Settle in for a minute or two and try to recall the most memorable plays over the course of your college football fandom. Sure, many of these are likely team-specific, but a betting man would place odds on several highlights seared in your brain coming from a few of the greatest dynamos of all-time whose eye-popping flashes of individual talent won’t soon be forgotten.
For this summer exercise down memory lane, a look at the most dynamic players of the past 25 years begins with the 2000 season. Careers must have started from that point or thereafter. Therefore, Michael Vick and Ed Reed, among others, are not included on this list. This group is offense-heavy, but there were a pair of defenders over this stretch who changed games by simply being on the field.
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Judging by a few responses from colleagues, definitions of “dynamic” differ a bit from my own. As a kid from the South, the players I most remembered jumped off of the screen in the biggest moments of the biggest games. Some of these athletes dominated the opposition with elite athleticism, while others utilized world-class talent or speed on their way to piling up touchdowns. Active college football players were not eligible for this ranking, but could be in the future. I’m looking at you, Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams.
1. Reggie Bush, RB, USC
As much of a winner as he was an unstoppable threat, Bush was a two-time national champion, an All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year as Pete Carroll and Matt Leinart’s ultimate go-to weapon. He rushed for 1,740 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior to compliment his numbers as a receiving threat. Bush scored four times on special teams with the Trojans and nearly all of his career trips to the end zone were showstoppers. His stop-and-go play against Fresno State became an eventual video game move.
2. Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
Newton’s Heisman season in 2010 might be the greatest 14-game stretch in SEC history from a dynamic playmaking standpoint. He led the Tigers to the BCS National Championship with 1,473 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground as a transfer from Florida and Blinn College. From his season-saving comeback in the Iron Bowl against Alabama to his Herculean performance against Arkansas, Newton carried the torch for Gene Chizik and Auburn, taking the SEC’s best shots each and every week. Newton toppled six nationally-ranked opponents with his popular Superman pose, including a pair of wins over Steve Spurrier and South Carolina.
3. Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
Few players have garnered “SEC legend” status over the last few decades and change, but Johnny Football earned the decorative title. Beating top-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa was his signature moment, yet Manziel was just as potent in a breakout game against SMU and during a memorable comeback against Duke during bowl season. As a redshirt freshman in 2012 under Kevin Sumlin, Manziel rushed for 1,410 yards and 21 touchdowns, breaking more tackles than any player at his position. The Heisman winner toned down the freelance scrambling as a sophomore but still finished with 4,114 yards passing and a SEC-leading 37 touchdown passes.
There might not be a quarterback in college football history who could get upfield faster with a head fake and one step more fluid than Jackson. He rushed for 4,132 yards and 50 scores as a three-year starter and dominated the Heisman vote in 2016. Jackson likely would’ve been higher on this list had he played for a title-contending team during his career and received more national attention. Louisville’s nine-win season in 2016 was the only time the Cardinals finished inside the top 25 over his three seasons as starting quarterback.
5. Vince Young, QB, Texas
Young’s mad dash to the pylon to beat USC at the Rose Bowl ended one of college football’s most iconic sequences and preceded the confetti storm of a celebration under the lights in Pasadena. Most college football fans of a certain age remember where they were that night. Young didn’t the Heisman that season, but Texas knocked off four ranked teams en route to a 13-0 record. Young’s heroics on offense helped that spectacular unit eclipse 50 or more points seven times, including a 70-point showing in the Big 12 Championship Game.
6. Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
No recency bias here — when you become the first player in history to win the Bednarik and the Biletnikoff, it sticks. Hunter’s Heisman win last season was unprecedented as the two-way starter played considerably more snaps than any player in college football history during a single season. He was special with the ball in his hands and made it a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks with ball skills and closing speed at cornerback that was second to none.
7. Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma
A truly special talent, Peterson’s freshman season with the Sooners in 2004 is one of the greatest statistical performances of all-time after he rushed for 1,925 yards on 339 carries. He battled through injuries the next two years, but still finished with more than 1,000 yards both seasons. There have not been many ballcarriers in the annals of history who had all the tools like Peterson — speed, size, strength, agility and power.
8. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
The closest SEC running back we’ve seen to Herschel Walker in the modern era, McFadden was a throwback player of sorts for the Razorbacks. The patented “Wild Hog” formation meant you were about to catch hell from the Arkansas backfield. McFadden, who threw seven touchdown passes during his career, rushed for 4,590 yards and 41 scores as a two-time All-American and Heisman finalist. He averaged 24.4 yards per kick return and had game-breaking speed and power.
Outside of Joe Burrow’s seven-touchdown first half against Oklahoma in the 2019 College Football Playoff, Smith’s 12-catch, three-touchdown and 215-yard explosion against Ohio State in the national title game to end the 2020 season might have been two of the best quarters of the decade for an offensive playmaker. Before Hunter there was Smith, who was the first Heisman winner at receiver since Desmond Howard in 1991.
When former Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen assumed the play-calling role in 201, he did so with Austin as his not-so-secret weapon. Austin’s touches increased and so did his production as one of the fastest players in the country scored nine times on offense and twice on special teams. His senior campaign was even better — a nation-leading 114 receptions for 1,289 yards and 12 touchdowns to go along with 8.9 yards per carry and three kick return scores. In his collegiate finale, West Virginia beat Clemson, 70-33, in Miami thanks to Austin’s 280 total yards and four touchdowns.
11. Tyrann Mathieu, DB, LSU
Affectionately nicknamed ‘The Honey Badger,’ Mathieu was a takeaway machine like few others ever to play safety. Over 26 career games in two seasons, Mathieu recorded 11 forced fumbles, had six fumble recoveries, four interceptions, six sacks and 17 tackles for loss. He scored four touchdowns as a sophomore in 2011, two via fumble returns and a pair of electrifying scores on special teams.
12. Pat White, QB, West Virginia
White, Steve Slaton and Austin … pick your poison. West Virginia had options over a multi-year stretch of offensive success in the late 2000s. At quarterback, White was the straw who stirred the drink for one of the nation’s leading rushing attacks, compiling 3,528 yards on the ground over his final three seasons with 40 touchdowns. Teams tried to keep the Mountaineers honest, but White was an efficient passer, too. Like Jackson, when White was one-on-one with a defender around the edge, he almost always made the first man miss en route to big yardage.
13. Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma
A star was born when this former five-star left College Station for Norman after his freshman season. With two years to learn Lincoln Riley’s scheme, Murray was unstoppable as a starter in 2018 and eventually became the No. 1 overall pick NFL Draft after his 54-touchdown outburst. He rushed for 1,001 yards and threw for another 4,361 yards as a third down-converting machine. Murray, like Manziel, was dynamic in the open field and rarely took a clean hit.
14. Devin Hester, ATH, Miami
How many players in college football history can say some of their most daring special teams returns began by running backward? Hester was a human highlight with the Hurricanes and ran on a different octane. He scored eight times over his three-year career, four coming via punt returns, one on kickoff, one off a fumble and another on a reverse. Hester’s cutting ability and vision led to a Hall of Fame NFL career as one of the greatest special teamers the game has ever seen.
15. Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
With 51 career offensive touchdowns, Barkley was a one-man wrecking crew with the Nittany Lions. He led the Big Ten in rushing scores consecutive seasons and ran through, around and over the top of various defenses. As a junior, James Franklin gave Barkley more tries on special teams and he responded with a pair of kick return scores. The only things Barkley failed to accomplish at Penn State — and like many players on this list — was win a Heisman or national title. He’s one of the greatest players in program history.
Maybe the best player to ever star for the late Mike Leach, Crabtree’s 2007 season was freakish — 134 receptions for 1,962 yards and 22 touchdowns as a freshman. He followed that up with another All-American performance, finishing with 97 catches for 1,165 yards and 19 scores for the Red Raiders.
17. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
The future NFL star did a little bit of everything in college and still holds the NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yards record (3,864). He is Stanford’s career touchdowns (33) leader and no player has matched his single-season rushing yards total (2,019). One of McCaffrey’s top performances came in the Rose Bowl when he recorded a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and later added a 63-yard punt return score during a 45-16 thumping of Iowa. McCaffery also rushed for 172 yards that afternoon.
One of the smallest players at the Power Four level, the Wildcats’ 5-foot-7 engine that could surpassed 1,900 yards rushing as a junior in 2003. It’s hard to believe a player of his stature was able to sustain 306 carries while also hauling in 25 receptions, but Sproles did it. Rarely caught from behind, when Sproles saw daylight he usually left defenses in his dust.
19. Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor
Griffin’s final season with the Bears is one of the greatest in Big 12 history. The Heisman winner dissected defenses with a 72.4% completion rate on his way to 4,293 yards passing and 37 touchdowns. He scored 10 times with his legs that season and finished with 33 career touchdowns on the ground. Art Briles’ tempo-driven offense in Waco was at its best with Griffin at the helm.
20. Percy Harvin, ATH, Florida
The Gators did an expert job picking and choosing when to incorporate Harvin offensively, whether that meant lining him up next to Tim Tebow in the backfield or breaking him out at receiver. Over this three-year stint in Gainesville, Harvin was instrumental in leading one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, averaging 11.6 yards per touch with 32 touchdowns. His 9.2 yards per rushing attempt led the country in 2007, which ironically, was Tebow’s Heisman year.
21. Jadeveon Clowney, EDGE, South Carolina
The former No. 1 overall pick was so much more than “The Hit” against Michigan. Clowney was a menace off the edge for the Gamecocks as a true freshman and that carried through an All-American sophomore season ending with his bone-crushing hit of running back Vincent Smith in Clowney’s final college game. He had a 4.5-sack outing during a win over Clemson in 2012 and made a career highlight package against quarterback Aaron Murray in games against Georgia. Go back and watch the tape — there may not be a former SEC player who was held more in his career than Clowney, who still managed 24 sacks and 48 tackles for losses.
22. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan
A former EA Sports NCAA Football video game cover athlete, Robinson nearly rushed for 4,500 yards at Michigan despite defenses knowing his number was going to be called in some shape or form nearly every snap. His 1,702-yard effort as a sophomore led the Big Ten, as did his 7.2 yards per carry as a senior. Watching Robinson’s dreadlocks free flow in the open field became a trademark.
Jimbo Fisher knew Cook was a five-star diamond and he was already a polished commodity by the time he arrived in Tallahassee as a freshman in 2014. Cook twice led the ACC in rushing yards and touchdowns and scored 48 touchdowns over 38 career starts. Cook’s best campaign came in 2016 when the All-American junior broke away from defenses on his way to 1,765 yards rushing and 488 yards receiving out of the backfield.
24. Tedd Ginn Jr., WR, Ohio State
Ginn’s school-record eight return touchdowns in three seasons won’t likely be matched anytime soon. As a freshman, he galloped his way to a stunning 25.6 yards per return average on the punt team with four scores. Ginn’s weaponry in today’s college football likely equates to Heisman finalist honors at wideout, but he was underutilized a bit by the Buckeyes during the era in which he played (2004-06). Ohio State also had a litany of talent in the room.
25. De’Anthony Thomas, WR, Oregon
Thomas was a lightning bug for the Ducks and Oregon found so many creative ways to ensure he got his share of touches every Saturday. He tallied 3,186 yards from scrimmage and 41 touchdowns over his three-year career, averaging 8.9 yards per touch on offense as a running back-slot hybrid of sorts. Equally explosive on special teams, Thomas returned four kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns as a menacing threat with track speed.
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