An Ode to Seven Overlooked Small College Football Heroes

Since the 2010s, national recruiting sites like Rivals, 247 Sports and now ESPN have played a major role in the college football discourse.

Before the days of star ratings and recruiting databases, recruits were judged predominantly by the eye test. It was hard to assess the value of a recruiting class, at least until they stepped onto the field. Which, long long ago, almost certainly wasn’t until they were at least sophomores.

The obsession with recruiting has reached new heights in the last 10 or so years, with star ratings being the definite measure of success or not. And with concepts like Bud Elliott’s Blue-Chip Ratio, the stars feel more important than ever.

But even though stars feel like everything, they mean next to nothing for smaller schools. While there’s no rating system for how big a recruit’s heart is or how bad he wants it, if there was, small schools would have it. Small schools focus more on relative skill level, fit and academic eligibility than star rating, and rightfully so.

When the stars align and a smaller school lands the right guy at the right time, well, magic happens. Over the years, we’ve had some brilliant examples of the right guy, right place, right time. Names like Jerry Rice, Steve McNair, Walter Payton, Doug Williams and Randy Moss sit at the top of that list.

At the excellent recommendation of my pal Austin Druse, I hopped in the time machine to rattle off some extremely fun and dominant small school ballers from somewhat recent memory. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but I hope it brings a slight smile to your face if you remember these guys from their heyday.

Standing at a mere five-foot-eight and 185 pounds, God gave Danny Woodhead the defining quality of being a pesky pain in the ass.

Woodhead is the captain of the Did More With Less all-star team. Spurned by bigger schools despite a clear toolbox full of talent, Woodhead had an illustrious career at Chadron State College (D-II).

He did not start the first game his freshman year but quickly clinched the starting job when he rushed for a school-record 306 yards and 5 TDs. It was the springboard to a uniquely astounding career. When all was said and done, he set the NCAA DII record for most 200-yard or more games (19), consecutive games with at least one touchdown (38) and finished with 19 50 or more-yard touchdowns.

He became college football's all-time leading rusher with 7,962 yards, rolled up 9,480 all-purpose yards and scored 109 touchdowns (tying him for the most in college football annals), all of which helped him win two Harlon Hill Trophies, which go to Division II's outstanding player.

Records and accolades aside, his highlight tape is truly insane.

Why is this wee little man destroying my defense? Why can’t they tackle him? What the hell are we supposed to do?

Big Ben was the perfect cartoon quarterback.

This man had an affection for just rumblin’, bumblin’ and stumblin’ around and bazooka bombing MAC defenses in the early 2000s. In truth, Roethlisberger and that Miami Redhawks team are perhaps my earliest memories of a truly awesome player balling out for a small school.

We all know how great Roethlisberger was with the Steelers in the NFL, but he was truly a sight to behold in college. He had that Redhawks offense humming and little did we know, would eventually become one of the first incredible modern quarterbacks to come from that delightful conference.

In three years as a starter, he finished with over 80 TDs and threw for over 10,000 yards. Which was truly great, especially considering this was the early 2000s. Perhaps his greatest achievement was finishing ninth in the Heisman voting. I might argue he should’ve finished much higher!

Former Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Larry Allen was a true titan amongst titans. In a land of giants, he was the biggest, baddest, strongest (he benched 700 pounds!) man the National Football League has ever seen.

Allen was academically ineligible to play Division I football, so he was forced to go the JUCO to Division II route before heading to the NFL. And yeah, he was a dominant force everywhere he went.

I honestly feel sad for anyone who played against Allen in college. This clip perfectly sums up his human eraser style of blocking and I imagine that hurt real, real bad. Imagine playing Division II football and pursuing a degree in marketing or business and just spending three hours one fall day getting pummeled by future Hall of Famer Larry Allen. Yikes!

It’s difficult to explain just how insanely good Corey Davis was as a wide receiver, much less a MAC wide receiver. Davis’ college timeline overlapped with mine and I remember him just being an absolute monster.

He finished his career with some truly mind-boggling stats:

It wasn’t a stretch at all to suggest that Davis was the best wide receiver in his class. And despite a strange NFL career, I’ll always think fondly of him for making MAC DBs’ lives hell on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Many people are asking: Was Brian Urlacher the original Travis Hunter?

In all honesty, do you know how special you have to be for the coach to name a position after you? Before Urlacher turned into a true Monster of the Midway, he was a freak of nature at linebacker, safety, wide receiver and kick returner for the Lobos under Rocky Long.

I remember Urlacher’s pro career as him just hawking fools down on blitzes right up the middle. It turns out he did the same in college. This guy was tailor-made for the modern 3-3-5 and Rocky Long saw it in him, too.

At the end of the 1999 season, he finished as a Jim Thorpe Award finalist. All in all, he was an outstanding player on a largely forgettable New Mexico team.

LT was a small-but-mighty highlight reel player in the NFL and that was no different during his time in Fort Worth. Long before the Horned Frogs were winning College Football Playoff games, they were languishing in the WAC and were reliant on Tomlinson’s lightning-fast play on the field.

Tomlinson was the textbook definition of a late bloomer in college. After barely playing in his first two years, he burst onto the scene in 1999. He was named starter at the beginning of his junior year and repaid the staff’s faith in him. Tomlinson finished the season with a whopping 20 touchdowns, and his pinnacle moment came when he broke the NCAA Division I record for rushing yards in a game with a 43-carry, 406-yard, 6-touchdown performance against UTEP. Holy cow!

His senior year was a work of art, as both he and the Horned Frogs blew up once again. He finished his career with the Doak Walker Award and Jim Brown Trophy, along with the then-sixth-most yards in Division I history.

Before he was an abject disaster on Monday Night Football for the Chicago Bears, Tyson Bagent was a devilishly good quarterback at Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia.

Bagent was a four-year starter in Shepherdstown, and truly lit the world on fire. The Rams threw the ball all over the yard and Bagent quickly became a star. He even turned down Divison I offers to stick with the Rams through all four years.

His success was rewarded, as he won the Harlon Hill Trophy his junior year and finished third in the voting during his senior season. He finished his stellar career with over 17,000 yards and 159 TDs to his name.