Game-changers. College football’s best athletes of all-time truly jump off the page, forever etched in memory as superstars. Ranking the 50 best playmaking duos ahead of the 2024 season took the minds of several national analysts and historical gurus, who debated for hours on which tandems to include.
Quarterbacks are all the rage, but oftentimes it’s their top-end wideouts and bruising ballcarriers who handle much of the production offensively. And on defense, edge rusher, linebackers and ballhawks in the secondary can alter a drive’s outcome at any moment.
Of course, there are notable exclusions. This is where you come in. Let us know who we missed as you sift through many of the greatest pairings our sport has ever seen. Bonus points went to tandems which played more than one season together, gobbled up national awards or won national championships.
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Combing across college football’s modern era, here’s a look at 50 playmaking duos on both sides of the football who will never be forgotten at their respective programs:
50. Philip Rivers, QB; TA McClendon, RB (NC State)
49. Mike Pouncey and Maurkice Pouncey, OL (Florida)
48. Kenjon Barner and LaMichael James, RB (Oregon)
47. Brandon Weeden, QB; Justin Blackmon, WR (Oklahoma State)
46. Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, WR (Ohio State)
45. Melvin Ingram, DT; Jadeveon Clowney, Edge (South Carolina)
44. Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh, WR (Oregon State)
43. Jeremy Shockey and Kellen Winslow Jr., TE (Miami)
42. Jon Beason and Jonathan Vilma, LB (Miami)
41. Antrel Rolle, CB; Sean Taylor, S (Miami)
It’s a shame this South Carolina duo only play together during the 2011 season when Clowney was a true freshman prior, but Ingram’s All-American campaign helped the Gamecocks manage the first of three consecutive 11-win finishes for the first time in program history. Ingram registered 10 sacks, returned a punt for a touchdown during a win at Georgia and fueled one of the most destructive defensive fronts the SEC has seen. Clowney had eight sacks and 12 TFLs as a first-year player before earning all-everything honors in 2012 with 13 sacks and 23.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage.
40. Elvis Grbac, QB; Desmond Howard ATH (Michigan)
39. Joe Montana, QB; Ken MacAfee WR (Notre Dame)
38. Brian Bosworth, LB; Sonny Brown, CB (Oklahoma)
37. Champ Bailey and Ronald Bailey, DB (Georgia)
36. Santana Moss and Andre Johnson, WR (Miami)
35. Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas, WR (LSU)
34. Prince Amukamara, CB; Ndamukong Suh. DT (Nebraska)
33. Ken Dorsey, QB; Willis McGahee, RB (Miami)
32. Graham Harrell, QB; Michael Crabtee, WR (Texas Tech)
31. Colt McCoy, QB; Jordan Shipley, WR (Texas)
Arguably the most dominant defensive player of the 21st century, Suh proved in 2009 as a senior that voters were afraid to push a player in the trenches as a Heisman frontrunner. Coming off a 7.5-sack, 16-tackle for loss junior season as an interior force, Suh was already a household name and responded with a 12-sack, 20.5-tackle for loss final campaign despite constant double-teams and being the focus of every offensive coordinator’s game plan. This guy was unstoppable along the defensive front.
30. A.J. McCarron, QB; Amari Cooper, WR (Alabama)
29. Danny Wuerffel, QB; Reidel Anthony WR (Florida)
28. Tua Tagovailoa, QB; Jerry Jeudy, WR (Alabama)
27. Nick Bosa and Chase Young, Edge (Ohio State)
26. Dan Morgan, LB, Ed Reed, S (Miami)
One of the most efficient passers in college football history, Tagovailoa “lost” his Heisman down the stretch as a sophomore in 2018 when Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray’s red-hot finish paved the way for him to become the Sooners’ second straight winner. Tagovailoa was terrific that season, didn’t throw his first interception until November and finished with 3,966 yards passing and 43 touchdowns. Jeudy, in 2018, averaged 19.3 yards per catch and scored 14 touchdowns, most of the long-ball variety from Tagovailoa.
25. DeMarco Murray, RB; Ryan Broyles, WR (Oklahoma)
24. Colt Brennan, QB; Davone Bess WR (Hawaii)
23. Cam Newton, QB; Michael Dyer RB (Auburn)
22. AJ Hawk and Bobby Carpenter, LB (Ohio State)
21. Eric Dickerson and Craig James, RB (SMU)
20. Sam Bradford, QB; Jermaine Gresham, TE (Oklahoma)
19. LaVar Arrington, LB, Courtney Brown, Edge (Penn State)
18. Chris Weinke, QB; Peter Warrick WR (Florida State)
17. Johnny Manziel, QB; Mike Evans, WR (Texas A&M)
Johnny Football was fun to watch in the SEC. It was must-see TV for Kevin Sumlin and the Aggies’ offense every weekend. He was the nation’s most-electrifying quarterback and led Texas A&M to several noteworthy wins, including a victory at Alabama. He also became the first freshman and only the fifth player in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 and rush for 1,000 yards in a season, reaching that mark two games earlier than any other player. That mark has been passed several times since by different players, but it was eye-opening at the time. He was also the first-ever freshman Heisman winner. Evans caught 151 passes for 2,499 yards and 17 touchdowns from Manziel over two seasons.
Twenty-seven wins and one loss. Michigan was nearly perfect over this pair’s final two seasons at the Big Ten blueblood once McCarthy became the full-time starter at quarterback early on as a sophomore. McCarthy left Ann Arbor as one of the program’s best players of all-time per former coach Jim Harbaugh while Corum shattered various previous program records in the backfield with 58 career rushing touchdowns. McCarthy and Corum left their mark with a 15-0 run to the program’s first national championship since 1997 last season.
As noted by Dawgs247, former Georgia running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel signed with the Bulldogs in the same class, were teammates and best friends in Athens for four years, and helped lead the program to an SEC Championship, a Rose Bowl victory and an appearance in the national championship in 2017. They also rank No. 2 and No. 3 in school history when it comes to rushing yardage. Bulldog legend Herschel Walker is the only player higher on that list. During his time at Georgia, Chubb carried the football 758 times for 4,769 yards and 44 touchdowns. He added 31 catches for 361 yards and four scores. He rushed for 1,000 yards in his freshman, junior and senior seasons and was on pace to make a run at 2,000 yards rushing in his sophomore campaign before a gruesome injury against Tennessee shortened his year to just seven games.
The injury bug bit Michel as a freshman, suffering a fractured shoulder blade and multiple other nagging injuries but he returned as a sophomore and rushed for 1,163 yards and became the team’s feature back after Chubb went out. In total, Michel accumulated 590 carries for 3,613 yards and 33 touchdowns. He also had 64 catches for 621 yards and six scores as a receiver.
College football’s consensus national champions in 1995 after finishing 12-0 under legendary coach Tom Osborne, the Huskers were fueled offensively by Tommie Frazier and Ahman Green, who combined for 27 rushing touchdowns and just over 1,700 yards from scrimmage. Frazier was the dual-threat All-American signal caller while Green handled the heavy-lifting on the ground with 1,086 yards rushing (7.7 yards per carry). Frazier finished second in Heisman voting that season. Green’s best season in Lincoln came two years later when he galloped his way to 1,877 yards on 278 totes.
Peyton Manning was the heralded recruit at Tennessee in 1994 and there was already a blossoming star on campus — wideout Joey Kent — whose numbers flourished with a new quarterback. Per Tennessee Athletics, Kent finished as Tennessee’s career record holder in receptions (183), receiving yards (2,814), receiving touchdowns (25), 100-yard games (15) and average yards per catch (18.8). All five of those school records still stand today. Manning’s numbers impressed as his career moved forward with Kent’s help, but 1997 was his best with 3,819 yards and 36 touchdowns, due in large part to play from Marcus Nash — Kent’s career backup.
An electrifying player at the back end of LSU’s defense during the 2010 and 2011 season, Tyrann Mathieu earned his nickname “Honey Badger” for his style of play. He forced 11 fumbles over 26 career games, intercepted four passes, scored two defensive touchdowns and twice on special teams as a do-everything player for the Tigers. Over that same stretch, Morris Claiborne held down one of the cornerback spots with 11 picks and 95 total tackles with a pair of non-offensive scores. These two were threats any time they touched the football.
These two only got to lead the Alabama’s fierce defensive front seven for one season together (1986), but their legacies have stood for decades despite countless All-Americans in the trenches after their departures from Tuscaloosa. The late Derrick Thomas is one of the greatest SEC defensive players ever as a two-time all-league player and Butkus Award winner in 1988. His mark of 27 sacks in a single season (1988) will likely never be broken. Cornelius Bennett is one of only a handful of Alabama players to be named to three All-America teams and as a senior in 1986, won the Lombardi Award and SEC Player of the Year honor.
Alabama saw several All-American quarterback to wideout combos during Nick Saban’s illustrious tenure, but the 2020 season featuring Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith was the greatest. Smith recorded 117 catches for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns, the greatest season ever in Tuscaloosa at the position. Via the Heisman Trust, Smith became the first wide receiver since Desmond Howard to win the prestigious honor after leading Alabama to an undefeated season and a berth in the College Football Playoff. He went on to dominate in both playoff games, including a record-setting first half in the finale against Ohio State. In his only season as Alabama’s starting quarterback, Jones managed 4,500 yards passing with 41 scores.
Two of the ACC’s greatest players of all-time at their respective positions, Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne were key cogs in Clemson’s 15-0 national title-winning season in 2018 with incredible numbers. A former five-star recruit, Lawrence threw for 3,280 yards as a freshman that campaign with 30 touchdowns. He followed that up with a 36-touchdown season as a sophomore. Via Clemson Athletics, Etienne was part of a senior class that helped Clemson to four ACC titles, four College Football Playoff berths, two national championship appearances and a national title, all while becoming the first FBS senior class since 2010 to go undefeated at home (27-0 at Death Valley)
Joe Burrow’s magical 2019 season came at a historic level. Not only did he guide the LSU Tigers to a 15-0 national championship campaign, Burrow lit it up on the field with plenty of talent around him. He finished the year with 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and six interceptions, while completing 76.3% of his passes. It was evident early on that Burrow was doing something special. His 60 touchdowns and 202.0 quarterback rating are NCAA records and he also led the NCAA in completion percentage and passing yards. JaMarr Chase became the first wide receiver and the 11th player in LSU history to become a unanimous All-American after he broke the SEC single-season mark for receiving yards and established the record of 1,780 receiving yards in one season. His 20 touchdowns was a single-season program record. He won the Bileitkoff for his efforts before sitting out the next season.
Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas were quite the tandem for the Cowboys, but each enjoyed their best seasons independent of one another. Sanders’ greatest feat was his gargantuan 2,628-yard explosion in 1988, the year after Thomas was a second-round NFL Draft pick. No longer part of a 1-2 punch, Sanders galloped his way to 37 touchdowns on the ground and Heisman honors. Thomas had a pair of 1,500-yard plus seasons in Stillwater (1985 and 1987) as one of the top players in program history.
Marshall’s 1997 season was one of the most memorable in program history as Chad Pennington and Randy Moss hooked to form one of the most formidable tandems we’ve ever seen offensively. Moss averaged a jaw-dropping 18.3 yards per catch in his only season with the Thundering Herd, hauling in 90 receptions for 1,647 yards and a nation-leading 25 touchdowns. Known as sticky fingers around the locker room, Moss caught everything thrown his way and Pennington knew just putting the football in his vicinity would result in a chunk play.
There’s going to be some debate here, but Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams are just behind two other ball carriers considered the SEC’s greatest rushing duo of all-time. Brown’s 2,707 yards rushing and Williams’ 3,831 yards on the ground featured a stunning two dozen 100-yard performances between the pair. Brown was the bruiser and Williams had breakaway speed, anchoring a 13-0 Auburn team in 2004 that was left out of the BCS National Championship. Williams finished with 45 career rushing touchdowns while Brown tallied 28. Auburn’s backfield has seen this level of elite tandem since.
This Arkansas backfield was simply unstoppable in the SEC. Darren McFadden was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in both his sophomore and junior campaigns at Arkansas, losing the first to Troy Smith of Ohio State and the second to Florida’s Tim Tebow He rushed for over 4,500 yards in three college seasons, won just about every other major award and holds several Razorbacks records. Felix Jones averaged 7.7 yards per carry in his career with 20 rushing touchdowns and 2,956 yards on the ground. He returned four kickoffs for scores, too. If Brown and Williams were Thunder and Lightning at Auburn, McFadden and Jones were dual F-5 tornadoes.
Perhaps the most underrated backfield in college football history, Pat White and Steve Slaton humiliated opposing defenses three consecutive years together at West Virginia. Slaton finished fourth in Heisman voting as a sophomore in 2006 with 1,744 yards rushing and 16 scores. He compiled 50 rushing touchdowns over his three-year tenure in Morgantown. White was equally nightmarish on the ground, earning a pair of top-10 Heisman finishes in 2007 and 2008. He scored 40 times on the ground over his final three seasons, including a 1,219 yard-effort in 2006 as a sophomore and 1,335 more yards in 2007. That Mountaineers ground attack in 2006 is one of the most prolific ever.
Tim Tebow’s list of accolades is expansive, chief among them his Heisman Trophy win in 2007. He was also part of two Florida teams that won a BCS National Championship and was a two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year. He has a statue outside of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, and finished his career with the Gators with 9,286 passing yards and 88 touchdowns to just 16 interceptions while rushing for 1,947 yards and 57 touchdowns. While Tebow, Wuerffel and Steve Spurrier all won Heismans at Florida, but Harvin might be the most dyamic offensive talent in program history. Harvin was an incredibly versatile player for the Gators. In three seasons, Harvin rushed for 1,852 yards, caught 133 passes for 1,929 yards and scored 32 total touchdowns. He was a nightmare for opposing defenses because he could be used in any number of ways and once he got past you, there was no catching up.
USC’s Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush combo edged out the Bush-Lendale White pairing for this ranking, but each tandem is worthy of merit. Bush won the Heisman in 2005 after he ran for 1,740 yards and 16 touchdowns on 200 carries. He was one of the key players — along with Leinart — who led USC to the BCS National Championship, where the Trojans fell just short to the Texas Longhorns. Leinart threw for 10,693 yards and 99 touchdowns over three seasons as USC’s starter and won the Heisman as a junior (2004) en route to a national championship. At one point, Leinart and Bush helped USC win 34 consecutive games.
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