Greatness of Cedric Benson was modeled in his consistency

There are very few programs throughout college football that have as storied of a legacy at the running back position as Texas football. Texas has a long legacy of star running backs that have also won the two Heismans in the program’s history. There’s also a multitude of other elite running backs that played for Texas in this program’s history.

The focal point here, though, lies on the late and great former Longhorns stud running back Cedric Benson. As one of the most consistent and overwhelming running backs in recent memory for the Longhorns, Benson was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Benson is the second-leading rusher in program history in terms of rushing yards and second in rushing touchdowns. He only ranks behind the former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams in those two stat categories.

In four years playing for Texas, Benson racked up 5,540 rushing yards, 64 rushing touchdowns, 621 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns. Benson averaged roughly five yards per carry in his college career and topped the 1,000-rushing yard mark in each of his four seasons.

Dating back to 1956, Benson also ranks in the top 15 in career rushing yards and rushing touchdowns throughout the entirety of FBS football.

Benson obviously had some tremendous career accomplishments. But it was the consistency with which he produced game in and game out that made him truly special for the Longhorns.

From 2001-2004, Benson was a mainstay for the Texas offense. He helped the Texas offense stay balanced and present a true threat on the ground along with an explosive passing game behind the likes of Chris Simms and Vince Young (depending on the year you’re looking at for Benson with the Longhorns).

Texas football had one of the most consistently great running backs in college football in Cedric Benson

The production of Benson was also incredibly indicative of success in the win column for Texas during his time on the Forty Acres. There are some pretty incredible numbers that indicate just how much Benson’s production played a role in Texas’ success in the win column.

First and foremost, whenever Texas couldn’t get Benson over the century mark in terms of rushing yards, their chances of winning declined sharply. There were 23 games in Benson’s career where he rushed for fewer than 100 yards. In those games, Texas came up with a record of 16-7.

Texas also had a record of 12-5 in the 17 games where Benson had fewer than 80 rushing yards in his career.

However, Texas was essentially unbeatable when Benson went over the century mark. In the 25 games where Benson went over the century mark, Texas was a perfect 25-0. The fact that Texas never lost when Benson rushed for at least 100 yards is insane.

To be able to even have 25 games in a collegiate career where a running back goes for more at least 100 rushing yards is an incredible feat in and of itself. The team success that Texas experienced in those 25 games is also amazing.

It’s also important to note that in the 25 games that Benson rushed for more than 100 yards, he scored at least one touchdown on the ground in all but two of them. He also averaged at least 4.2 yards per carry in each of the 25 games where he went over the century mark.

In the broader scope of things, it’s important to see just how good Benson was compared to other top running backs in recent history in college football.

Benson is the only running back since the turn of the century in the FBS to have at least 15 games with 150 rushing yards and one touchdown where his team also won every single one of those games.

Benson is also the only running back in Big 12 history to have 25 games spread over the course of four seasons with at least 100 rushing yards and at least 4.0 yards per carry.

All in all, these are just a few of the examples of how consistently great Benson was for the Longhorns. And the stability of his production over the course of four seasons is something you will rarely ever see from a college football running back at the FBS level.

Texas has multiple great running backs worth celebrating throughout the program’s history. But very few of them were as consistently good as Benson was over the course of four seasons with the program.

After Benson’s time at Texas was over, he would be selected by the Chicago Bears fourth overall in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He would go on to rush for more than 6,000 yards and 32 touchdowns during his NFL career, which lasted from 2005-2012.

Texas, unfortunately, lost Benson at the way-too-young age of 36 back in 2019 due to a motorcycle accident.