Is Bijan Robinson is the Next Elite Texas Running Back?

Although the Longhorns have a very proud tradition, they've had just one consensus All-American since 2017, and no first-round draft selections since 2015.

Texas fans will be thrilled to be reminded that rival Texas A&M had two consensus All-Americans last season, while the Longhorns had none. 

Actually, Texas has had just one since the 2017 season, Joseph Ossai in 2020. He was subsequently selected in the third round of the NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. 

The Longhorns haven't had a first-round selection since 2015. 

This isn't what Texas fans are used to, but the Longhorns have a couple of strong candidates this season with running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Xavier Worthy. 

Robinson ran for 1,127 yards and tallied 1,422 total yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns in 10 games last season. There's a strong feeling that he's the top running back in college football this season, 

Last week against Louisiana-Monroe had had just 71 rushing yards, but on 10 carries so he averaged 7.1 yards, along with three catches for 40 yards, and scored two touchdowns. 

“He can do everything," Nick Saban said on Monday. 

"This guy is as good an all-around back as there probably is in the country, or certainly one of the best of all the guys in the country, and his production really shows that.”

Worthy had 62 catches for 981 yards and 12 touchdowns during his first season in Steve Sarkisian's offense. He had just two catches for 24 yards and one carry for seven yards last week, while working with new starting quarterback Quinn Ewers. 

Saturday's game against Alabama will be a strong indication if Robinson is the next elite Longhorns running back, or could be the program's first consensus All-American in a few years.  

If so, he could join some elite company in Longhorn lore including the following: 

Earl Campbell

Out of Tyler, Texas, was called "the Tyler Rose." During his four-year career, Campbell rushed for 4,443 yards, the fifth highest total of all time when he graduated.

Campbell tallied 928 rushing yards as a freshman, 1,118 as a sophomore, 653 as a junior (he missed four games), and 1,744 as a senior.

He was a first-team All-American as a sophomore and a unanimous selection as a senior. That year, he led the nation in rushing and scoring and won the Heisman Trophy in 1977.

Campbell had 21 games in which he topped 100 rushing yards and three over 200. He went pro with the Houston Oilers, was named Most Valuable Player in the National Football League three times, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame one year after making the College Football Hall of Fame.

Ricky Williams

Williams won the Heisman Trophy in 1998 and ended his career as the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher with 6,279 yards.

The two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year won back-to-back NCAA rushing titles in 1997 and 1998, and set 21 NCAA records, including all-purpose yards (7,206) and rushing touchdowns (72).

A unanimous First Team All-American his junior and senior seasons, he won the 1998 Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and was the first two-time recipient of the Doak Walker Award.

Williams led Texas to the 1995 Southwest Conference championship and the 1996 Big 12 title. He led the Longhorns to three bowl games, earning MVP honors in the 1999 Cotton Bowl, and he finished his Texas career with 46 school records.

Williams is one of only three Longhorns to post three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, and he set school records for carries (1,011), yards (6,279), yards per game (136.5) and rushing touchdowns (72) during his career.

Tommy Nobis

At Texas, Nobis was an offensive guard and linebacker on the 1963 Longhorn team which claimed the program's first national championship. He was the only sophomore starter on that team.

He went on to earn every honor available to a lineman during the next two seasons, even though a knee injury would slow him down in 1965. Nobis won the Maxwell Award as the nation’s best player and the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best lineman. He was a two-time All-American (1964-65) and a three-time All-Southwest Conference honoree (1963-65).

Nobis was the first-ever draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 1965, and consequently gained the nickname of “Mr. Falcon.”

His No. 60 is retired by both Texas and the Falcons, as he joins Earl Campbell, Bobby Layne, Ricky Williams, Vince Young and Colt McCoy as the only Longhorns to have their jerseys retired by the school.

Vince Young

In 2005, Young became the first FBS player to throw for more than 3,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up that year while claiming unanimous Big 12 Player of the Year honors.

Of course, he also was the difference in one of the greatest games in college football, the 2005 national championship game at the Rose, a 41-38 victory against Southern California.

Young had 267 passing yards, 200 rushing yards and a legendary fourth-down touchdown run with 19 seconds left to score the winning points and cap his 30-2 Longhorns career.

It was the school's first national title in 35 seasons.

Bobby Layne

Far from a classic passer and hardly a clever runner, Bobby Layne could still find many ways to win a football game.

The first great T-formation quarterback in the Southwest, Layne was known for finding different ways to win during the 1940s. He made the Longhorn varsity as a freshman in 1944 and led Texas to within a point of the Southwest championship.

He spent part of the 1945 season in the Merchant Marine, returning to Texas in time to help it win the SWC crown and an invitation to the Cotton Bowl. Then, on New Year's Day, he completed 11 of 12 passes and figured in all six Texas touchdowns as his team routed Missouri, 40-27.

As a junior in 1946, Bobby led the SWC in passing and drove the club to a 8-2-0 mark.

After three years of single-wing football, UT coach Dana X. Bible switched to the "T" and Layne carried the Longhorns to a 10-1-0 record which included a 27-0 Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama.

Texas National Award Winners

Heisman Trophy: Earl Campbell 1977, Ricky Williams 1998
Butkus Award (best linebacker): Derrick Johnson 2004
Doak Walker Award (best running back): Ricky Williams 1997, 1998; Cedric Benson 2004; D'Onta Foreman, 2016
Draddy/Campbell Trophy (academic Heisman): Dallas Griffin 2007; Sam Acho, 2010
Hendricks Award (outstanding defensive end): Brian Orakpo 2008, Jackson Jeffcoact 2013
Lombardi Award (best lineman): Kenneth Sims 1981, Tony Degrate 1984
Maxwell Award (outstanding player): Tommy Nobis 1965, Ricky Williams 1998, Vince Young 2005; Colt McCoy 2009
Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award: Earl Campbell 1977; Vince Young 2005; Colt McCoy 2009
Outland Trophy (outstanding interior lineman): Scott Appleton 1963; Tommy Nobis 1965; Brad Shearer 1977
Jim Thorpe Award: Michael Huff 2005; Aaron Ross 2006
Bronko Nagurski Award: Derrick Johnson 2004, Brian Orakpo 2008
Vince Lombardi Rotary Award: Kenneth Sims, 1981; Tony Degrate, 1984; Brian Orakpo, 2008
Walter Camp Award (player of the year): Ricky Williams 1998; Colt McCoy 2008, 2009
Chuck Bednarik Award (Defensive Player of the Year): None
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (outstanding senior quarterback): Colt McCoy, 2009
Manning Award: Vince Young, 2005; Colt McCoy, 2009
Ray Guy Award (best punter): Michael Dickson 2017
Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year: Sam Ehlinger 2020

College Football Hall of Fame

Hub Bechtol, End, 1944-46 (Inducted 1991)
Dana X. Bible, Coach, 1937-46 (1951)
Mack Brown, Head coach, 1998-2013 (2018)
Earl Campbell, Running Back, 1974-77 (1990)
Doug English, Defensive Tackle, 1972-74 (2011)
Chris Gilbert, Running Back, 1966-68 (1999)
Jerry Gray, Defensive Back, 1981-84 (2013)
Johnnie Johnson, Defensive Back, 1976-79 (2007)
Malcolm Kutner, End, 1939-41 (1974)
Bobby Layne, Quarterback, 1944-47, (1968)
Roosevelt Leaks, Running Back, 1972-74, (2005)
Bud McFadin, Guard, 1948-50 (1983)
Bob McKay, Offensive Line, 1968-69 (2017)
Steve McMichael, Defensive Tackle/1976-79 (2009)
Tommy Nobis, Linebacker, Guard, 1963-65 (1981)
Darrell Royal, Coach, 1957-76 (1983)
James Saxton, Running Back, 1959-61 (1996)
Harley Sewell, Guard, 1950-52 (2000)
Jerry Sisemore, Offensive Tackle, 1970-72 (2002)
Mortimer “Bud” Sprague, Tackle, 1923-24 (1970)
Harrison Stafford, Halfback, 1930-32 (1975)
Ricky Williams, Running Back, 1995-98 (2015)
Vince Young, Quarterback, 2003-05 (2019)

Texas Consensus First-Team All-Americans

(Source: NCAA; * unanimous selection)

1945 Hubert Bechtol, E
1946 Hubert Bechtol, E
1947 Bobby Layne, B
1950 * Bud McFadin, G
1953 Carlton Massey, E
1961 * Jimmy Saxton, B
1962 * Johnny Treadwell, G
1963 * Scott Appleton, T
1965 Tommy Nobis, LB
1968 Chris Gilbert, B
1969 Bob McKay, T
1970 Bill Atessis, DE; Steve Worster, B; Bobby Wuensch, T
1971 * Jerry Sisemore, T
1972 * Jerry Sisemore, T
1973 Roosevelt Leaks, B * Bill Wyman, C
1975 Bob Simmons, T
1977 * Earl Campbell, RB * Brad Shearer, DL
1978 * Johnnie Johnson, DB
1979 * Johnnie Johnson, DB * Steve McMichael, DL
1980 Kenneth Sims, DL
1981 * Kenneth Sims, DL; Terry Tausch, OL
1983 Doug Dawson, OL; Jerry Gray, DB; Jeff Leiding, LB
1984 Tony Degrate, DL * Jerry Gray, DB
1995 Tony Brackens, DL
1996 Dan Neil, OL
1997 * Ricky Williams, RB
1998 * Ricky Williams, RB
2000 Leonard Davis, OL; Casey Hampton, DL
2001 * Quentin Jammer, DB; Mike Williams, OL
2002 Derrick Dockery, OL
2003 Derrick Johnson, LB
2004 * Derrick Johnson, LB
2005 * Michael Huff, DB; * Jonathan Scott, OL; Rodrique Wright, DL; Vince Young, QB
2006 Justin Blalock, OL
2008 Colt McCoy, QB; * Brian Orakpo, DL
2009 * Colt McCoy, QB; Jordan Shipley, WR; Earl Thomas, DB
2013 Anthony Fera, PK; Jackson Jeffcoat, DL
2014 Malcom Brown, DL
2016 D’Onta Foreman, RB; Connor Williams, OL
2017 * DeShon Elliott, DB * Michael Dickson, P
2020 Joseph Ossai, LB

Parts of this post originated from the book, Huddle Up: Texas Football. This is the first story in a series that will examine the history of the Longhorns football program, and what it will bring to the Southeastern Conference.

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