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Favorite RB or backs of all time (Hawks)

Betts- Great player on bad teams on laid the foundation for future great KF teams and a fondness being in college seeing his last year. He's like the jarryd cole/Gatens of the Fran era.
Shaw- Watching old highlights like Alamo Bowl vs Tech sometimes forget how good he was. Unfortunately was not on any memorable Iowa teams but just a lot of pretty good 7-8 win teams and gets overlooked by others in my opinion.
Banks- Have read if they had recruiting stuff back then he would have been a 5*. Loved watching him juke guys out and had the breakaway speed. Probably would've shattered the Iowa record books if he didn't have to share the ball with Shaw.

Also it's unfortunate due to injuries both Banks and Shaw never did much in the pros. Both had potential to be very good NFL backs.
 
1. Banks - Could go for a td any game
2. Harmon - complete back
3. Bell - Illinois game was stuff of legends
4. Greene - the human battering ram
5. Dwight - small but electric
 
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Shaw and Banks are my favorites, and Shaw was the better of the two no matter how much hyperbole there still is around Tavian for his speed. I prefer a RB who can catch the ball, get short yardage and pound the rock 20-30 times with the occasional 50 yarder, not just blast off 80 yard runs vs UNI and Tulsa. I'm not sure we've had a RB since Sedrick that could actually do all four. I think Wegher might've had the most potential had he stuck around. Albert Young might actually be his closest comparison. Wadley wasn't a short yardage guy but he was pretty close otherwise. Betts didn't have the breakaway speed other than the one time NW jumped offside and he ran by the guy for 80 yards on a free play. Greene didn't catch the ball much. Russell didn't catch much or run short yardage, we'd give it to Cervantes for that. Coker was underrated. Damian Sims was more like Tavian, popping big gains after the defense was worn down. We've been blessed with a lot of good running backs, hope we have more in the pipeline.
 
Another one I'd add is Kevin Harmon. When he was healthy in 1986 and 1987, he was really good. Just couldn't stay healthy.

David Hudson, Norm Granger, Lew Montgomery all were great running fullbacks,
 
This list is very solid. One of my favorites that I haven't seen mentioned yet was Sweet Lew Montgomery. He never had massive stats, but was fun to watch play, especially in 91. The whole stadium would yell LEW!!!! I remember listening to the games on the radio when we didn't go, and Zabel would always clarify "They are yelling LEW not BOO!".
 
IMHO, the 1959 Rose Bowl champs tandum of Bob Jeter & Willie Flemming. Jeter had 194 yards & Flemming 89. Also, Randy Duncan was the QB.
IIRC, Iowa was the then UPI (United Press Int'l) co nat'l champion. Plz correct my aged memory if necessary.
 
Anyone remember Dennis Mosely from Hayden's first year at Iowa?

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Thanks for jarring my mem. Wegher, Lewis, Weisman, Gill, Granger, and the old guard: aPodolak, Jeter, Fleming. Phillips,Mosely, Saunders, BROWNLEE, not Browne, Bayless. Hell I’m forgetting the name of the kid who played for us 2 years ago who’s in the league! I’m old! The transfer.
 
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Adam Robinson was a tough son of a gun. Shame he couldn't stay healthy, and that marijuana was much more regulated back then.

Coker is my personal favorite. Just an absolute dump truck of a runner. I know KF was furious about how he got railroaded by the university.
Marcus was Nick Bell the 2nd. MC's bowl game was crazy......
 
Favorite RB of All-Time? Eddie Podalak

"Best" could be a lot of guys that I love - Kininck, of course. But, Banks, Greene, Betts, Russell - I loved Jermelle Lewis. So, many great ones to choose, so I won't,
 
Willie Fleming.

Heard Jim Walden say once that the two most exciting runners he ever saw in college ball were Willie Fleming and Johnny Rodgers.
Yep, Evy told me that Willie was the best player he’d ever seen. Now that is incredible based onEvy’x history. Check his videos and stats; too bad he didn’t go to class and flunked out. Probably the best player in the history of CFL, was too young for NFLand just stayed in Canada
 
Shaw and Banks are my favorites, and Shaw was the better of the two no matter how much hyperbole there still is around Tavian for his speed. I prefer a RB who can catch the ball, get short yardage and pound the rock 20-30 times with the occasional 50 yarder, not just blast off 80 yard runs vs UNI and Tulsa.
Do you remember his 89 yd TD run against the clones in '96? He also had some amazing runs against good competition, too. Do you remember him in the Sun Bowl?
 
Do you remember his 89 yd TD run against the clones in '96? He also had some amazing runs against good competition, too. Do you remember him in the Sun Bowl?
Absolutely do. ISU wasn't really good at that point, though Washington was a good team on paper even if they didn't show up for the game very well. Shaw also had a huge run against Washington on the first drive and Iowa ran for almost 300 yards. Tavian had the one 50 yard TD run vs Michigan in '97 as well to put them up 7-0 which I'd actually consider his '97 best highlight. Tavian's best overall game in a good win IMO was actually at PSU in '96, he really grinded out a performance there without hitting a home run when Shaw was injured. He's still my second favorite to Shaw, not like I'm not a fan of him. You don't win B10 offensive MVP if you aren't really good.
 
Liked what these backs brought to the field but really total **** ups in life. They're the Frustrating Four (Wegher, Robinson, Coker, Green).

Do not be mistaken, Coker was not railroaded. Very far from that indeed. But the Coker things bring out the double nature of the OP. Does favorite mean best or just personal affinity. Mine are based on the later.

My favs: Sed, LaDell, Tavian, Freddy and Mike Saunders.
Coker had all the tools and talent to do great things at Iowa - what a mess that entire scenario was ..
 
How about a duo like Bob Jeter and Willie Fleming. Fast and shifty with power. If the QB hadnt gotten so many carries along with the fullback in that single wing offense those two would have put up unheard of numbers.
Fleming and Jeter are Nos. 1 and 2 in no particular order. Both averaged over 7 yards a carry on the 1958 team, the best in Iowa history. (btw, it was the Winged T, not the Single Wing.)

Iowa was voted national champion by the Football Writers Association of America. It voted after the bowl games. UPI and the AP voted before the bowls and had LSU as the national champs. LSU scored one touchdown in the Sugar Bowl, with the help of a bad Clemson punt snap. Iowa, of course, crushed Cal , highlighted by Jeter's freakish performance, in the Rose. Anyone with a pulse recognized that Iowa was a powerhouse and the best team in the country, despite a loss to Ohio State and an inexplicable tie with Air Force.

LSU, like all major southern schools at the time, was segregated. The Big Ten simply had better players than the SEC. LSU's star RB, Billy Cannon, would have been lucky to play at Iowa.
 
With the Tyler Goodson thread, I wondered what RBs were the favorites of HR. People seem to like or dislike him for whatever reason What trips your trigger?
Harmon?
Bell?
Greene?
Betts?
Shaw?
Banks?
Coker?
Robinson?
Wadley?
Russell?
Browne?
Paki?
Im done. Recall says I missed many. Help me with your memories. I loved Adam Robinson’s running style. Doesn’t mean he was my fav. He just always stuck out as someone I liked. Flashier guys get more love. He was solid.
only UCLA and ISU fans would say Harmon
 
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