Tennessee football: Top 10 rushing leaders in Vols history
By Josh Yourish
Tennessee football career rushing leader No. 3: James Stewart (1991-94)
- 2,890 rushing yards
- 35 rushing touchdowns
- 5.4 yards per rush
Right from the start, Stewart was a successful runner in college. As a freshman in 1991, he ran for 939 yards and eight touchdowns on 190 carries. He surpassed 1,000 scrimmage yards that year, but would only accomplish that one other time in his career.
Then, his production took a huge dip in 1992 and 1993. Charlie Garner usurped Stewart on the depth chart and ran for 928 and 1,161 yards in those two seasons. Stewart only amassed 386 and 537 yards on the ground in those campaigns.
With Garner off to the NFL in 1994, it was Stewart’s backfield once again. In Phil Fulmer’s second full season, he trusted Stewart and the senior took 170 carries for 1,028 yards. His 6.0 yards per carry was a huge improvement from 4.9 his freshman year.
Stewart was drafted 19th overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1995 NFL draft and played nine seasons in the NFL.