So its always an accountability factor on both sides, but we expect big things from him.". Those gargantuan numbers would only be approached within a pass-happy offense with literally two or fewer reliable targets. Hail Mary passes, knockout tackles, and deep throws down the sideline are all cool plays in football, but there's nothing quite as exciting as a kick return touchdown. On Wednesday, Lions general manager Brad Holmes praised Williams' "rare talent, rare ability (and) serious passion for the game," and said the team was "expecting big things" from last year's No. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Raymond Clayborn (3/1977), 3. Detroit Lions RB Jamaal Williams' autograph signing. The former Seattle Seahawks running back was ready to go on the opening kickoff of this game against the San Diego Chargers. With the game still tied between these two top-10 teams, Cam Newton did what he did best in 2010, take over a game with a game changing play. Spiller racked up 2,052 yards and seven touchdowns (an FBS record) on kickoff returns and added 569 yards and a score on punt returns for good measure. You could still try to maintain possession of the ball. Michigan had narrowed Notre Dames lead to a single point right before halftime, but Rockets first touchdown returned stretched the Irishs lead to 14-6. ruled that the play should have been blown dead. For his career, he scored six times on kick returns. Washington also returned a punt 99 yards for a touchdown later in that game, setting a team record with two return scores in the same game. Detroit Lions could have interesting plan for Jameson Williams in 2023 Cecil Turner (4/1970), 1. Kick return touchdown in the Super Bowldoes it get any more exciting than that? He was a man among boys off the edge in Tuscaloosa and later set an NFL record with seven sacks in a single game for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1990. Thomas is a member of both the College Football and NFL Hall of Fame. Start the video below at 1:11 for the amazing return. 1 on that list? Jacoby Jones has had a few standout returns in his career, and this one against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII might be his most impressive. Twenty-six players have one, five players have two, and Patterson has seven, a total that accounts for. That year, he took the opening kickoff of the opening game back for a TD against Tulsa. These opinions are mine and mine alone. Follow him on Twitter@davebirkett. There have been some amazing kick and punt returns in football over the years, here are the best of the best. Who holds it: Houston offense led by QB Andre Ware in 1990 Grant, who is six inches shorter than the 6-foot-1 Williams, has made his biggest impact in the NFL as a return man. Join our linker program. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. New Mock Thinks It Possible: CJ Stroud falls to Titans at No.6 overall in a trade-up scenario. In the 2020 season, Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz completed his first 17 pass attempts in the Badgers' season-opener against Illinois as he finished 20-for-21 passing for 248 yards and five touchdowns. NFL Kick Returns for Touchdown Single-Season Leaders | Pro-Football-Reference.com 1. Even as the length of the college football season has increased to 15 games for the teams that advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship, in order for Sanders' record to be broken, it would still require a player who plays for a national finalist to rush for at least 300 yards in one out of every three games in a single season. Cooper wouldve had to post last seasons jaw-dropping numbers three consecutive seasons to pass Insley. Rushing for 1,500 yards in a season is a terrific accomplishment for a player one likely to earn the player all-conference, if not All-America, honors. Their role on special teams is more influenced by offense and defense than it is on what he can do on teams.". Klingler also holds the NCAA mark for most touchdown passes in one game (11). Keenum was granted a medical hardship in 2010 after tearing a knee ligament, but his five touchdowns over three games prior to injury count. He left Oklahoma as the school's career leader in punt return yards and tied Wes Welker and Ted Ginn Jr. for the FBS career record with eight total kick return touchdowns. Kickoff Return Touchdowns Career Leaders and Records | College Football at Sports-Reference.com Kickoff Return Touchdowns Career Leaders and Records An asterisk (*) after a player's name indicates bowl stats are included. Feel free to disagree because that's part of what this is about. As good as Jones-Drew was, UCLA has never seen a return man as dangerous as Antonio Perkins. 'Be a gunner? All rights reserved. Two TD Kickoff Returns in One Game | The Game Before the Money "Hes done it. was better than Barry when it came to returning kicks. most games with two kickoff returns for touchdowns, A Brief History of The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers vs Houston Oilers Rivalry. 5th down. Kickoff Return Touchdowns Single Season Leaders and Records | College It was reported that Georgia Tech coach John Heisman didnt let up after Cumberland Gap had beaten the Yellow Jackets in baseball, 22-0, earlier that year. Williams returned two kicks for touchdowns in his one season at Alabama, when he averaged 35.2 yards on 10 kick returns. "White Lightning" was another dual-sport football/track star who finished his Iowa career ('94-97) as the Big Ten's all-time leader in punt-return yardage and touchdowns. The record? Travis Etienne. As a junior in '86, Brown averaged 27.9 yards per kickoff return, including two touchdowns and 37.5 yards per punt return. Houston quarterback David Klinglers single-game FBS passing record of 716 yards stood for nearly 25 years before Halliday, a lesser-known quarterback and Air Raid product, eclipsed the mark last season. As a sophomore, he led the nation in kickoff return yards with 442, while averaging 31.6 yards per return. Find out more. Jackson is a pending free agent, while Raymond is coming off the best season of his career. That's why Dominique Davis' record for consecutive completions in a season is unbreakable, even as passing efficiency in college football has improved over the course of the last decade. Or write about sports? 7 college football records *we think* will never be broken Javier owns the SEC career record with seven punt-return touchdowns, averaging 14.0 yards per punt return and 24.1 yards per kickoff return. No one on the field noticed except for Bailey, who scooped up the ball and sped down the field completely untouched and unchallenged. The Minnesota Vikings receiver was literally as far back into the endzone as he could be on an NFL field when he received this kickoff against the Green Bay Packers. Imagine if the fantasy football owners who covet Jones-Drew so much now could have had him in college, where in addition to his rushing and receiving exploits,he was also a record-setting kick-returner. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. And his most memorable returna 91-yard dash with one minute left in the 1991 Orange Bowl that (would have) dashed Colorado's national championshipdidn't even count due to a clipping penalty. "It's hard to ask a guy to do all those things at a really high level, and people dont realize that," Fipp said. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. "But yeah, were just gong to continue to do everything that we need to do to make sure that hes set up to succeed. NFL Single Season Leaders - Kickoff Return Touchdowns The following is a list of the NFL single season kickoff returnleaders ranked by kickoff return touchdowns. Twenty-five players in college football history have run two kickoffs back for touchdowns in the same game. Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp embraced the idea of incorporating Williams into a return role next season, when the team expects him fully healthy after missing most of last season while rehabbing from a torn ACL. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Reaves led the SEC in passing yards and attempts all three seasons in Gainesville and is the leagues all-time leader in interceptions thrown with 59. Cordarrelle Patterson was tied for the most kick return touchdowns in NFL history entering Week 11 of the 2022 season. Read more about our data coverage. Perkins wasn't ridiculously fast, but he mastered the art of being elusive in tight spaces. Listen to The Game Before the Money Podcast! We're going to double dip with Barry Sanders but this time it's a family affair. You should have watched the Ohio Stadium crowd any time Ted Ginn Jr. went back to field a kick. The University of Miami alum was in his first season of the NFL, and he made the Rams pay for kicking him the ball. Find out more. College Football at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. Find out more. So, Sanders' Heisman-winning season in '88 when he ran for 332 yards against Texas Tech, 320 yards against Kansas State, 312 yards against Kansas and 304 yards against Tulsa hasn't been matched by any other running back in their career, let alone a single season. Watch Newton go 49 yards against the LSU defense. In order for this record to be topped, it would take a pair of quarterbacks likely future NFL starters to average roughly 700 passing yards apiece. + Indicates Hall of Famer, season age in parentheses, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Friday, March 3, 2:32PM. Punts are a much, much less physical play.". Hester took the opening kickoff from his own 10-yard line and darted through the first wave of would-be tacklers with a fantastic juke step, and he was offHester made it 90 yards before anyone on the Colts touched him, but by then he was already in the endzone. Record: 140.9 yards per gameRecord-holder: Alex Van Dyke, NevadaSeasons: 1994-95. That same season, his best game came in week 15 against Jacksonville, where he had an 83-yard interception return for a score, a 70-yard kick return, and broke up a touchdown pass to save the game. The notion of putting up "video-game numbers" can be overstated at times, but a stat line like that to start a game is something you're far more likely to find in an arcade or a friend's basement than on the gridiron in an actual FBS game. A compilation of every kick return touchdown of the 2021 college football season. Active players are listed in bold. Hester may not be the fastest person to ever play football, but I don't think I've seen anybody run faster on a football field. 1990. For a quarterback to break East Carolina's Dominique Davis' record of 36 consecutive passes completed, he would have to double Mertz's streak of 17 completions in a row, then complete three additional passes for good measure. ), is safe in our opinion. Lions' brass has a plan. Do you have a sports website? KEY: Gms = Games Played, Num = Kickoff Returns, Yds = Kickoff Return Yards, Avg = Kickoff Return Average, Lg = Longest Kickoff Return, TD = Kickoff Return Touchdowns, Yds/G = Kickoff Return Yards Per Game. Do you have a sports website? In 1988, "Prime Time" led the nation in punt-return average and left FSU as the school's all-time leader in punt return yards. One of his players, Eric LeGrand, remains paralyzed from the neck down today due to an injury suffered on a kickoff last October. Do you have a blog? Build your own custom leaderboards with Stathead Football, Frequently Asked Questions about the NFL and Football, Pro-Football-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Football: Get your first month FREE. Not only did Sanders win the Heisman in the 1988 season with his all-time great junior campaign 2,628 rushing yards, 7.6 yards per carry, 37 rushing touchdowns, one punt return touchdown and one kick return touchdown but his brother, Byron, also turned in a 1,000-yard season with Northwestern the fall of '88. Baltimore Ravens ground game rules in NFL Week 11 and more Twelve players, including 2014 Biletnikoff winner Amari Cooper from Alabama, have surpassed the lofty 1,700-mark in a single season since 2008, but that often means NFL dollars will soon come calling once the three-year removed from high school rule has passed. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Why its untouchable: Could it be more obvious? Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? The next year, in 1989, he returned to kickoffs for touchdowns against Michigan at Michigan in the Big House. Adams slipped through a couple tackles and appeared to be at a dead end againbut with blazing speed he darted up the sideline and got a key block, sending him straight towards the end zone with nearly the entire Tennessee team chasing him, but all coming up short. The Lane College alum ratcheted up his speed at the 15-yard line and bursted through a small seam in between the 49ers special teams front line. The return went for 109 yards, setting a record for the longest play in NFL history. 3 running back Justin Jackson as their top kick returner last season. Adams took one step back after receiving the kick and seemingly had nowhere to go as he got close to the right sidelinethree Tennessee tacklers got right in his facebut instead of giving up, he changed direction and ran backwards (something coaches say never to do on punt returns). NO REGRETS:Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn content even if head coach jobs never materialize. Missouri. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:41AM. Record: Four gamesRecord-holder: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma StateSeason: 1988. That season, he averaged 19.8 yards per kickoff return and scored three TDs on punt returns. He is a former college linebacker, a longtime coach and a parent. Interview quotes are usually edited for length and clarity. It is the most violent, video-friendly, terrifying, electrifying, dangerous and dramatic play in football. He still showed game-breaking ability at times last season but had two punt return touchdowns wiped out due to penalties while averaging 8.8 yards on 13 attempts with a long of 19. Roby was a miss for the Titans, but he was ultimately the only member of his class to play a prominent role on a team and win a Super Bowl. Down three points with just six seconds left in this ACC matchup against Duke, the Miami Hurricanes were in a desperate positionthey needed to find a way to score a touchdown after a late score by the Blue Devils. A kickoff return for a touchdown is one of the most exciting plays in football. UTEP quarterback Brooks Dawson once threw a touchdown pass on six consecutive attempts against New Mexico and what makes it really unbreakable is that he started the game 6-for-6 with six touchdowns. Keenums NCAA record of 1,546 career completions also wont be touched. The next year, his Heisman year, Sanders took the opening kickoff in the opening game back 100 yards for a score against Miami-Ohio. "I dont totally know the answer to it, only because he is just kind of coming back," Fipp said when asked if he's open to using Williams as a kick returner in 2023. Some school's results have been altered by retroactive NCAA penalties. Read more about our data coverage. 1 Georgia Tech trampled Cumberland Gap (Tenn.) 222-0 in 1916 But the NCAA told me none of it ever happened, so maybe I was just dreaming. Just look at Moore's freshman (36.2 receiving yards per game) and sophomore (70.8 yards per game) seasons to see that it took Moore time (and potentially a coaching change to offensive mind Lane Kiffin) for him to develop into a receiver who could average that many yards per game. Build your own custom leaderboards with Stathead Football. INDIANAPOLIS The Detroit Lions are making big plans to get more out of explosive wide receiver Jameson Williams next season, and that could include using him on returns. Keenum was granted a medical hardship in 2010 after tearing a knee ligament, but his five touchdowns over three games prior to injury count. We support responsible gambling. Some school's results have been altered by retroactive NCAA penalties. With just the kicker to beat, Washington pulled a fantastic stutter step to put him to the ground and ran his way into the endzone. For a few years in the early 2000s with the Kansas City Chiefs, Hall electrified the NFL with his dynamic speed and hard-to-believe kick and punt returns. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. It shouldn't include Jalen Ramsey. The Detroit Lions are reportedly considering using wide receiver Jameson Williams as a returner for the 2023 NFL season. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Enter your information to receive emails about offers, promotions from NCAA.com and our partners. The Irish victory at Michigan in front of over 105,000 fans made Norte Dame the first school to defeat Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler in three straight seasons. Who holds it: John Reaves, Florida, 1969 We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Im going to go track that thing down. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Notre Dame beat Michigan 24-19 on that day in a battle of the nations top two ranked teams. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. It was a challenging discussion, but in the end, the Titans 2005 class grabbed this position despite some of the antics of their first-round pick, Adam "Pacman" Jones. A compilation of every kick return touchdown of the 2020 college football season. Hester danced his way around defenders like a true artistcutting side to side, running backwards, spinning out of tacklesbefore breaking free and taking the ball into the endzone. Do you have a blog? The NFL's All-Time Kick and Punt Return Touchdown Leaders One college player tops everybody in this category because he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns twice! Who holds it: David Klingler, Houston, 1991 CLICK HERE, Ranking Titans All-Time Draft Classes, No.4: "It's time for The Freak." In the famous UCLA game, on his first punt return, he made about four or five moves in a five-yard area before finding daylight. Duke fans and players were absolutely stunned, and while after the fact it was ruled that the play should have been blown dead about 12 timesthe result stood. As a senior, he won the Mosi Tatupu Award as the nation's top special teams player. 2,850 rushing yards is more than anyone's ever gained at any level of college or pro football. You want to see over 100,000 people afraid to move? 2023 NFL combine: Current drill record-holders and candidates to break Why its untouchable: Coached by the legendary Bud Wilkinson, the Sooners won two national championships during their record-setting stretch in the mid 1950s. East Carolina's Bryson Worrell kicked off the first round of the DI baseball tournament with a bang, not once, but twice against Greenville Regional opponent Coppin State. During his freshman and sophomore seasons, Jones-Drew averaged over 26 yards per kickoff return, and by the time he went pro, he had scored seven return touchdowns. I mean, when you talk to him theres one thing I love about him. But even if he'd been stopped for 10- and 12-yard gains every time, surely he'd find some way to remain memorable. 2020 NFL Team Kickoff Return Statistics | The Football Database Schiano referenced a statistic that more than 15 percent of the catastrophic injuries suffered on the football field happen on kickoffs, even though there are only a handful of kickoffs per game. College football: The best last-second, game-winning touchdown in Stats: 2,854 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 1,473 rushing yards, 20 rushing touchdowns, 42 receiving yards, receiving touchdown Newton got his one SEC chance after his troubled time. The option to go for it would replace the onside kickoff. Please see our Contributors and Sources page for data source details. Whether it was a kickoff or punt return, these players knew how to electrify a stadiumand avoid tacklers at all costs. This might be the most controversial of all our classes to be No.3, but this class had depth and a star on the field, and a headache off it all rolled into one class.