There’s more than just one school that can stake a claim to the title of RBU, but Georgia’s case is a pretty good one. Not just from the recent guys under Kirby Smart who have carried the offense to the College Football Playoff more than a couple of times, but from the legends, like the one who led the Bulldogs to a national championship under Vince Dooley.
Excluding the honorable mentions, this list ran for 33,505 yards and 328 touchdowns while at Georgia. It also includes a Heisman trophy winner and five first-round NFL draft picks.
Georgia has always produced great college running backs and a few who got even better in the NFL. Like our first honorable mention, an NFL Hall of Famer.
Terrell Davis transferred to Georgia from Long Beach State University and never started a game for the Bulldogs. In his three seasons, he combined for 1,657 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns but never had a season over 1,000 scrimmage yards. He was good, not great, and was selected in the sixth round of the NFL draft.
Davis landed in the perfect situation with Mike Shanahan’s Denver Broncos and became an NFL MVP, two-time Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl XXXII MVP, and a two-time Offensive Player of the Year. His NFL career outshined his time at Georgia, so he’s an honorable mention.
Holyfield and Brown had the opposite situation. Brown is No. 10 on Georgia’s all-time rushing list, but never played a snap in the NFL. Holyfield had one great year in college with 1,018 rushing yards as a junior in 2018 but only played five special teams snaps in his entire career.
Georgia rushing yards: 2,043 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 25
NFL rushing yards: 193 NFL rushing touchdowns: 1
The 2021 Georgia Bulldogs had a lot of offensive weapons, but at times they had to lean on the running game and Zamir White. Stetson Bennett was a question mark at quarterback, but Zamir White was an exclamation point in the backfield.
White was the physical back in a split-backfield with James Cook in 2021, and White ran for 856 yards and 11 touchdowns. He averaged 5.4 yards per carry and in the national championship game against Alabama, he went for 84 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries.
He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft by the Raiders and is the backup to former Alabama running back Josh Jacobs.
Georgia rushing yards: 2,885 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 20
NFL rushing yards: 2,502 NFL rushing touchdowns: 22
The 2017 Georgia Bulldogs backfield was legendary. Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, and a freshman D'Andre Swift. Swift, as the third running back, ran for 618 yards on 81 carries, an average of 7.6 yards per rush. He also caught 17 passes for 153 yards. To have that level of production as a third-string freshman is absurd.
The logjam in the backfield is the only reason Swift isn't higher than seventh in program history in rushing yards. Swift's best season came in 2019 as a junior when he ran for 1,218 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 24 passes for 216 yards and another score.
After that, he was off to the NFL where he was drafted in the second round by the Detroit Lions. He was injury-prone in Detroit, but has found a home in Philadelphia.
Georgia rushing yards: 3,017 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 36
NFL rushing yards: 1,061 NFL rushing touchdowns: 15
Two seasons after Herschel Walker left Georgia for the USFL, Lars Tate showed up in Athens to continue the tradition of great running backs. Tate wasn't very effective as a freshman, only running for 421 yards on a 7-4-1 team.
Tate's production improved every season and he cleared 1,000 scrimmage yards as a junior and a senior. He is sixth in Georgia history with his 3,017 rushing yards and third in rushing touchdowns.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Tate in the second round of the 1988 NFL draft, but he only played in Tampa for two underwhelming seasons. He had a nose for the end zone with 15 touchdowns in his first two seasons, but never averaged 4.0 yards a carry and was released by training camp of his third season.
Georgia rushing yards: 2,734 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 30
NFL rushing yards: 3,616 NFL rushing touchdowns: 27
Knowshon Moreno only played two years at Georgia but is still No. 8 in program history with 2,734 rushing yards. In 2007, his first year, he was second in the SEC in carries and ran for 1,334 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Then in 2008, he was even better, finishing first in the SEC in rushing attempts and rushing yards. Moreno ran for 1,400 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry. He nearly hit 1,800 scrimmage yards for the season and was subsequently drafted No. 12 overall by the Denver Broncos.
As a rookie, Moreno ran for 947 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games. The next year, he only played 13 games and finished with 779 rushing yards. Then, in 2011, the injury bug bit and he tore his ACL after just seven games and 179 yards.
Moreno's career in the NFL did recover and in 2013, he had a career-high 1,038 rushing yards and finished second for the Comeback Player of the Year award. He was out of the league after another ACL tear in 2014.
Georgia rushing yards: 3,613 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 33
NFL rushing yards: 3,243 NFL rushing touchdowns: 18
Bad knees have been a theme for a lot of Georgia running backs, but it didn't show up for Michel at Georgia while he split carries with Nick Chubb. Michel carried the ball 590 times over four years at Georgia and had two seasons with over 1,000 yards rushing.
Michel's biggest moment came in the 2018 Rose Bowl against Oklahoma. With a spot in the national championship on the line, Michel ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries including this one in overtime:
Michel was taken in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. He had two productive seasons, but again was his best in the biggest moments. In the 2018 NFL playoffs, Michel ran for 336 yards and six touchdowns in three games, including 18 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl.
His knees became a problem after two years in the league and he became less productive. He was a part of another Super Bowl winner with the 2021 Rams but had to retire after the 2022 season.
Georgia rushing yards: 2,668 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 22
NFL rushing yards: 6,897 NFL rushing touchdowns: 49
The lineage continued from Herschel Walker to Lars Tate to Rodney Hampton. Tate and Hampton overlapped on the 9-3 1987 Georgia Bulldogs. That season, Hampton ran the ball 126 times for 890 yards, an average of 7.1 yards per carry.
Naturally, that level of efficiency dropped in 1988 when he only turned his 128 carries into 719 yards and six touchdowns. In 1989, Ray Goff replaced Vince Dooley and leaned heavily on his third-year running back. Hampton ran for 1,059 yards and 12 touchdowns on 218 carries. He finished his career as Georgia's third all-time leading rusher behind Walker and Tate but has since fallen to No. 9 on that list.
However, Hampton checks in above Tate because of his NFL career. He was drafted No. 24 overall by the New York Giants in 1990 and by his second year became the workhorse for Bill Parcell's team. From 1991 to 1995, Hampton put together five straight 1,000-yard seasons and was twice a Pro Bowler.
Georgia rushing yards: 3,232 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 33
NFL rushing yards: 7,966 NFL rushing touchdowns: 30
The lineage of great running backs at Georgia continues from Hampton to Hearst. He took over as the lead back in 1990 but wasn't very efficient with just 717 yards on 162 carries. However, two years later, he was one of the best running backs in the entire country.
In 1992, Hearst was named the SEC Player of the Year and an All-American for his season with 1,871 scrimmage yards and 21 total touchdowns. He averaged 7.5 yards a touch and 6.8 yards per carry. He was the Doak Walker Award winner as the best running back in the country. His 1,547 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns both led the country.
After that great season, the Arizona Cardinals took Hearst with the third overall pick in the 1993 NFL draft. Hearst had a slow start as a pro but had three 1,000-yard seasons in his first six years, two of those coming with the San Francisco 49ers. However, after 1998, Hearst missed two seasons with avascular necrosis which is a circulatory issue, the same one that forced Bo Jackson to retire from football.
He returned to the field in 2001 and won the Comeback Player of the Year Award with 1,206 rushing yards. He was also named to his second Pro Bowl. The 49ers went 12-4 that year after posting a 10-22 record in the two years without Hearst.
Georgia rushing yards: 4,769 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 44
NFL rushing yards: 6,511 NFL rushing touchdowns: 48
Georgia's backfield was loaded from 2014-17. In that stretch, the Bulldogs had four players on this list. Even with Todd Gurley, Sony Michel, and eventually D'Andre Swift on the same team, Chubb was the alpha. In 2014 as a freshman, Chubb led the team with 219 carries for 1,547 yards, an average of 7.1 yards per carry with 14 touchdowns.
In 2015, Chubb only played six games, but still put up 747 yards and averaged a ridiculous 8.1 yards per carry. 2016 and 2017 were two more 1,000-yard seasons and Chubb is second only to Herschel Walker on the Georgia all-time rushing list.
His level of production was absurd and he did it as the main workhorse back for all four seasons of his collegiate career. Still, Chubb had a lot left for the NFL. After getting selected by the Browns in the second round, Chubb ran for 969 yards as a rookie, then amassed four straight 1,000-yard seasons.
He has missed nearly the entire 2023 season due to a horrific knee injury.
Georgia rushing yards: Georgia rushing touchdowns: 36
NFL rushing yards: 6,082 NFL rushing touchdowns: 67
Speaking of bad knees, Todd Gurley checks in at No. 2 on the RBU list. Gurley is fourth all-time in rushing yards behind Walker and Chubb, but his ridiculous NFL career earned him the No. 2 spot.
Gurley was solid at Georgia, but only cracked 1,000 yards once, as a freshman in 2012. For his career, he averaged 6.4 yards per carry, which is better than Chubb's 6.3, but with 248 fewer carries.
Gurley was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft after only playing six games in his final year in college. The Rams were certainly happy with the pick because Gurley won the 2015 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
His career reached another stratosphere when Sean McVay arrived in 2017. Gurley racked up 2,093 scrimmage yards that season and was the league's Offensive Player of the Year. The Rams lost in the Super Bowl the next season and Gurley was an All-Pro for the second time in 2018.
For a short stretch in LA, Gurley was the most feared offensive player in the entire NFL. It didn't last long because of his knees, but he may be the most memorable Georgia running back in the NFL for those not old enough to have seen Herschel Walker play for the Cowboys.
Georgia rushing yards: 5,259 Georgia rushing touchdowns: 49
NFL rushing yards: 8,225 NFL rushing touchdowns: 61
Could there have been a more obvious No. 1 on a list ever? Georgia's all-time leading rusher was a three-time All-American, three-time SEC Player of the Year, and the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner. He finished all three of his seasons at Georgia with more than 1,600 scrimmage yards and 15 touchdowns.
He was the most dominant player in college football at the start of the decade and it began with a dominant 12-0 national championship season in 1980. Walker finished with 150 yards in the 1981 Sugar Bowl win over Notre Dame 17-10 that clinched the title. Outside of Walker's yardage, Georgia finished with -30 yards of offense.
His best years in professional football came in the USFL, but Walker still saved some incredible years for the Dallas Cowboys once the fledgling league finally folded.