Kansas Jayhawks Football: Top Sixteen All-Time in Rushing Yards
By Joel Wagler
Kansas Jayhawks All-Time Rushing Yards Leaders Number Two: Tony Sands
Few Jayhawks will forget the November day in 1991 when little Tony Sands broke the NCAA record for yards rushing in a game with 396 against the rival Missouri Tigers, 53-29, on the last day of the season.
According to the LA Times, he also carried the ball an NCAA-record 58 times that day, an incredible feat for a man who was just five foot, six inches, and 175 pounds. Add in four touchdowns that day, just for good measure.
- Rushing Yards – 3,777
- Carries – 777
- Rushing Touchdowns – 28
- Yards per Cary – 4.9
- Total Yards from Scrimmage – 3,891
- Total Touchdowns – 28
Sands was part of those Glen Mason coached Kansas teams that broke away from the awful traditions of the 1980s and brought winning back for the Jayhawks. From his numbers, you can tell what a little workhorse he was.
With that incredible last game of his career, Sands took the Big 8 rushing title with 1,442 yards. He finished ninth in the country. He was first in the conference and fifth in the nation in carries.
It is hard not to admire someone who never let his size deter him from a fantastic collegiate career. His heart and toughness made his lack of size irrelevant. That is as impressive of a record in college football, even though it has since fallen.
It wasn’t just the 396 yards, but it was the yards AND the carries that were so impressive. He ground out those yards and earned them in the toughest way possible. He produced one of the biggest days in Kansas Football history.
Next: The Greatest Ball Carrier in Jayhawks History