Illinois Football: The 30 greatest Illini players of all time

There are a handful of players in the history of Illinois football that are probably a little underrated. One of those players is big-time running back JC Caroline. He is up there with the best of the best when it comes to players to come through Champaign.

Caroline has etched his name in various rushing statistics in the Illini record books. Even though he only rushed the ball for the Orange and Blue for two seasons, Caroline made his impact.

He currently sits as the No. 22 all-time career rusher with 1,696 yards. Caroline rushed for 1,256 yards during his sophomore season, which ranks No. 6 on the single-season rushing leaderboard. He is also No. 10 in single-game all-purpose yards with 258.

That 1953 campaign for Caroline was something special. Not only did he dominate for the Illini, but he was also named a consensus First-Team All-American. He would have had another great season the following year, but after dealing with injuries he ended up playing in the Canadian Football League and later with the Chicago Bears.

Illinois has had a few players like Caroline come through the program. They don’t have a long stay here, but they were brilliant in the short time we got to see them. Caroline goes down as one of the best and that is why he is No. 10 on this list.