7 College Football Teams That Were Basically Carried By A Single Player

Every once in a while, a player comes around who’s so special they take their school to new heights on their own. Not all of these players carried their teams to a national championship, but they were clearly the reason for most of their teams’ success.

These college football players were basically responsible for most of their team’s success

Sometimes college football teams succeed because they are loaded with NFL talent. Other times, elite coaching makes the difference. But let’s talk about teams with an elite player doing more than his fair share.

Some of these guys were underrecruited and ended up at a small school, which helped them stand out.

A few players landed at big-name universities, but they stood out enough to rack up individual and team awards.

What they all have in common is they weren’t surrounded by a ton of other talent, and when the game was on, it was obvious who the best player on the team was.

Cam Newton (Auburn)

Cam Newton’s lone season at Auburn was a massive success; the QB won the Heisman and led the Tigers to a national championship victory.

Newton himself had 51 touchdowns (3o passing, 20 rushing, and one receiving) and went first overall in the NFL draft.

Cam would go on to make 144 starts in the NFL, and the rest of the 2010 Auburn offense combined for… one. Tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen tragically passed away in a car accident, but he was the only other offensive player from the team to make an NFL start.

Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)

Ashton Jeanty took the college football world by storm in the 2024 season; it seemed like the back broke off a full-field touchdown run in every game.

Jeanty rushed for 2,601 yards, just 27 yards short of Barry Sanders’ single-season record. QB Maddux Madsen was second in rushing yards with 221.

Jeanty finished second in the Heisman race, went 6th overall in the draft, and led Boise State to its first and only college football playoff appearance.

Lamar Jackson  (Louisville)

Lamar Jackson put Louisville football on the map in 2016.  A former 3-star recruit, Lamar was in his second season, but he looked like a seasoned vet.

The quarterback accounted for nearly half of the team’s rushes and almost 5000 yards in total offense. He became the first FBS player to record 3300 passing yards and 1500 rushing yards.

Lamar won the Heisman in 2016 and led Louisville to the No. 3-ranked team in the country, and the university hasn’t been ranked that high since.

Manti Te’o (Notre Dame)

Manti Te’o is unfortunately best remembered for being catfished into believing he had a long-distance girlfriend he never met, who was ultimately revealed never to have existed.

But the linebacker had one of the most dominant defensive seasons in college history in 2012. Te’o recorded 113 tackles and seven interceptions, enough to finish second in Heisman voting.

Notre Dame went 12-0 in the regular season and reached the national championship game. Notre Dame allowed 12.8 PPG, the second-lowest in the country. While the defense featured standout safety Harrison Smith, Manti Te’o was its heart, soul, and captain.

Devonta Smith (Alabama)

Alabama in 2020 was loaded with players who went on to play in the NFL, but one player powered the offense: Devonta Smith.

John Metchie was the team’s WR2; Smith caught more than double the passes and yards and nearly four times as many touchdowns.

Smith became the first receiver in over 30 years to win the Heisman, but unfortunately, he left the national championship game at halftime with an injury. As a result, he caught only 12 passes for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win.

Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M)

As a redshirt freshman, Johnny Manziel set an SEC total offense record in 2012, racking up 5,116 yards. Johnny had 2706 through the air, 1410 on the ground, and 43 total TDs along the way.

Manziel went 10-2 in the regular season, including a 29-24 upset win over No. 1-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa. That would prove to be the Tide’s only loss of the year, and Manziel would go on to win the Heisman.

Manziel was supported by another all-American in wide receiver Mike Evans, but Manziel’s clutch plays and dual-threat ability made him hard to leave off the list.

Rashaad Penny (San Diego State University)

In 2017, San Diego State finally let their senior running back Rashaad Penny be the bell cow. Penny took his opportunity and ran for 2,248 yards, leading the country.

SDSU went 10-2 in the regular season, including a 42-23 win over Nevada, in which Penny totaled 429 total yards and broke the school record set by the legendary Marshall Faulk.

In the upcoming draft, SDSU saw only two players drafted: Penny in the first round and his fullback, Nick Bawden, in the seventh.