Few players hold as distinguished a position in TCU football history as LaDainian Tomlinson.
Indeed, only legendary quarterbacks Sammy Baugh and Davey O'Brien — players whose fame extends beyond their school ties, to college football at large — can claim to have a bigger impact with the Horned Frogs. That does nothing to detract from Tomlinson's legendary four-year career in Fort Worth, where he began a Hall of Fame career at both the college football and professional levels.
TCU's appearance in the 2023 College Football Playoff championship game naturally will resurrect interest in Tomlinson's college career, which still inspires incredible images of "LT" streaking past opposing defenses. Tomlinson won't be able to suit up against top-ranked Georgia for the national title, but will be on hand to watch his alma mater challenge for a national title.
With that, The Sporting News revisits Tomlinson's college career at TCU, which has placed him on the short list of greatest college running backs of all time:
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Where did LaDainian Tomlinson go to college?
Tomlinson played four seasons at TCU, from 1997 through 2000. He served as a backup behind Basil Mitchell his first two seasons before becoming a star in his final two seasons in Fort Worth.
LaDainian Tomlinson TCU stats
Tomlinson finished his career at TCU with 943 carries for 5,387 yards, 56 touchdowns and a 5.7 yards-per-carry average — all the more impressive considering the vast bulk of those numbers came in his final two seasons.
Tomlinson was elevated to starter ahead of his junior year in 1999, in which he rushed 304 times for 1,974 yards (6.5 yards per carry) and 20 touchdowns; he had 2,058 yards from scrimmage for the year.
That season, he finished in the top five in several major rushing statistics, including yards (second, behind Ron Dayne), yards per carry (fourth), touchdowns (tied for first with Dayne) and yards from scrimmage (first).
Tomlinson elevated his play in 2000, a year in which he was a unanimous All-America selection and winner of the Doak Walker Award. Though his yards-per-carry average dipped from 6.5 to 5.8, he improved his rushing yards (2,158 yards), touchdowns (22) and yards from scrimmage (2,198) over the previous year.
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Tomlinson catapulted himself into the No. 5 overall pick of the 2001 NFL Draft on the strength of his final two years in Fort Worth, becoming an 11-year player in the league. Below are his year-by-year stats at TCU:
| Year | Rushes | Yards | YPC | Touchdowns | Scrimmage yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 126 | 538 | 4.3 | 6 | 647 |
| 1998 | 144 | 717 | 5.0 | 8 | 751 |
| 1999 | 304 | 1,974 | 6.5 | 20 | 2,058 |
| 2000 | 369 | 2,158 | 5.8 | 22 | 2,188 |
| Career | 943 | 5,387 | 5.7 | 56 | 5,654 |
TCU officially retired Tomlinson's No. 5 jersey in 2005. In 2014, fourteen years later after his final game in purple and white, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
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Moreover, Tomlinson still holds TCU rushing records for yards and touchdowns in a single game, single season and a career:
- Single-game rushing: 406 yards
- Single-season rushing: 2,158 yards
- Career rushing: 5,387 yards
- Single-game rushing TDs: Six
- Single-season rushing TDs: 22
- Career rushing TDs: 56
That includes an incredible performance against UTEP in 1999, when Tomlinson rushed 43 times for 406 yards and six touchdowns. In so doing, Tomlinson became the first player ever to rush for 400-plus yards in a game, a distinction he held until 2014, when Melvin Gordon and Samaje Perine both eclipsed his totals.
