Toby Gerhart (born March 28, 1987 in Norco, California) is a running back and an outfielder at Stanford University. Gerhart is a consensus All American running back and is considered a top prospect in the 2010 NFL Draft.^[1] He was the runner-up for the 2009 Heisman Trophy.^[2] Gerhart won 1276 points in the Heisman voting, coming in second to Mark Ingram, Jr., who won 1304 points; the 28-point margin was the closest vote in Heisman history.^[3]

[edit] High school career

Gerhart had a record-breaking career at running back for Norco High School in Norco, California. He set a California state record for rushing yards with 9,662 yards in his career. As of December 2009, Gerhart holds the third highest career total of running yards in national high school football history.^[4] He led Norco High School to the CIF Division 5 Southern Section football championship on December 9, 2005. Gerhart was named the Gatorade High School Player of the Year for the state of California and was named California's Mr. Football by Cal-Hi Sports. Gerhart also played baseball and graduated as a valedictorian of his high school class.^[5] High-school football scouting website Scout.com named him the 40th-best running back prospect in the nation.^[5]

[edit] College

Gerhart's high school statistics garnered him interest from many top college football programs. He ultimately committed to Stanford University.

In his freshman year, 2006, he backed up Anthony Kimble at the halfback position, starting one game. He rushed for 375 yards for the season, as Stanford struggled to a 1-11 record.

In 2007, Gerhart played in only one game, against San Jose State, in which he rushed for 140 yards and one TD before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

In 2008, Gerhart had a break-out season. He set the Stanford single-season rushing record with 1,136 yards, breaking Tommy Vardell's school record of 1,084 yards. He scored 15 rushing touchdowns, the second most in Stanford history, and had 8 games with 100 or more rushing yards. He tied a Stanford record with 4 rushing TDs against Washington State.

[edit] 2009 Season

Through the end of the 2009 regular season, Gerhart has 1,736 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns.^[6] As of December 8, 2009, Gerhart led the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards (1,736), rushing TDs (26), total TDs (26), and points scored (160 points). He has set new Pac 10 records for rushing TDs in a season (26) and points scored in a season (160). He also has set numerous Stanford records, including most rushing yards in a season (1,736), most rushing yards in a game (223), most TDs in a season (26), most TDs in a career (42), most points scored in a season (160), most yards from scrimmage in a season (1,885), most 100 yard rushing games in a career (19), most 100 yard rushing games in a season (10), and most 200 yard rushing games in a season (3).

On September 26, 2009, he became only the sixth person in Stanford history to rush for 200 yards in a game, with 200 yards on 27 carries against Washington. On November 7, 2009, Gerhart recorded his second 200-yard game of the season, running for 223 yards against the 7th-ranked Oregon Ducks, breaking the Stanford single-game rushing record previously held by Jon Volpe. On November 28th, Gerhart ran for 205 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns in a 45-38 win over Notre Dame. This was his third 200-yard game of the season. Gerhart has rushed for over 100 yards in 10 of his 12 games in 2009. Gerhart again tied the school record for rushing TDs in a game by running for 4 TDs against Cal. Gerhart also has thrown one pass in 2009, completing it for an 18 yard touchdown against Notre Dame.

In 2009, Gerhart has led Stanford to an 8-4 record and its first bowl berth in eight years. He finished the season first in Division 1A in rushing yards (1,736) and rushing touchdowns (26).^[7]

Gerhart was a consensus 2009 First-team All-America selection. He was named the 2009 Pac 10 Offensive Player of the Year. He was one of five finalists for the 2009 Heisman Trophy and finished in second place behind Mark Ingram by 28 points, the slimmest margin of defeat in the trophy's 74-year history. Gerhart is the winner of the 2009 Doak Walker Award as the best running back in the nation and of the Jim Brown Trophy presented to the top running back in college football by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.

Gerhart is a starting outfielder for the Cardinal baseball team. He passed up the opportunity to play professional baseball after the 2009 season to return for his senior year at Stanford.^[8]

He is majoring in Management Science and Engineering and is on track to graduate in 2010.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Awards and honors

• 2009 Doak Walker Award
• 2009 Jim Brown Trophy
• 2009 Consensus First-team All-American (Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Football Foundation, Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News)
• 2009 National Offensive Player of the Year (CBSSports.com)
• 2009 Pac 10 Offensive Player of the Year
• 2009 First-team All-Pac 10
• 2009 First-team Pac 10 All-Academic Team
• Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week, four times (Oct. 11, 2008; Nov. 7, 2009; Nov. 14, 2009; Nov. 28, 2009)
• 2008 Second-team All-Pac 10
• 2008 Second-team Pac 10 All-Academic Team
• 2005 California Mr. Football, Cal-Hi Sports
• 2005 Gatorade California Player of the Year
• 2005 Glenn Davis Award

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Toby Gerhart Highlight Video at YouTube.com, Stanford Athletics channel
• Stats at ESPN.com
• Player Bio at GoStanford.com