Top 10 all-time running backs in Texas history
NO. 3: CEDRIC BENSON
(Photo: Jonathan Daniel, Getty)
Seasons: 2001 to 2004
Career: 5,540 rushing yards, 1,112 attempts, 64 touchdowns, 5 yards per carry
Accolades: 2004 Doak Walker Award winner, consensus All-American (2004), No. 3 NCAA career touchdowns
Cedric Benson was one of the best running backs to make his way onto the 40 Acres. A four-year starter for
Mack Brown, Benson has his name at the top of the Longhorns' record book with his school-record 1,112 carries. The running back ranks second in Texas football history after he rushed for more than 100 yards in 25 career games, falling only behind Ricky Williams. His college career tremendously helped Benson's draft stock as the Chicago Bears selected him with the No. 4 overall pick in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Benson played eight seasons in the National Football League, including seven with the Bears, before he retired following the 2012 football season.
Collegiate career
Benson attended the
University of Texas at Austin, where he was a four-year starter for the
Texas Longhorns football team. As a senior in 2004, he received the
Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back and was recognized as a consensus
All-American. He finished his college career with 5,540 rushing yards to rank sixth all time in
NCAA Division I-A history, and second only to
Ricky Williams in Longhorns team history.
He has often been compared to Williams, due to their similarities in running style, college choice, legal complications,
[3][4] and superficial appearance (roughly the same size and build coming out of college, and both had
dreadlocks early in their careers), and the fact that they had both been minor league baseball players.
While attending the
University of Texas, Benson majored in
social work and
sociology. During his latter years, he earned membership into the Texas' Athletics Director's Academic Honor Roll, and the
Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in fall of 2003. Also, while in college, Benson was arrested twice, once for possession of marijuana and the other for criminal trespass. The marijuana case was dropped after a friend came forward and claimed ownership. He received 8 days in jail for the trespass conviction although he spent no time in jail other than the day of arrest due to overcrowding in Travis County Jail. He was forced to serve a one-half game suspension against
Baylor University.
[5]
College statistics
Rushing
Receiving
Year
Team
GP
Att
Yards
Avg
TDs
Rec
Yards
TDs
2001
Texas
12
223
1,053
4.7
12
17
203
1
2002
Texas
13
305
1,293
4.2
12
21
119
0
2003
Texas
12
258
1,360
5.3
21
9
120
1
2004
Texas
12
326
1,834
5.6
19
22
179
1
College Totals
49
1,112
5,540
5.0
64
69
621
3
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