Ranking the top 5 Texas RB rooms over the last 40 seasons

Texas has sent plenty of running backs to the NFL since 1984, including three in the past two years.

Jamaal Charles, Texas football
Jamaal Charles, Texas football | Jim Redman/GettyImages
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Jamaal Charles, Texas football
Jamaal Charles, Texas football | Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

1. 2005

No. 1 ranked rushing scoring offense wins national championship in 2005

Texas's infamous BCS National Championship team in the 2005 season, which beat the USC Trojans in an instant classic in the 2006 Rose Bowl, led the nation in total rushing offense and rushing touchdowns.

Outside of what VY heroically did for the Longhorns in 2005 with his legs and his arm leading this offense to a BCS National Championship, Texas's rushing attack was run by a committee of talented backs.

The most dynamic of this group of talented Texas running backs in the 2005 season was freshman Jamaal Charles. The Second-Team All-Big 12 selection as a true freshman in 2005 racked up over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns en route to a historically-good debut season for the Longhorns.

Charles flashed his greatness literally at the very beginning of his career in college at Texas, rushing for a then-freshman school record 135 yards against Louisiana-Lafeyette in the regular season opener.

Leading the Big 12 in yards per carry (7.4), Charles was the perfect compliment to the explosive QB-RB duo with him and VY.

Taylor went on a tear late in Big 12 play, rushing for multiple touchdowns for a season-high four games straight for the Longhorns, including conference wins over Oklahoma State and Texas A&M on the road.

Henry Melton was a big and versatile running back who eventually switched to defensive end for the Longhorns after the 2006 season. He had a rushing score in ranked wins over No. 24 Colorado and No. 10 Texas Tech, along with two touchdowns on the ground in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Young played a big role in helping Texas win the Big 12 Championship and BCS National Championship, rushing for over 40 yards and one score in each game against Colorado and USC.

Interestingly enough, the 2005 Longhorns' team was the only one that decade that didn't have a 1,000-yard rusher as a running back. The only 1,000-yard rusher for the Longhorns for the 2005 title-winning squad was VY.

Five running backs in the Longhorns' backfield in the 2005 season would eventually go on to play in the NFL (Ahmard Hall, Ogbonnaya, Melton, Young, and Charles).

Texas's 2005 squad is still the only Big 12 team to ever have four running backs rush for over 400 yards and six touchdowns in a single season.

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Schedule

Schedule