VOTE: Who was the best Northwestern running back over the last 25 years?

Best in 25 Years Series: Quarterback

Fans have already elected Dan Persa as the best Northwestern quarterback over the last 25 years. Now it's time to figure out the best running back during that time period.

The Wildcats have been blessed with some talented runners over the last quarter century. They have enjoyed 15 1,000-yard rushing seasons in the 25 years since the 1995 Rose Bowl run, and a total of eight Wildcat backs went over the 1,000-yard barrier.

Still, it was pretty easy to identify the top four for this vote. Their names are all over Northwestern's all-time record book. They own the top four spots in career rushing yards, and each of them gained 1,000 yards in at least two of their seasons.

In short, if the program wanted to create a running back Mt. Rushmore in Evanston, these four faces would be on it.

Take a trip down memory lane and read the capsule summarizing each player's career below. Then, vote for your top running back on the WildcatReport Football Board. You'll find the link at the end of this story.

Reason he deserves it: He was the A-Train for two Big Ten title teams. Autry ran for more than 3,200 yards and 34 touchdowns in 1995-96, when NU went 15-1 in Big Ten play. He is also the only two-time, first-team All-Big Ten pick among this Final Four.

The skinny: Everyone in the stadium knew Autry was going to get the ball in 1995. It's just that no one could stop him as he put up a then-NU record 1,785 yards.

The sophomore sensation carried the ball an astounding 387 times that year, most in the country and 75 more times than the next-highest total in NU history. He lugged the rock 32.3 times per game and -- maybe most amazingly -- he fumbled the ball once all season. By the end of the year, NU had its first Big Ten championship since 1936 and Autry had an invitation to the Heisman Trophy dinner in New York. He finished fourth, the best in NU history.

Autry got the ball 107 fewer times in 1996, but still finished with 1,452 yards and 17 touchdowns as NU claimed a share of a second straight conference crown. His best career game came in '96, a scintillating 240-yard, four-TD performance in a 40-13 win at Iowa.

After the 1996 season, Autry elected to forego his senior year to enter the NFL Draft. Despite playing just three seasons, he still ranks fourth in NU history in yards (3,793), and third in attempts (787) and touchdowns (35). Over his career, Autry ran for 111.6 yards per game, the highest in NU history.

Autry was a patient runner who waited for plays to develop and slipped through tackles. A theater major, he was the biggest star on Northwestern's Rose Bowl team, a player with the smile, swagger and charisma not seen at NU since...well, maybe ever. There was a reason Sports Illustrated put Autry on the cover in November of 1995.

The numbers:

Reason he deserves it: 2,000 yards. Anderson, a jet-quick runner in a rocket-fueled spread offense, ran for 2,063 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2000, setting school records on the way to a share of the Big Ten title.

The skinny: Anderson was tailor-made for the Wildcats' spread offense. He had run for 1,128 yards and three touchdowns in 1999. Then head coach Randy Walker installed his new offense, and that ignited the wick on Anderson's bomb.

Anderson ran wild, averaging 6.6 yards per carry and reaching the 200-yard mark a school-record four times as the Wildcats finished in a four-way tie on top of the Big Ten. He led the conference in rushing that season and became just the fourth player in conference history to break the 2,000-yard barrier.

The 2000 season gave Anderson five major single-season records that still stand: rushing yards (2,063), yards per game (171.9), all-purpose yards (2,195), rushing touchdowns (23) and points (138). He also scored at least one touchdown in 11 consecutive games, an NU record, and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy balloting.

Anderson was an explosive back who could go from 0-to-60 in a heartbeat. Northwestern's spread attack excelled in creating space, and he was adept at exploiting it, ripping off huge runs that usually ended with a touchdown.

Anderson couldn't replicate his success in 2001, when injuries limited him to eight games, 757 yards and eight TDs. Still, he ranks second all-time in career attempts (953), yards (4,485) and touchdowns (38).

The numbers:

Reason he deserves it: He could do it all. Sutton had the best freshman season in school history with 1,474 yards and 16 TDs. Injuries shortened his last two years but he still caught more passes than any back in Northwestern history.

The skinny: Sutton is still Ohio's all-time leading high school rusher, so it figures that he would hit the ground running in Evanston. Literally.

Sutton took advantage of a couple injuries at the running back position and ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns in his very first game as a Wildcat. Just like that, he was off to the races, ending the season with 1,474 yards rushing, 396 yards receiving and Freshman All-America honors.

Sutton rushed for 1,000 yards on the nose as a sophomore in 2006 for a 4-7 team that struggled offensively. Big Ten defenses may not have been able to stop Sutton, but injuries could. Sutton never reached four figures again as injuries limited him to just 16 games over his final two seasons.

A short, powerfully built back, Sutton had superb vision and instincts. What he lacked in straight-ahead speed he made up for with cutting ability and strength between the tackles.

An outstanding receiver out of the backfield, Sutton's 149 catches and 1,244 yards receiving are the most all-time among Northwestern running backs. He ranks third in NU history in rushing yards (3,886) and all-purpose yards (5,138), and second in 100-yard games (16).

The numbers:

Reason he deserves it: They called him "The Ballcarrier" for a reason. Jackson owns every major Northwestern career rushing mark, including carries, yards, touchdowns and 100-yard games.

The skinny: Northwestern might as well include a Justin Jackson section in its media guide every year. His name is everywhere. Jackson is the school's all-time leader in rushing attempts (1,142), rushing yards (5,440), rushing touchdowns (41), all-purpose yards (6,298) and total touchdowns (42).

Jackson's greatest accomplishment, however, is rushing for 1,000 yards in all four of his seasons wearing purple, a testament to his dependabilty, durability and consistency. He is one of just two backs in Big Ten history to do that; the other one is Ron Dayne.

A workhorse from Day 1, Jackson is one of only two NU runners to gain 1,000 yards as a freshman (Sutton was the other). His best year was 2016, when, as a junior, he put up a career-highs in carries (298), rushing yards (1,524), touchdowns (15) and yards per carry (5.1) to get his only first-team All-Big Ten nod, from the media. He capped that season with a sensational 224-yard, three-TD performance in the Wildcats' Pinstripe Bowl win over Pittsburgh to take home the MVP trophy.

A shifty, elusive runner with power that belied his skinny frame, Jackson's best runs were sometimes three- or four-yarders. He was also a strong pass blocker and was second to only Sutton as a receiver with 122 catches for 858 yards over his career.

Jackson never played for a dominant offense and often had to dodge a tackle before getting to the line of scrimmage. No one made something out of nothing better than Jackson.

The numbers:

Go to our Football Board to cast your vote. You can vote for any of the four running backs above. Or, if you think that, say, Jason Wright or Noah Herron was the best, vote for "Other" and nominate a write-in candidate by replying to the message.

Hurry. The poll will close on Sunday night.

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