Texas Football: Revisiting Cedric Benson’s dominance in Longhorn wins

Texas football saw some truly great performances from the late star running back Cedric Benson that pushed the team to a lot of wins in the early 2000’s.

In the early 2000’s, the driving force for the success that Texas football found on the offensive side of the ball was largely due to the powerful ground game. Between the likes of star running back Cedric Benson and legendary dual-threat quarterback Vince Young, the Longhorns had a multifaceted rushing attack that was feared by opposing defenses all around the Big 12. Texas continued their strong pipeline of running back talent and dual-threat quarterbacks that stemmed from the 1990’s from stars like Heisman winner Ricky Williams and former Big 12 Newcomer of the Year James Brown.

For his career at Texas, Benson nearly became the program’s second running back to get a Heisman Trophy back to the Forty Acres within the same decade span as a top 10 finisher in the voting on two occasions. Benson registered 6,161 career total yards from scrimmage and 67 total touchdowns. Of those, 64 scores were rushing and just over 5,500 yards were rushing. He also averaged five yards per carry in his college career.

For his efforts at Texas, Benson was picked up by the Chicago Bears fourth overall in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft.

But it was what the Longhorns were able to do when Benson was on top of his game that led to so much success in the win column that is the most memorable part of his career in Austin. Benson was nothing short of marvelous when the Longhorns finished games on the right side of the win column.

And Texas was often on the right side of the win column when Benson was lining up in their backfield. Texas posted a record of 41-7 during Benon’s four years with the program. And their best season with him in the backfield came in 2004, when he and VY led the Longhorns to a Rose Bowl win over the Michigan Wolverines one year before the program’s latest national title.

If I have not made this point already, Benson was one of the main driving forces behind all of this success that the Longhorns found in the early-to-mid 2000’s. He was especially good when it mattered most too.

In those 41 Longhorns wins with Benson getting game action, he registered 5,109 rushing yards, 60 rushing touchdowns, and 5.2 yards per carry, on just under 1,000 carries. Through the air, Benson hauled in 58 receptions for 520 yards and three touchdowns (averaging nine yards per catch).

Compare that to Texas losses where Benson registered just over 500 total yards from scrimmage, four rushing touchdowns, and under 3.5 yards per carry, and you can understand what his play meant for this team. A lot of Benson’s best work came against Power Five conference (including those from the Big 12) opponents too. He averaged at least five yards per carry against three or the four Power Five conferences that Texas faced during his college career, with the lone exception being the Big Ten.

The two opponents that had the most difficult time shutting Benson down were the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Texas A&M Aggies. Benson registered well over 600 carry total yards, six rushing touchdowns, and well over five yards per carry against the Pokes. And he racked up 615 rushing yards, a whopping eight rushing scores, and 5.5 yards per carry against Texas A&M.

Texas would never lose more than three games while Benson was on the roster. And there was only one season in which they didn’t register double-digit wins. They were oh so close to reaching the BCS National Championship Game under the direction of former head coach Mack Brown in 2004 too, if it were not for the loss to the rival Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry game.