Notre Dame football: Top 5 running backs in school history

Where Autry Denson is first in rushing yards and second in rushing touchdowns over the course of his career at Notre Dame, Allen Pinkett is second in rushing yards, and first in rushing touchdowns in his career. To be more specific, Pinkett has 4,131 career rushing yards and 49 career rushing touchdowns.

Over the course of his entire career, Pinkett averaged 4.6 yards per carry. He was also a strong receiving threat, who caught 73 career passes, for 10.6 yards per catch. He also had three receiving touchdowns, which brings his career total to 52 touchdowns.

During his freshman season, Pinkett returned kicks, with one even going for a touchdown. He also threw a touchdown in his junior season.

Despite this, Allen Pinkett’s sophomore season was his best. It was in that season that he ran for 1,394 yards, at a rate of 5.5 yards per carry. He also ran for 16 touchdowns in that season, which is 5th all-time for rushing touchdowns in a season. That same year he caught 28 passes and two touchdowns.

His 17 touchdowns, scored during his junior season, are tied for the second-most all-time, behind Jerome Bettis’ 20 in 1991. Unlike Bettis, Pinkett had more than one great season.  He played heavily in all four years of his career. Three of those seasons were at an elite level, as Pinkett became the first rusher in Notre Dame football history to run for over 1,000 yards in three straight seasons.

Unfortunately, like Denson, Pinkett lacks the long list of accolades that others do have. The Heisman Trophy never came calling, and Notre Dame was never able to wake up the echoes with Pinkett. Perhaps it was just bad timing, but he came before Lou Holtz and played for Gerry Faust. The most games any Pinkett team won, was seven. Somehow, he never even made an All-American team.

Despite the lack of winning, which hurt his award chances, Pinkett’s on-field performance was undeniable. He was an outstanding talent, and there’s no better run from a purely statistical point of view in Notre Dame football history.