The 20th anniversary of Auburn’s undefeated 2004 season will be celebrated this year, and the contributions of two Tiger playmakers are still being discussed today.
Sure, players such as [autotag]Jason Campbell[/autotag], [autotag]Courtney Taylor[/autotag], and [autotag]Carlos Rodgers[/autotag] were important to Auburn’s Sugar Bowl-winning season, but the efforts of [autotag]Ronnie Brown[/autotag] and [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] were arguably the most vital to Auburn’s success in 2004.
The 1-2 punch rushed for 2,078 yards and 20 scores in 2004 with Williams taking the bulk of those numbers with 1,173 yards and 12 scores. Finding a tandem as elite as Auburn’s 2004 running backs is hard to find these days, which is why Brown and Williams are considered to be one of the best playmaking duos in college football history.
247Sports ranks the tag team of Brown and Williams as the fifth-best all-time playmaking duo in college football history. 247Sports’ Brad Crawford says that Brown and Williams make the case to be one of the SEC’s best rushing duos of all-time.
There’s going to be some debate here, but Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams are just behind two other ball carriers considered the SEC’s greatest rushing duo of all-time. Brown’s 2,707 yards rushing and Williams’ 3,831 yards on the ground featured a stunning two dozen 100-yard performances between the pair. Brown was the bruiser and Williams had breakaway speed, anchoring a 13-0 Auburn team in 2004 that was left out of the BCS National Championship. Williams finished with 45 career rushing touchdowns while Brown tallied 28. Auburn’s backfield hasn’t seen this level of elite tandem since.
Crawford ranks the duo of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones from Arkansas’ 2007 squad as the SEC’s best-ever running back duo. The top playmaking duo of all-time belongs to USC‘s Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, who enjoyed several successful seasons together in Los Angeles during the early 2000s.
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__