Poll: Best Ever BYU Running Back

[snoscythe]

Time to vote for the Best Ever BYU Running Back to join our BYU All-Time Team.

Voting closes on Sunday. Only one makes the cut, so you only get one vote.

You can view the nominations and previous debate in the previous thread:

http://cougarcorner.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9010" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[snoscythe]

This sums it up nicely for me:

[vancouvercougar]

This sums it up nicely for me:

Only cougar to win the award.

[BigCougsFan]

I'm torn, man. One part tells me Staley AND then the other tells me Unga.

Then I get thinking... Staley left early for the NFL.

THEN

I realize Unga was gone a year early too!

THEN

I go to records THEN I go to awards, etc...

Life is good as a Cougar!

[Mars]

Fleet Pete is one of BYU's first true greats. He helped begin put BYU on the map.

[Cougarbib]

I guess the bad boys did not make the list - would not win any way

Galloping Greek - Chris Farousopholis sp
Reno Mahe - can't even out run the law with free gas

I went with Staley even though he left early. With his injury, he probably was toast anyway. What a great Junior year until that injury late in the miss St game rescheduled due to 9/11 terrorist attacks. And those dang cowbells in the stadium. At least we won the game and clearly things were never the same after Staley went down.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[imuakahuku]

I have to go with the all time rusher Unga for a few reasons. He had the speed (NFL timed between 4.5 and 4.7), the size 244, and the moves. I loved Staley but don't ever remember him running over DB's and LB's. Luke was a little faster than Harvey (times between 4.42 and 4.6) but he was not a big inside runner. If he got the corner he would go and racing to the corner from inside the 10 was almost a guarantee TD but Unga was just as productive. I would take either of them.

I will say that CB is a very close third in my book. What Curtis Brown did to Oregon was a treat and showed that "JStew" was not the best RB on the field that day.

[SpiffCoug]

Unga wasn't "just as productive" as Staley. The only think Unga has over Staley is not having to share the load. Staley was the feature back only one season. Unga was for three years.

Both were very productive as a whole, but on a per touch basis, no one is even close to Staley in the RB category.

Staley averaged a full yard more per carry and per reception. He scored a touchdown every 10.5 times he touched the football. Unga's rate is only one per 18.1 TDs (72% less than Staley's).

Did Staley benefit from a magical year with a magical QB in a magical offense that caught every opponent off guard? Probably. But no one was better than Staley. He was a threat to score every time he touched the ball his entire career. Unga wasn't.

There isn't a wrong answer, but there certainly is a better one.

[BigCougsFan]

Unga wasn't "just as productive" as Staley. The only think Unga has over Staley is not having to share the load. Staley was the feature back only one season. Unga was for three years.

Both were very productive as a whole, but on a per touch basis, no one is even close to Staley in the RB category.

Staley averaged a full yard more per carry and per reception. He scored a touchdown every 10.5 times he touched the football. Unga's rate is only one per 18.1 TDs (72% less than Staley's).

Did Staley benefit from a magical year with a magical QB in a magical offense that caught every opponent off guard? Probably. But no one was better than Staley. He was a threat to score every time he touched the ball his entire career. Unga wasn't.

There isn't a wrong answer, but there certainly is a better one.

This argument can go both ways. Unga was fantastic from the very beginning till the very end.

Staley was a stud the second he touched the ball. Would Staley be just as productive in a pro style offense? I doubt it. Like Unga wouldn't be as productive in the option offense.

Both were great and too bad we can't pick two backs in this category.

I miss them both! Very much!

[SpiffCoug]

Staley was fantastic from the very beginning as well. He just didn't carry the load. It's actually amazing he didn't touch the ball more than he did the first two years.

As a freshman Staley, averaged 4.7 yards per carry and a TD every 9.2 carries. He averaged 13 yards per reception and a TD every 8.7 catches. His freshman cohort (Tahi) averaged 3.7 yards per rush and 7.2 yards per catch and scored just 4 TDs to Staley's 13. It's astounding to me Fahu touched the ball as much as he did.

As a freshman, Unga averaged 5.0 yards per rush and 14.9 yards per catch, but he scored just four more TDs on 170 more touches than Staley.

Staley was a scoring machine from the minute he stepped on the field. BYU has never had a player score at his kind of pace. He simply had a nose for the endzone that was unmatched. He was unstoppable by opponents only by injuries.