Hershel Dennis

Hershel Henry Dennis IV (born July 12, 1984) is an American former football running back. He played college football as a student athlete at the University of Southern California. During his six-year career, the Trojans went 70–8 making Dennis the first player to play on six Pacific-10 Championship squads and the player with the most wins in college football history. His nickname since childhood is "Patch."

Early life Dennis prepped at Long Beach Polytechnic High School and was a part of the "Long Beach Poly Five", five highly recruited players including Manuel Wright, Marcedes Lewis, Darnell Bing, and Winston Justice.

He was also on Poly's track team, with bests of 10.7 seconds in the 100 meters, 22.3 seconds in the 200 meters, 6.75 meters (22.1 feet) in the long jump and 1.98 meters in the high jump, and basketball team. Current Trojans Vincent Joseph, Travon Patterson and Alfred Rowe also prepped at Poly.

College career As a freshman in the 2002 season, Dennis was a reserve behind a stable of experienced seniors including running backs Justin Fargas and Sultan McCullough as well as fullback/tailbacks Malaefou MacKenzie and Sunny Byrd; however, he did see play time in all 13 games, highlighted by a 38-yard touchdown run against rival UCLA. This allowed the tandem of White and Bush to emerge and relegate Dennis to the role of reserve for most of the season. In May 2007, Dennis graduated with his bachelor's degree in sociology.

During his final game, the 2008 Rose Bowl game against Illinois, Dennis rushed for a touchdown, his first of the season and first since 2004, that led teammates to rush the goal from the sidelines in celebration (and an excessive celebration penalty).

At the end of his six-year USC career, Dennis became the first player to play on six Pac-10 Championship squads. In addition to conference accolades, Dennis also made central contributions to teams that finished in the BCS top 5 during 6 consecutive seasons (2002–07). With 70 wins (and only 8 losses) in that span, Hershel Dennis is the "winningest player" in College Football history.

Professional career Dennis signed to play with the Sioux Falls Storm as a running back in the Indoor Football League (IFL) during the 2011 season.

Personal life Dennis is of African-American descent on his father's side and Samoan on his mother's. His father, also named Hershel Dennis, played running back for North Carolina A&T. He has three children.