With every college football team eligible, PFF called the Auburn football quarterback/running back duo of Cam Newton and Bo Jackson the greatest backfield tandem of any two QBs and RBs throughout history.
You have found the wrong URL if you are looking for a passionate argument against that. The Auburn football program’s offensive highlight reels have since been defined by the fear-instilling ground dominance of those two transcendent stars following two era-defining careers on the Plains for the skill position pair.
In 1983, Bo Jackson ran for over 1,700 yards and collected 17 touchdowns en route to a dominant senior year that preceded not only an NFL career that included a Pro Bowl appearance but an MLB All-Star appearance and a baseball career.
Fast forward to the year 2010, Auburn football was now on top of the college football world after Nick Saban and Alabama won their first championship together, and Cam Newton was the primary cause. He was responsible for 50 touchdowns and overwhelmed every single opponent en route to one of the greatest Heisman seasons of all time.
Both Jackson Newton proved to be #1 NFL pick material and were successful in the pros. Newton still has time to solidify his legacy with a golden opportunity being the starting QB in New England for Bill Belichick. We’ll take Mac Jones on the bench for $500, Alex.
Ultimately, very few combos were as successful as the two were in college. Fellow SEC (soon) school Oklahoma had an intriguing combo of Kyler Murray and Adrian Peterson, but where’s the hardware? Cal has Aaron Rodgers and Marshawn Lynch, but those two excelled more in the NFL. Neither made much of a dent on the national scene, even with both registering massive seasons in the (then) Pac-10.
Jackson and Newton simply did the most, and the college football world should be thankful Auburn football had these two game-changing athletes more than 20 years apart.