Michigan State Football: Top 50 players of all time

Sep 4, 2015; Kalamazoo, MI, USA; General view of Michigan State Spartans helmet on field prior to a game against Western Michigan at Waldo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

22. Sherm Lewis

Back during a time when running backs didn’t put up huge numbers and there were only about nine games in a single season, Michigan State halfback Sherm Lewis was dominating the Spartan backfield, and opposing defenses.

Lewis played from 1961-63 and finished with just 1,566 yards and 16 touchdowns over his three-year career, but even though he’s not even on the list of top 20 rushers in school history, he was, at the time, one of the best in college football.

In 1963, Lewis finished the season with 577 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 6.4 yards per carry, while also catching 11 passes for 303 yards and five scores — good for an incredible 27.5 yards per reception. That was the season when the rest of the nation really took notice as he finished third in Heisman voting and was named a first-team All-American.

Although he finished his career with a little under 1,600 yards, he remains the top rusher, in terms of yards per carry, in the Big Ten era at 6.2 per attempt. That’s impressive given the fact that he had such a small amount of carries. Imagine what he could have done with the amount of touches that Lorenzo White had.

Next: 21. Clinton Jones