Tennessee football: Top 10 rushing leaders in Vols history
By Josh Yourish
Tennessee football career rushing leader No. 4: Johnnie Jones (1981-84)
- 2,852 rushing yards
- 19 rushing touchdowns
- 5.5 yards per rush
Johnnie Jones had a slow start to his career at Tennessee with just four carries in Year 1. Then he got 91 attempts in 1982 but only ran for 421 yards. 1983 was the season when Jones really broke out.
In his junior season, Jones ran for 1,116 yards on 191 attempts, which is an average of 5.8 yards a carry. He led the SEC in carries and was second in rushing yards. In 1984 his 229 carries were third in the conference, but his 1,290 yards were first and fourth in the NCAA.
Jones’s career as a Volunteer really took off in 1983 when he broke a 34-34 tie with Alabama on a 66-yard touchdown run that proved to be the winning score. Later that season he ran for 248 yards against Vanderbilt, which at the time was the school record for single-game rushing yardage.
Though a successful collegiate back, Jones never played in the NFL because of injuries.