Love Saquon, and was here in 94 with KiJana but Larry Johnson Senior year was most impressive
- Thread starter Mr. Potter
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Impressive yes, but never won a big game when it counted and IMHO he was the polar opposite of Saquon and KJ.
That 2002 Nebraska game was a pretty big one at the time...
I'd love to see Barkley in either of those offenses. All 3 were elite backs obviously. I do believe Barkley is just a bit more special. Barkley's arguably the best college back since Barry Sanders in terms of talent/skill.
Mitchell and Harris were the best PSU backfield I've seen to this day.
I've lived through them all and this debate has no right or wrong answer. When I thought Mitchell was the best, along came Warner. Then Blair made you take notice. Right when you thought Blair might be the best, Kijana burst onto the scene. After watching the 94 team, you thought you might never see one as good again. Then Junior put up a season for the ages. Just when you thought you might never see a 2k runner again, Saquan made you think.
All of this discussion and the best guy probably of them all, Lenny Moore just sits and waits patiently to be remembered.
I did not see Moore play but old timers will still say that nobody was better than him.
Oh, and there was this Cappy fellow as well, I remember him being better than the average runner.
They were all great and each one of them deserves attention.
All of this discussion and the best guy probably of them all, Lenny Moore just sits and waits patiently to be remembered.
I did not see Moore play but old timers will still say that nobody was better than him.
Oh, and there was this Cappy fellow as well, I remember him being better than the average runner.
They were all great and each one of them deserves attention.
Agree with you. More importantly, how's your recovery coming along? OK, I trust.
that is true, totally forgot about that game..that was one of the loudest games I've ever been at too.
I will say that a lot of those performances were due to the greased bb effect that was Joes Big Game offensive philosophy.
SB is the GOAT IMO, records or not, Heisman or not, 2k or not. He can do it all and did do it all. Seems like many of the former RB's feel the same way too, but I can see people saying another guy for various reasons.
The Enis/Harris combo was insanely good too.
I'll also say that the Johnson/ Omar Easy combo prior to Johnson's big year was the one of the biggest wastes of talent in the PSU backfield ever.
It's just so hard to compare because you have different teams, different eras, different O-lines, etc. IMHO i think the best you can do is list a top 5 and leave it at that. Athletically I don't think anyone is better but the on field accomplishments of many of the other guys is pretty amazing. Could Barkley have done that with a better line? Probably, but we'll never know.
Agree with one exception...I thought DJ Dozier would be the best ever after his freshman year.
Yep, LJ seemed get into the secondary over 50% of his carries in many of the games during his last season. What would Saquan do with that OL and scheme, and against that competition.....? He would be in the end zone handing the ball to the official on many occasions.....
The offensive line means so much in the success of a running back you can only compare them by breaking down which RB was best in every category.
1. Ball security > Did Saquon ever fumble? I don't remember any.
2. The ability to make a defender miss. > None better than Saquon
3. Receiving > He is the best
4. Vision > None better
5. Blocking.> He is the best ,or as good as any other
6. Speed > Only two PSU backs have had defensive back type speed, Saquon and Carter
7. Power > He is not the best here but he has good power.
8. Durability > I guess Royster wins this
9. Leaping ability > He is the best, or as good as Warner was.
1. Ball security > Did Saquon ever fumble? I don't remember any.
2. The ability to make a defender miss. > None better than Saquon
3. Receiving > He is the best
4. Vision > None better
5. Blocking.> He is the best ,or as good as any other
6. Speed > Only two PSU backs have had defensive back type speed, Saquon and Carter
7. Power > He is not the best here but he has good power.
8. Durability > I guess Royster wins this
9. Leaping ability > He is the best, or as good as Warner was.
Ball security - I seem to remember a few fumbles early in his career, but not much this year or last year.
Saquon's receiving skills and ability in pass protection is why I think he's the best ever
The combination of speed and power is just---frightening.
The combination of speed and power is just---frightening.
Yes. Larry’s 2002 season was the best by a PSU RB and a top 5-10 by any RB in the history of FBS college football. And to think that he was taken out early in a few games...
He actually wasn’t as good a receiver this year, he had several “unforced” drops that really surprised me.
As a blocker, he was superior.....probably the best pass protector as any running back has ever been at PSU.
Cleared to Drive. Every Day is better and brother in law is doing insanely great. Thanks for asking
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Been discussed before but Johnson put up huge numbers against mediocre competition and was contained by better teams. Not that I don't think he's one of the best ever, but his big yardage was against crap teams.
Yards for each game in bold. Didn't break 100 yards in any loss.
1 2002-08-31 Penn State Central Florida W 18 92 5.1 0 4 30 7.5 1 1 53 53.0 0
2 2002-09-14 Penn State Nebraska W 19 123 6.5 2 4 35 8.8 0 1 17 17.0 0
3 2002-09-21 Penn State Louisiana Tech W 17 147 8.6 2 3 25 8.3 1 0 0 0
4 2002-09-28 Penn State Iowa L 18 68 3.8 1 6 93 15.5 1 5 72 14.4 0
5 2002-10-05 Penn State @ Wisconsin W 14 111 7.9 1 5 41 8.2 0 1 19 19.0 0
6 2002-10-12 Penn State @ Michigan L 17 78 4.6 1 5 46 9.2 0 0 0 0
7 2002-10-19 Penn State Northwestern W 23 257 11.2 2 2 6 3.0 0 0 0 0
8 2002-10-26 Penn State @ Ohio State L 16 66 4.1 1 6 32 5.3 0 0 0 0
9 2002-11-02 Penn State Illinois W 31 279 9.0 1 0 0 0 1 18 18.0 0
10 2002-11-09 Penn State Virginia W 31 188 6.1 1 3 23 7.7 0 2 40 20.0 0
11 2002-11-16 Penn State @ Indiana W 28 327 11.7 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 2002-11-23 Penn State Michigan State W 19 279 14.7 4 1 10 10.0 0 0 0 0
13 2003-01-01 Penn State N Auburn* L 20 72 3.6 0 2 8 4.0 0 0 0 0
Yards for each game in bold. Didn't break 100 yards in any loss.
1 2002-08-31 Penn State Central Florida W 18 92 5.1 0 4 30 7.5 1 1 53 53.0 0
2 2002-09-14 Penn State Nebraska W 19 123 6.5 2 4 35 8.8 0 1 17 17.0 0
3 2002-09-21 Penn State Louisiana Tech W 17 147 8.6 2 3 25 8.3 1 0 0 0
4 2002-09-28 Penn State Iowa L 18 68 3.8 1 6 93 15.5 1 5 72 14.4 0
5 2002-10-05 Penn State @ Wisconsin W 14 111 7.9 1 5 41 8.2 0 1 19 19.0 0
6 2002-10-12 Penn State @ Michigan L 17 78 4.6 1 5 46 9.2 0 0 0 0
7 2002-10-19 Penn State Northwestern W 23 257 11.2 2 2 6 3.0 0 0 0 0
8 2002-10-26 Penn State @ Ohio State L 16 66 4.1 1 6 32 5.3 0 0 0 0
9 2002-11-02 Penn State Illinois W 31 279 9.0 1 0 0 0 1 18 18.0 0
10 2002-11-09 Penn State Virginia W 31 188 6.1 1 3 23 7.7 0 2 40 20.0 0
11 2002-11-16 Penn State @ Indiana W 28 327 11.7 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 2002-11-23 Penn State Michigan State W 19 279 14.7 4 1 10 10.0 0 0 0 0
13 2003-01-01 Penn State N Auburn* L 20 72 3.6 0 2 8 4.0 0 0 0 0
Great news Mr. Potter.
What a wonderful gift you have given.
Many happy returns for you and your brother-in-law and best wishes for continued strong recoveries.
I was at the Beav the night that Larry broke 2K against Mich St. That was the loudest I've ever heard any stadium. Larry carried FIVE MSU players for three yards to the end zone right in front of me to break 2K. The Beav was a mad house. Great memories!
Penn State has been blessed with great running backs. Bobby Campbell has been left out, probably because of injuries. Lenny Moore was great but no one remembers him any longer. We should. After that we have a pantheon of great backs: Pittman, Mithcell, Franco, Kijana, Carter, Harris, Cappelletti, Johnson,Dozier, Royster, Anderson, Booker and others I simply can't remember. IMHO, Saquon has the most talent and would have bested everyone's numbers if he had played on those teams. He didn't so we will never know. Yet, this is an unimportant question, they were all great Nittany Lions who deserve our praise.
What game was Penn State down so big they couldn't run the ball and only relied on screens for more than 2 quarters?
Post what games he played on a bad hamstring and still had over 100 yards and close to 100 yards.
Also add in his rec. numbers. In bold as well.
Oh and he had a 60? I'm not sure run called back vs Illinois just saying another 300 yard game
Yea the dude sucked. And was a softy never played through multipe injuries. Who needs a hamstring while an RB. Or a shoulder stinger. Couldn't tote the rock vs the varsity teams like Akron and Georgia State..Rutgers
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Racked up yards against chump teams. Truth is truth. Later.
Highlight the rec. Yards man. Over 100 yards on the road in Camp Randall with hammy.
Over 100 yards rush rec with bum hammy again vs a ranked Michigan team on the road. Struggled against OSU after Mike Doss lit him up on the opening drove and gave him a stinger...
Barkley lit it up against top level competition like piece of shit Iowa team (5 losses).
Sparty says hello and so does OSU... 44 yards and 36 on one play.
Truth is truth can't play with the big dogs I guess stats tell the story
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
I'm not arguing this
But your statistical argument is a herpes ridden va-jay-jay with Charlie sheen sperm all over it
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Sorry but I don't think that's correct. The run to break 2K was a long, break away run. Almost positive.
Yep, just found the video, but no idea how to link it from my phone. 38 yard run on a toss sweep. Untouched.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
It’s simply the truth. I love LJ but he struggled against good teams. That Michigan State game was like Tecmo Bowl.
But doesn't everyone struggle against good teams? That's why they're good. It's not like other backs in the B1G were putting up the numbers that Johnson was. And there were a lot of good backs. If the defenses were so bad, wouldn't we see a number of B1G RBs approaching 2,000 yards? I haven't looked but was there another B1G back even close to 2,000 yards in 2002?
During those years almost any game we won could have been considered a "big" game.
That was a fun game, very cold IIRC, but a lot of fun.
LJ could probably have run for 500 yards that year against Indiana. I think he set the PSU rushing record for over 300 yards on a field that was basically a sand pit for volleyball. I'm not even sure he played the 4th quarter.
There are a lot of reasons why LJ isn't considered the best ever at PSU. Some of its on him and some of it...ok a lot of it is on Joe and what was going on in those years from '99-02 and continued until '05.
