Arian Foster - College Career

College Career

Foster red-shirted his first season as a University of Tennessee Volunteer, sitting behind Gerald Riggs Jr. and Cedric Houston on the depth chart. He was a three-year starter at running back for Tennessee.

In his 2005 freshman season, Foster earned the starting job following an injury to Riggs. Foster rushed for 879 yards in his limited action, including a commanding 223-yard performance against Vanderbilt. Foster scored two touchdowns in the game, and his total of 268 all-purpose yards was the third-highest total in school history.

His sophomore season of 2006 saw a slight downturn in production, as Foster was limited for the majority of the season with injuries and missed games against Marshall and Memphis. Splitting time with LaMarcus Coker after returning from injury, Foster ended the season with just 322 rushing yards. Tennessee's final game of the season was the 2007 Outback Bowl, in which Foster fumbled with ten minutes remaining deep in Penn State territory. The ball was picked up by cornerback Tony Davis and returned 88 yards for a touchdown, breaking a 10–10 tie and providing the winning points in Penn State's 20–10 victory.

On November 4, 2006, Foster and two reserve players were arrested following a fight in a night club and were charged with disorderly conduct and underage consumption.

His junior season of 2007 saw Foster take over as the main back, with Montario Hardesty coming in as a substitute. Against Florida, Foster fumbled a left-handed hand-off from injured quarterback Erik Ainge which was recovered by Gators linebacker Dustin Doe and returned eighteen yards for a touchdown. Up to that point Tennessee had been gaining momentum and pulled to within eight points of tying the game, but the botched play made the score 35–20 and triggered a 24-point Florida run to close out the contest. Foster surpassed the 1,000-yard mark with a 118-yard performance in a 52–50 win at Kentucky, and finished his junior season with 245 carries for 1,193 yards and 12 touchdowns, while also catching 39 passes for 340 yards and an additional two scores.

Foster's breakout junior season resulted in a second-round grade from the draft advisory board and led him to consider leaving school. However, head coach Phillip Fulmer persuaded him to stay for his senior season, a decision Foster would later deeply regret. Playing under the third position coach and offensive coordinator of his tenure, Foster was utilized in a rotation following the installation of a new offensive scheme that the Tennessee coaches thought was a better fit for some of the other running backs on the roster. For his part, Fulmer would attribute Foster's diminished workload to knee and thigh injuries which would later be disputed. In the end, Foster compiled just 570 yards on 131 carries with only one touchdown in his senior season.

Foster's subpar senior campaign caused his draft stock to plummet, as well as scouts' concerns about his below-average pass-blocking, issues with ball security and the less-than-stellar reviews from Tennessee staff members that portrayed him as selfish and hard to coach. A pulled hamstring also prevented Foster from working out at the NFL Scouting Combine, then he had a poor showing at Tennessee's Pro Day when he registered a 4.71 40-yard dash, 4.50 short shuttle, 32-inch vertical leap and 9′7″ broad jump. The combination of factors led to Foster being undrafted at the 2009 NFL Draft; after several teams showed interest in him as a rookie free agent, he chose to sign a contract with the Houston Texans in May 2009 because he thought the situation suited him.

Foster finished his collegiate career as Tennessee's second all-time leading rusher with 2,964 yards, just 114 behind Travis Henry. His legacy, however, was mixed. He fumbled just five times on a school-record 650 carries, but all of his drops came at critical moments, including fumbles in both 2006 Penn State games, one against Florida in 2007, and against UCLA and Auburn in 2008. His former coach Fulmer has defended Foster, saying "There were a couple of fumbles that were untimely that people want to remember; they forget about his full career, about how special he was. He had a couple after a couple of big runs. They were costly, but we probably wouldn't have been there without him."