STILLWATER, Okla. -- Perhaps the only one who saw Barry Sanders' unrivaled 1988 season coming was the coach at Oklahoma State's rival school.

The year before, Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer was watching film to prepare for the Sooners' upcoming game with the Cowboys.

The Oklahoma coaching staff was consumed with how they'd contain Oklahoma State All-American tailback Thurman Thomas.

Switzer, however, had another concern.

"I saw this back run a kickoff back 100 yards. Then a little while later, he did it again," Switzer once recalled. "I walked over to our coaches in another room and I told them, 'You'd better hope Thurman Thomas doesn't get hurt.'"

The staff wondered aloud if their head coach had lost his mind. But soon enough, Switzer's prescience would be affirmed.

Thomas would go on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.

But a year later, Sanders would produce the greatest individual season college football had ever witnessed. And a season that stands unmatched to this day.

"Won't be another like it," said Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, who was also Sanders' quarterback.

Sanders didn't just rewrite the NCAA record book in 1988, he took a flamethrower to it. Sanders set 34 NCAA records that season on his way to capturing the Heisman Trophy. He also rushed for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns, while adding two special-teams scores. The NCAA didn't begin including bowl game statistics until 2002, but with 222 yards and five touchdowns in the Holiday Bowl against Wyoming, he totaled 2,850 yards and 44 touchdowns. No player since has come close to touching either mark.

"It's obviously the greatest season any individual has had," said Sanders' college coach, Pat Jones. "Hell, maybe in any sport."

The Cowboys actually went into the 1988 season with outsiders wondering how they'd replace Thomas.

A four-year starter, Thomas had rushed for 4,847 yards and totaled 45 touchdowns over his career, which included a pair of top-10 finishes in the Heisman voting.

Sanders was the clear heir apparent in the Oklahoma State backfield. But to that point, Sanders had been a specialist, returning kicks and punts while occasionally spelling Thomas in the backfield.

"They had tried to play them in the backfield together, but it never worked for whatever reason," said Hart Lee Dykes, who was an All-American wideout on Oklahoma State's 1988 team. "When Thurman left, if you took a poll, nobody would have predicted Barry would have that kind of year. He had been a playmaker on punt returns and kickoffs. But nobody had really seen him run the ball because he played behind Thurman. He was such an unassuming guy. He just blended in with the rest of the guys.

"So nobody saw that kind of year coming. I know I didn't."

Sanders remains unassuming, especially when it comes to discussing his 1988 season; he declined several requests to be interviewed for this story.

But Sanders was built to be the perfect running back. Standing only 5-foot-8, he was difficult for defenses to find at the line of scrimmage. He also possessed superhuman strength for someone his size. In an era in which weightlifting was not yet en vogue, Sanders could bench 360 pounds and squat 560. He could also flip his hips back and forth so swiftly that even the fleetest of defenders looked as if they were wearing 15-pound ankle weights trying to corral him.