Penn State Football: 15 best running backs in Nittany Lions history

Penn State Football has been around for well over 130 years. Here are the Nittany Lions’ 15 greatest running backs in the history of the football program.

Pennsylvania State University started playing college football back in 1887. In their over 130-year history of gridiron action, the Penn State Nittany Lions have won nearly 900 games, played in nearly 50 bowl games, won five conference titles and claimed two national titles. Simply put, Penn State Football is one of the handful of undeniable blue-bloods in the college football landscape.

While they had great success a national independent for much of their history, Penn State quickly emerged as a major player in the Big Ten since joining the conference in 1993. Of course, none of Penn State’s illustrious football history would be possible without some unbelievable players over the years.

Through the 2018 NCAA season, Penn State has had 42 consensus All-Americans and one Heisman Trophy winner. That would be running back John Cappelletti coming back in the 1973 campaign.

While Penn State has rightfully earned its reputation over the years as “Linebacker U”, one could argue that same concept for “RBU”. Given the ground-and-pound nature of Big Ten football, Penn State has had more than its fair share of elite running back talents star in University Park for the Nittany Lions.

So what we’re going to do today is highlight on some of the greatest ball carriers in Penn State Football history. What you will find is that rushing the football runs deep in this Pennsylvania football blue-blood. Without further ado, here are the 15 greatest running backs in the history of the Penn State program.

Honorable Mentions: Richie Anderson, Eric McCoo, Matt Suhey, Blair Thomas, Harry Wilson