Georgia football

By Kyle Funderburk

KEYSTONE, SD - OCTOBER 01: Mount Rushmore National Memorial towers over the South Dakota landscape on October 1, 2013 near Keystone, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all other national parks were closed today after congress failed to pass a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job. A bulletin issued by the Department of Interior states, 'Effective immediately upon a lapse in appropriations, the National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds in order to suspend all activities ...Day use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately...' (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
KEYSTONE, SD - OCTOBER 01: Mount Rushmore National Memorial towers over the South Dakota landscape on October 1, 2013 near Keystone, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all other national parks were closed today after congress failed to pass a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job. A bulletin issued by the Department of Interior states, 'Effective immediately upon a lapse in appropriations, the National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds in order to suspend all activities ...Day use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately...' (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) /
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ATHENS, GA – AUGUST 30: Georgia football running back Todd Gurley (#3) carries the ball for a fourth-quarter touchdown against the Clemson Tigers at Sanford Stadium on August 30, 2014 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA – AUGUST 30: Georgia football running back Todd Gurley (#3) carries the ball for a fourth-quarter touchdown against the Clemson Tigers at Sanford Stadium on August 30, 2014 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Tailbacks

With Georgia having the moniker of one of Running Back U, choosing the top four running backs is very difficult. The top three would be pretty easy to decide with halfbacks Walker and Trippi and fullback Sinkwich. But who would take the last spot?

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However, to add some variety, we’re doing four tailbacks rather than just four running backs. Which means that Sinkwich and Trippi are ineligible because they didn’t play in a system that used tailbacks (I-formation, single-back, pistol, shotgun).

Herschel Walker

Obviously Walker would be on Georgia’s Mount Rushmore of Tailbacks. The kid from Johnson County practically owned Georgia’s record book by the time he left Athens. He earned All-American honors and finished in the top-three of the Heisman voting in all three of his seasons.

Herschel’s time in Athens was just a collection of firsts. First 4,000+yard rusher in school history, first three-time All-American, first time winning consecutive SEC Titles, first AP National Championship, etc.

Walker is popularly known as the best running back in college football history and always in the conversation for best player of all-time. This group of four would be incomplete without Walker.

Garrison Hearst

Herschel is clearly the best tailback in Georgia football history. But for most of the last 20 years, before a Georgia running back could be compared to Walker, they had to pass the Garrison Hearst test first.

That’s because Hearst, in all seriousness, should have won the Heisman trophy in 1992. That year, Hearst rushed for over 1,500 yards in an offense that was much more pass oriented than any offense that Walker ran out of. Hearst also broke Walker’s record for rushing touchdowns in a season with 21.

He finished third in the Heisman voting that year, but he did win the Doak Walker Award (best running back in the country).

Todd Gurley

About that Garrison Hearst test. Many backs after him came close to passing it. Robert Edwards probably would have if not for injuries. Musa Smith came close and would have if he stayed for his senior season. Knowshon did have two 1,000-yard seasons, but he didn’t show much progression from his freshman year to his sophomore year.

Todd Gurley however, was the first to pass that test. Gurley put up Moreno-like numbers as a freshman and would have easily surpassed them in 2013 if not for an ankle injury. A suspension and an ACL tear ended a season in which Gurley was on track to surpass 1,800 yards.

But when Gurley was on the field, there wasn’t a better running back. He was the most reliable player on the field as well. If Georgia’s offense needed a big play, Gurley always seemed to provide.

Kevin McLee

McLee get’s featured because he was the first running back in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. Throughout the early 1970’s, a few backs came close to that mark but in 1975, McLee passed that milestone.

However, he was no longer a tailback in 1976 as he shared the backfield with Willie McClendon in Georgia’s veer formation (triple-option offense out of a split backfield for younger football fans).

But that one year he spent as the teams tailback was a special season. After over 75 years without a 1,000-yard rusher, Georgia has seen 11 different running backs rush for over 1,000 yards since McLee passed that mark.

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