Crowning Kingmani: Heir to the Troy Running Back Throne
Last year, Kimani Vidal did the impossible: joining Eddie Brundidge atop the 200-yard game mountain, nearly breaking the 35-year-old record in the process.
This year, Kimani repeated that feat, this time twice breaking the previous record. In the span of just 10 games, Kimani Vidal took four spots on the single-game all-time rushers list.
The nation’s leading rusher (at press time) set up his own throne in the Troy record books.
With that place secured, the question becomes: what would it take for Kimani to be Troy’s greatest running back, at least statistically?
Let’s start with the easy answer: give him the ball more than any other running back.
At the end of Saturday’s Army game, Kimani tied Ted Horstead at No. 3 for most carries all-time, meaning he only needs 42 to pass Jordan Chunn for most all-time.
He’s averaging 22 carries per game this season and 25 carries a game over the last four weeks, so at that pace he could set that record against the team in Mobile on November 2.
Naturally, the follow-up question is “sure he ran it more than anyone, but what did he do with the ball?”
That answer comes from three stats:
- Rushing yards
- Yards per carry
- Touchdowns
So let’s start at the bottom. How often does he score?
There’s no short answer.
Kimani’s Arkansas State games over the past two seasons are basically 1a and 1b on the all-time list, as three people hold the record for most touchdowns in a game: Kimani, Shawn Southward and Phillip Jones each scored four.
Several people are tied for four, including DeWhitt Betterson, Chunn, DK Billingsley and Kimani.
From a season-long perspective, Kimani sits just outside the top ten, although he is on pace to crack it this year. He had 10 touchdowns last season, and six this year.
Kimani is averaging just less than a touchdown per game in 2023, so that pace could at best put him in a three-way tie for sixth with 13 touchdowns.
Looking at Troy careers, no one has and no one probably ever will score more touchdowns than Jordan Chunn. He sits alone at 47, leading Joe Jackson in second by 13—an entire season’s worth of scores.
Kimani Vidal is sixth all-time with 25, so he would have to nearly double his career output to catch MegaChunn. The best-case pace mentioned above would put him into a tie for No. 4 all-time with two-time national champion Mike Turk.
There’s enough of a gap that I’d bet he ends this season in fifth place, just above DuJuan Harris.
So he’s one of the best at scoring, he’s just not on top of the mountain like he is on the per-game level. What about the per-carry level? What happens when Kimani does get the ball?
There is a short answer this time—good things. He’s averaging 6.18 yards per rush this season, though that drops about a yard for his full career mark. Kimani ran for nearly 10 yards a carry against SFA this season, and that’s his personal best.
The problem is that the all-time YPC list is skewed. Players only need 10 carries to make the per-game list, 20 for the season and 60 for the career.
That puts players like Jerrel Jernigan, Mareno Philyaw and Kaleb Barker on these lists instead of Betterson, Brundidge or Chunn. Sure, Arrid Gregory, Kenny Cattouse and Brandon Burks show up, but they have a combined three appearances on the previous graphics in this story.
Whether that’s a function of the offense or a side effect of their explosiveness, these lists don’t feel like they inherently prove all-time greatness.
It’s fun to look at that 1994 stable of running backs though. Three players, all with 8+ yards per carry? Wow.
That brings us back to rushing yards. Clearly Kimani has crushed individual opponents, but how does his legacy stand up to other Trojans?
He passed Jordan Chunn for second most career yards in the Arkansas State game, and with just 142 yards left to pass Betterson at the top, we could see that record fall in the next three weeks as well.
DeWhitt Betterson is the only Trojan with multiple 1,000-yard seasons, but Kimani is just 17 yards from joining him. If and when Kimani passes Betterson on the career ladder, he would also pass Ted Horstead for eighth place on the single-season list.
Thing is, we already know Kimani is averaging 154 yards per game this season. If he sticks with that pace, he would blow past Gregory’s single-season record and achieve Troy’s first 2,000-yard season in whatever postseason appearance the team makes.
(Note that Troy is also undefeated under Jon Sumrall when rushing for 100 yards or more per game.)
So to recap, Kimani Vidal is on track to capture at least a share of the following Troy records:
- Rushing Yards in a Game
- Rushing Touchdowns in a Game
- Rushing Yards in a Season
- Carries in a Career
- Rushing Yards in a Career
It’s hard to think what records could be this meaningful, apart from Touchdowns in a Season and Touchdowns in a Career, but we’ve shown that Kimani would be top-10 or top-5 in those categories.
It may be too early to crown him yet, but I think it’s safe to consider Kimani Vidal the King.