A trustworthy saying Ohio State fans should commit to memory: Having a dominating running back does not guarantee a national championship, but the Buckeyes have never won a national title without one.
Does OSU have that guy? Or guys? Coach Ryan Day says it better. Or else.
“We have some talent,” Day said. “We have a little bit of experience, but if we’re going to get to where we need to go, when we’ve made major runs here, our running backs have run really well. Look what Zeke [Elliott] did, obviously you look at what TreVeyon [Henderson] did, what Quinshon [Judkins] did. In those games, they take over. And that’s what we’re going to need out of that room.”
Are sophomores Bo Jackson and Isaiah West up to the task? They better be, or the Buckeyes are not finishing No. 1. How can I be so sure? Ohio State’s seven national championships confirm it.
In each of those years, Ohio State had at least one running back who produced an above-average season or showed signs of big things to come, either in college or professionally.
Gene Fekete, Les Horvath gave Ohio State potent 1-2 punch
1942: Running back Gene Fekete paired with wingback Les Horvath for a potent 1-2 punch as OSU went 9-1 to earn the No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll. Fekete led the Big Ten in rushing (910 yards). Horvath would win the Heisman Trophy two seasons later.
1954: Halfback Howard “Hopalong” Cassady led the Buckeyes to a 10-0 season that ended with a Rose Bowl win against USC and AP No. 1 ranking. Cassady, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1955, held the school career rushing record (2,466) until Jim Otis broke it in 1969. He held the career all-purpose yards record (4,403) until Archie Griffin broke it in 1974 and held the scoring record (222 points) until Pete Johnson broke it in 1975.
1957: Another dynamic duo, with Bob White plowing ahead at fullback and All-American halfback Don Clark leading the team in rushing (737 yards with a 5.6-yard average per carry) to power OSU to its third national championship. Clark eventually was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears but instead signed with Ottawa of the Canadian Football League, where in 1961 he rushed for 1,143 yards.
1968: Fullback Jim Otis rushed for a team-high 985 yards as the Buckeyes went 10-0 and finished as consensus No. 1 poll champs. A year later, Otis became the first OSU player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (1,027), before embarking on an NFL career that saw him lead the NFC in rushing in 1975. Joining Otis in the backfield for the Buckeyes in 1968 was Larry Zelina and John Brockington, who one year after Otis graduated broke the season rushing record with 1,142 yards. Green Bay drafted Brockington with the ninth pick of the 1971 draft, and he became the first NFL player to rush for 1,000 yards or more in each of his first three seasons.
2002: The energy increased when Maurice Clarett took the field. The freshman from Youngstown was the key cog in OSU’s run to the national title, rushing for 1,237 yards, a freshman record at the time. Clarett had off-the-field issues that cut his college career to one season, but was a force in the 11 games in which he appeared
2014: Ohio State fans who remember the Buckeyes’ Sugar Bowl win against Alabama will never forget Elliott’s 85-yard touchdown run “through the heart of the South” that launched OSU to victory and set up a title game matchup against Oregon. Elliott rushed for 696 yards (220, 240 and 246) and eight touchdowns over the Big Ten Championship Game and two playoff wins. He finished the season with 1,878 yards, the single-season record until J.K. Dobbins bettered it with 2,003 in 2019. Zeke went on to have an outstanding NFL career, twice leading the league in rushing.
2024: Quinshon Judkins was Mr. Inside to TreVeyon Henderson’s Mr. Outside as the Buckeyes rode the two tailbacks to the College Football Playoff championship. Judkins led OSU with 1,060 yards rushing, while Henderson added 1,016. Both players made a splash in their NFL rookie seasons, with Judkins rushing for 827 yards and seven touchdowns for the Browns and Henderson gaining 911 yards with nine TDs.
Elite running backs allow offense to take risks
Elite running backs do more than keep defenses honest. They serve as security blankets for offensive coordinators who can build a more dynamic offense around a solid run game, which is exactly what OSU first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith did when designing schemes as an NFL offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans in 2019. Behind running back Derrick Henry, the Titans had their highest-scoring offensive output in 16 seasons.
“You’re building around the strength of your team,” Smith said. “A big part of Tennessee was Derrick. He is a once-in-a-generation player. The amount of carries he has, and he’s still not slowing down. That’s unheard of. But it’s a long season and even Derrick couldn’t take 500-plus carries. You play 16 or 17 games, you need to have depth.”
The Buckeyes have the depth. Do they have the top-shelf talent?
It’s been an interesting fall camp so far, with West getting more reps through the first three days than Jackson, who last season rushed for a team-high 1,090 yards on 179 attempts for a 6.1-yard average. What’s going on with that? Coaches have raved about West’s offseason growth, citing the strength of his winter workouts.
My best guess is Jackson will start the Sept. 5 opener against Ball State, but Smith will use Jackson and West in much the same way that OSU used Judkins and Henderson last season.
“There are guys who rise who become the main guy,” Smith said. “That happens. But it is a long season. If something happens you have to have someone who can step in.”
Not just step in, but step up. In the biggest games. We’ll find out soon enough if that happens. Texas arrives Sept. 12. Buckle up, backfield.
Sports columnist Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and on X.com at @rollerCD.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State’s title formula is simple: No elite running back, no national championship
Reporting by Rob Oller, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Rob Oller, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
