Tennessee football: Top 10 rushing leaders in Vols history
By Josh Yourish
Tennessee football career rushing leader No. 1: Travis Henry (1997-2000)
- 3,078 rushing yards
- 26 rushing touchdowns
- 5.5 yards per rush
When Jamal Lewis went down after five games in 1998, Travis Henry took his place as the No. 1 back for the Tennessee Volunteers, and Phil Fulmer’s team rode Henry right to a National Championship.
After a quiet freshman year, Henry took advantage of his opportunity in ’98, rushing for 970 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games. He ran for 5.5 yards per carry. The next year, with Jamal Lewis back, Henry split time and ran for 790 yards compared to Lewis’s 816.
Finally, with Lewis dominating the NFL in 1999, Henry got a career-high 253 careers, ninth most in the country, and still managed to average 5.2 yards per carry. He amassed 1,314 yards and 11 touchdowns along with 65 receiving yards on 13 receptions.
Henry was a second-round pick in the 2001 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills and he played in the league for seven years. he even ran for 1,000 yards three times.
Tennessee has had some great running backs in its history, but they never were able to amass massive career total because all the best ones were in Knoxville at the same time. Henry and Lewis played together, as did Foster and Hardesty, and James Stewart, Charlie Garner, and Jay Graham.