Knock Wood: Running QBs don't tend to get injured running the ball in college.

Since 2000, there have been hundreds of college QBs who have rushed for at least 500 yards in a season without suffering a season-ending injury as a direct result of running the football, including many in the SEC:

Jayden Daniels
Tim Tebow
Cam Newton
Johnny Manziel
Jalen Hurts
Dak Prescott
Matt Jones
Joshua Dobbs
John Rhys Plumlee
Lynn Bowden Jr.
Connor Shaw
Robby Ashford
Nick Marshall
Diego Pavia
Taylen Green
Anthony Richardson
Bo Nix
Treon Harris
Stephen Garcia
DJ Shockley
Jason Campbell


To contextualize how many running QBs do NOT get injured, it is far easier to look at the few famous running QBs who did suffer season-ending injuries since 2000. Indeed, there are only eleven notable running QBs to get injured in college football while running the ball:

1. Dennis Dixon (Oregon, 2007) Carries per game: 9.5 (105 carries over 11 games) The Injury: The Heisman frontrunner first tweaked his knee on a running play against Arizona State, but tried to play through it. One week later against Arizona, Dixon kept the ball on a routine option run, planted his foot to make a cut, and suffered a complete, non-contact torn ACL. The injury instantly ended his college career and crushed Oregon's national championship hopes.

2. Robert Griffin III (Baylor University, 2009) Rushed for 815 yards in 2012. The Injury: Suffered a season-ending isolated torn ACL in the third game of the 2009 season against Northwestern State. He returned to win the Heisman Trophy in 2011.

3. Denard Robinson (Michigan, 2012) Carries per game: 16.0 (177 carries over 11 games) The Injury: Against Nebraska in October 2012, "Shoelace" took a hit at the end of a rushing play that caused nerve damage to his right elbow. While it didn't end his season entirely, it permanently ended his season as a quarterback. He could no longer grip or throw a football cleanly, forcing Michigan to use him strictly as a running back and wide receiver for the rest of the year.

4. Braxton Miller (Ohio State, 2013) Carries per game: 14.25 (171 carries over 12 games) The Injury: During the 2014 Orange Bowl against Clemson, Miller was hits hard on a scramble/running play, sustaining a severe shoulder injury. While he finished the game, the torn labrum required surgery and ultimately re-tore during fall practice ahead of the 2014 season. This knocked him out for the entire 2014 regular season, forcing him to miss Ohio State's national championship run and later switch to wide receiver.

5. Marcus Mariota (Oregon, 2013) Carries per game: 7.38 (96 carries over 13 games) The Injury: While it did not technically sideline him for the final games of the season, Mariota suffered a partial MCL tear against UCLA in late October 2013 while pulling the ball down to run. The injury completely altered his season, stripping him of his elite rushing threat for the remainder of the year and derailing Oregon's national title aspirations. (Note: Included due to the severe impact on his season's final outcomes, though he played through it).

6. Taylor Martinez (Nebraska, 2013) Carries per game: 9.25 (37 carries over 4 games) The Injury: Known for his blistering speed, Martinez suffered a severe plantar fasciitis injury and a turf toe fracture during a rushing play early in the 2013 season. He attempted a brief return a few weeks later but aggravated the foot injury while running, ending his senior season after just 4 games.

7. Taysom Hill (BYU) Rushed for 1,344 yards during his breakout 2013 sophomore season. The Injuries: Suffered multiple season-ending injuries throughout his college career, including a knee injury in 2012, a fractured leg in 2014, and a Lisfranc foot fracture in 2015.

8. Nick Fitzgerald (Mississippi State, 2017) Carries per game: 13.5 (162 carries over 12 games) The Injury: During the first quarter of the 2017 regular-season finale (the Egg Bowl) against Ole Miss, Fitzgerald was running the football past the line of scrimmage when a defender tackled him. His leg bent awkwardly underneath the tackler (don't watch the video), resulting in a severe, gruesome dislocated ankle that required immediate surgery and ended his season.

9. D'Eriq King (Houston / Miami 2018) Rushed for 674 yards in 2018 at Houston and 538 yards in 2020 at Miami. The Injuries: His 2018 season at Houston was cut short by a torn meniscus, and he later tore his ACL in a bowl game at the end of the 2020 season with Miami

10. McKenzie Milton (UCF, 2018) Carries per game: 7.9 (79 carries over 10 games) The Injury: In the 2018 regular-season finale against rival South Florida, Milton scrambled and tucked the ball to run for a first down. He took a helmet-to-knee hit from a defender at the end of the run, suffering a catastrophic dislocated knee with torn ligaments and major vascular (artery) damage (don't watch this one either). The injury was initially considered career-threatening, forcing him to miss the remainder of 2018 as well as the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

11. Hendon Hooker (Tennessee, 2022) Carries per game: 9.45 (104 carries over 11 games) The Injury: During a late-season matchup against South Carolina, the Heisman-contending quarterback kept the ball himself on a designed option running play. As he made a sharp cut while running to the left, he suffered a non-contact torn ACL in his left knee, immediately dropping the football and ending his spectacular senior campaign.