We’ve been analyzing SEC run games all week, and a big component to running success is a team’s ability to hit home runs.

Twenty-yard runs or longer are as breathtaking as they are rare in college football. A lot of teams might be able to pull off one a game, sometimes two, but the average will often fall between one and two 20-yard runs per game.

These types of long gainers require either the defense being completely fooled, near perfect execution, or both. A ball-carrier needs his blockers to take care of the defensive line, while he gets up to full speed for dealing with linebackers and defensive backs, either juking them or trucking over them.

Which SEC players and teams were best at recording runs of 20-plus yards?

5 SEC players with most runs of 20 yards or more

  1. Leonard Fournette, LSU (18)
  2. Derrick Henry, Alabama (17)
  3. Alex Collins, Arkansas (16)
  4. Sony Michel, Georgia (15)
  5. Stanley “Boom” Williams, Kentucky (14)

LSU RB Leonard Fournette is no surprise at No. 1. Who can forget those videos of him running through the Auburn defense? And the SEC West is on notice again for 2016 as the likely Heisman candidate appears to be in optimal shape for this fall.

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What makes Fournette’s numbers even more impressive over Derrick Henry is Fournette played in three fewer games than the Heisman Trophy winner.

Razorbacks RB Alex Collins almost caught Henry’s 15-game mark while playing in only 13 games.

With all the talk surrounding Nick Chubb’s return, SEC fans outside of the Peach State might forget that even in Chubb’s absence, the Bulldogs already have a very capable back in Sony Michel. If Chubb and Michel are both at 100 percent, the Bulldogs will have one of the best backfields in the conference in 2016.

And then there’s poor Stanley “Boom” Williams at Kentucky. When a team goes 5-7, its good players tend to go unnoticed. Williams is back to lead an underrated UK running backs group for 2016.

5 SEC teams with most runs of 20-or-more yards

  1. LSU (34)
  2. Georgia (29)
  3. Tennessee (27)
  4. Ole Miss (25)
  5. Kentucky (24)

LSU and Georgia were obvious favorites to make the team list based on the players above. The Tigers benefitted from seven long runs from RB Derrius Guice and another six from QB Brandon Harris. Before Chubb’s season ended with the Bulldogs, he had logged eight runs of 20-plus yards in six games.

Sometimes when a team has multiple capable ball-carriers, the personal stats get watered down. In the case of Tennessee, the bulk of the long runs were divided up between QB Josh Dobbs (10), RB Jalen Hurd (10) and RB Alvin Kamara (6).

Ole Miss is probably the biggest surprise to crack the Top 5, especially over Alabama and Arkansas. Hugh Freeze’s squad was known for big passing plays created by QB Chad Kelly hooking up with WR Laquon Treadwell, but the Rebels logged a lot of long runs and the touches were spread out. Kelly had the most runs of 20-plus yards with seven.

Wildcats running backs Jojo Kemp and Mikel Horton added seven runs of 20-or-more yards to Williams’ 14. Alabama and Arkansas just missed the Top 5 with team totals of 23 each.