Portis, Gore, and McGahee: historical perspective

[MoSikes]

So the Canefreak '14 pump up video had me naturally going through some videos of old school beatings that the Canes put down in the early 2000s, which featured many big runs by the three men mentioned in the title of the thread: Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, and Frank Gore. I don't think it's truly worth anyone's time to argue the fact that there has never been three guys as talented as they were on a single college football roster at the same time. What I wanted to see was how these three guys alone stacked up against the best trios of all time at other schools. What I decided to use was NFL yardage as the barometer, mainly because pro success was our calling card during that generation, and the results were just about what I expected.

It goes without saying that the three backs and their combined 28,364 NFL rushing yards (so far with Gore still running strong and Willis hanging on) is the biggest total by any three guys who played on the same team in college. It turns out that this number is the 7th highest total for any trio of running backs that a college has ever produced.

1. Florida: Emmitt Smith, Fred Taylor, and Neal Anderson- 36,216
2. Miami: Edgerrin James, Ottis Anderson, Frank Gore- 32,486*
3. Pittsburgh: Curtis Martin, Tony Dorsett, and LeSean McCoy- 32,313
4. OK State: Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, and Walt Garrison- 31,229
5. Notre Dame: Jerome Bettis, Ricky Watters, Julius Jones- 29,373
6. USC: Marcus Allen, OJ Simpson, and Mike Garrett- 28,960
7. Miami: Frank Gore, Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee- 28,364

Considering the fact that one of those spots is taken up by the Canes, only five schools have had in their history what Miami was able to run out on the field at the same time. It's astonishing, and a once in a lifetime thing that was put together. Let's appreciate the fact that we as fans got to enjoy the greatest running back stable any college team has ever had, and will ever have.


*Even if I were to not double up Gore on the list and slide Chuck Foreman in with Edge and OJ, that trio of Canes would be 6th (28,469).

 

[CyberCane]

Would be curious what the numbers bare out for having Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, and Andre Johnson all on the same team…has to be the most NFL receiving yards of a trio on the same team ever, right?

 

[MoSikes]

Would be curious what the numbers bare out for having Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, and Andre Johnson all on the same team…has to be the most NFL receiving yards of a trio on the same team ever, right?

Over 36,000 amongst the three of them, has to be, and fairly certain that group is #1 on the all time trio list through history.

I just looked into it a bit, only five teams have multiple receivers in the top 40 for yards all time: Michigan State, Syracuse, Ohio State, and Jackson State each have two, while UM has four including The Playmaker.

 

[CyberCane]

Would be curious what the numbers bare out for having Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, and Andre Johnson all on the same team…has to be the most NFL receiving yards of a trio on the same team ever, right?

Over 36,000 amongst the three of them, has to be, and fairly certain that group is #1 on the all time trio list through history.

I just looked into it a bit, only five teams have multiple receivers in the top 40 for yards all time: Michigan State, Syracuse, Ohio State, and Jackson State each have two, while UM has four including The Playmaker.

Cool…yeah I looked after posting and saw it was a blowout. Crazy when you look at the six of those guys playing on the same offense in such a close proximity.

 

[LexZapata]

For the wide receiver question, we are number one in total NFL receiving yardage amongst three players with Reggie Wayne at 11 all-time with 13,566 yards, Andre Johnson at 17 with 12,661 yards and Michael Irvin at 23 with 11,904 yards for a total of 38,131 yards. Santana Moss is at 38 with 10,167 yards, meaning the 2000 Canes roster had 36,394 future NFL receiving yards among three players on it's roster, which has to be good for number one amongst concurrent tenure with a college team by three players. And all these dudes are still playing! The numbers will only grow.

 

[arizonacane]

When you consider Top 5 NFL RB's from the same school UM is tops:

UM

James - 12,246
Anderson - 10,273
Gore - 9,967
Portis - 9,923
McGahee - 8,474

50,883 yards

UiF

Smith - 18,355
Taylor - 11,695
Anderson - 6,166
Casares - 5,797
Williams - 5,006

47,019 yards

 

[Shogungts]

When you consider Top 5 NFL RB's from the same school UM is tops:

UM

James - 12,246
Anderson - 10,273
Gore - 9,967
Portis - 9,923
McGahee - 8,474

50,883 yards

UiF

Smith - 18,355
Taylor - 11,695
Anderson - 6,166
Casares - 5,797
Williams - 5,006

47,019 yards

I know he is a Gator and a Cowboy (I root for the Skins), but man it's impressive how many yards Emmitt Smith put up.

 

[GinoBova69]

If not for that injury in 2001 Edge would have probably surpassed at least Payton's yardage total.