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Celtsfan1980 wrote:Kevin White would be an example. How much success do they have in the pros compared to those with multiple great seasons? Is that one great season(usually their last) a good indicator of what to expect, or are their other mediocre years before that a better indicator of what to expect?

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Perhaps the only one who saw Barry Sanders' unrivaled 1988 season coming was the coach at Oklahoma State's rival school.

The year before, Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer was watching film to prepare for the Sooners' upcoming game with the Cowboys.

The Oklahoma coaching staff was consumed with how they'd contain Oklahoma State All-American tailback Thurman Thomas.

Switzer, however, had another concern.

"I saw this back run a kickoff back 100 yards. Then a little while later, he did it again," Switzer once recalled. "I walked over to our coaches in another room and I told them, 'You'd better hope Thurman Thomas doesn't get hurt.'"

The staff wondered aloud if their head coach had lost his mind. But soon enough, Switzer's prescience would be affirmed.

Thomas would go on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.

But a year later, Sanders would produce the greatest individual season college football had ever witnessed. And a season that stands unmatched to this day.

"Won't be another like it," said Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, who was also Sanders' quarterback.

Sanders didn't just rewrite the NCAA record book in 1988, he took a flamethrower to it. Sanders set 34 NCAA records that season on his way to capturing the Heisman Trophy. He also rushed for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns, while adding two special-teams scores. The NCAA didn't begin including bowl game statistics until 2002, but with 222 yards and five touchdowns in the Holiday Bowl against Wyoming, he totaled 2,850 yards and 44 touchdowns. No player since has come close to touching either mark.

"It's obviously the greatest season any individual has had," said Sanders' college coach, Pat Jones. "Hell, maybe in any sport."

The Cowboys actually went into the 1988 season with outsiders wondering how they'd replace Thomas.

Icness wrote:I was at the Ohio State/Oklahoma State game where Barry Sanders ran wild. Me & my dad had no clue who he was but a very good Buckeye defense couldn't do anything to slow him down. We were like, I thought their good RB was in the NFL now?