Illinois Football: The 30 greatest Illini players of all time

Legendary running backs have been a trend for the Illinois football team throughout the history of the program. There have been some special ball carriers, and some of the talented players were way before my time. One of those talented running backs was Johnny Karras.

Karras was a great halfback in the early 1950s. You won’t find Karras’ name on a lot of statistical categories, but he is on a few and he racked up some impressive accolades. The lists he dons include career rushing touchdowns, which he ranks No. 5 with 24. He is also on the single-season rushing touchdowns list with 13, which ranks No. 4 all time.

The success the Illinois football program had when Karras was leading the team helps him with his all-time ranking. In 1951, Illinois had one of the best seasons in program history. The team finished with a record of 9-0-1 and won the Big Ten.

This also earned them honors to the Rose Bowl where they pummeled Stanford 40-7 and took home not only the Rose Bowl trophy, but they won the national championship as well.

The talent Karras brought to the table earned him national notoriety. He was a two-time All-American, 1949 and 1951. The 1951 selection was a consensus pick. There have been few legends like Karras at the running back position. He was a great player for this program and a legend in the college football world.