Halfback Nominations for "HotH"

[BirmBuckeye]

Please give your nominations with supporting reasoning - the poll with the selected RB's will open on Monday morning and run through next Saturday.

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by BirmBuckeye

Please give your nominations with supporting reasoning - the poll with the selected RB's will open on Monday morning and run through next Saturday.

Nevermind...

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeMike80

Not really. He's cleared this series with us.

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by Buckeyeskickbuttocks

Not really. He's cleared this series with us.

ah ok.....my apologies...

[Buckeye86]

Archie Griffin
-all time rushing leader (5,589 yards), two time Heisman winner, NCAA record 31 straight 100 yard rushing games, 34 career 100 yards rushing games, career 121.5 average rushing yards per game
Eddie George
-Heisman winner, single season rushing leader (1,927 yards), 2nd place career rushing yards (3,768 yards), only 300 yard game in Ohio State history, 5 career 200 yard rushing games, 20 career 100 yard rushing games, 44 career rushing touchdowns, arguably the greatest single season for a RB in Ohio State history (1995)
Keith Byars
-second best single season rushing yards (1,764 yards), 46 career rushing touchdowns, 4th all time career rusher (3,200 yards), 17 career 100 yard rushing games, record 5 rushing touchdowns in a single game (Illinois '84)

Obviously the big three, if Byars didn't break his foot before his senior season who knows how his numbers would stack up.

Chris Wells is going to make a major push to expand this list to four, even if he doesn't come back for his senior year (if he does come back and stays healthy I think he will make a strong case for being the best ever, but time will tell on that one).

Special mention: Tim Spencer (3rd on the career rushing list), Pete Johnson (55 career rushing touchdowns), Pepe Pearson, Carlos Snow, Michael Wiley, Antonio Pittman, Raymont Harris, Calvin Murray, Jim Otis

[Jaxbuck]

Nice to see three Heisman trophy winners left off a list while special mention goes out to the likes of Pepe Pearson and Mike Wiley.

You don't have to be old enough to have seen them play to read about them and give them their due.

[Buckeye86]

Originally Posted by Jaxbuck

Nice to see three Heisman trophy winners left off a list while special mention goes out to the likes of Pepe Pearson and Mike Wiley.

You don't have to be old enough to have seen them play to read about them and give them their due.

I just went down the all time career rushing yardage list, it took a little bit of time to put together the numbers for the big three and I got lazy. Sorry if I hurt your feelings by leaving off Hopalong, Janowicz, and Horvath.

[Jaxbuck]

Originally Posted by Buckeye86

I just went down the all time career rushing yardage list, it took a little bit of time to put together the numbers for the big three and I got lazy. Sorry if I hurt your feelings by leaving off Hopalong, Janowicz, and Horvath.

No hurt feelings, just the part of these GOAT threads I dislike.

Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz and Hop Cassady all won the Heisman as RB's at OSU.

Its really hard to pick from 5 guys like that to name a GOAT when you still have guys like Kieth Byars that belong in the conversation as well.

[Buckeye86]

Originally Posted by Jaxbuck

No hurt feelings, just the part of these GOAT threads I dislike.

Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz and Hop Cassady all won the Heisman as RB's at OSU.

Its really hard to pick from 5 guys like that to name a GOAT when you still have guys like Kieth Byars that belong in the conversation as well.

I agree. Archie's career numbers, Eddie's unbelivable year in '95, three Heisman trophy winners who don't have the numbers due to the era but who people who watched them play say were the best players they've ever seen in the Shoe, all with Heisman trophies, plus Keith Byers who was robbed of a Heisman once and lost a chance at legendary status with the injury prior to his senior year (deep breath in) all make for a tough decision.

It highlights what makes Ohio State special though.

[Jaxbuck]

Originally Posted by Buckeye86

I agree. Archie's career numbers, Eddie's unbelivable year in '95, three Heisman trophy winners who don't have the numbers due to the era but who people who watched them play say were the best players they've ever seen in the Shoe, all with Heisman trophies, plus Keith Byers who was robbed of a Heisman once and lost a chance at legendary status with the injury prior to his senior year (deep breath in) all make for a tough decision.

It highlights what makes Ohio State special though.

Indeed.

Also, Chic Harley might very well still be the best player ever at OSU and his name almost never comes up in these things.

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Howard "Hopalong" Cassady

"If I had known he [Pete Johnson] was about to break Hop's record I wouldn't have given him the ball" - W.W. Hayes

"He [Cassady] is still the greatest player I ever coached" - W.W. Hayes

[DaddyBigBucks]

Originally Posted by Buckeyeskickbuttocks

....
"He [Cassady] is still the greatest player I ever coached" - W.W. Hayes

"He [Griffin] is a better man than he is a football player; and he's the best football player I've ever seen." - W.W. Hayes

As for the nominations, the list of guys to vote for should include (at least):

• ALL of the Heisman Winners not named Troy Smith
• Keith Byars
• Chic Harley

One has to wonder if another name might not be added to the list in 6 months.

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Originally Posted by DaddyBigBucks

"He [Griffin] is a better man than he is a football player; and he's the best football player I've ever seen." - W.W. Hayes

As for the nominations, the list of guys to vote for should include (at least):

• ALL of the Heisman Winners not named Troy Smith
• Keith Byars
• Chic Harley

One has to wonder if another name might not be added to the list in 6 months.

Looks like Woody was just throwing around the accolades.

[DaddyBigBucks]

Originally Posted by Buckeyeskickbuttocks

Looks like Woody was just throwing around the accolades.

Yes. He's on record as doing it twice in 28 years.

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by Jaxbuck

Also, Chic Harley might very well still be the best player ever at OSU and his name almost never comes up in these things.

Chic might be the greatest athlete in OSU history in any sport. Or every sport. He is the reason the Horseshoe was built. The stadium we all take for granted today was constructed so that 80,000 could watch Chic Harley play.

Signing His Masterpiece: Chic's Name Goes Up in the House that Harley Built - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

...

Born Charles Wesley Harley in Chicago on Sept. 15, 1895, but known throughout his entire life as "Chic," Harley's credentials alone warrant a place up among OSU's Heisman Trophy winners that look down from above the north end zone of the historic Horseshoe. Had the Heisman Trophy existed when Harley played, he surely would have won the honor at least twice and perhaps three times. Harley was a consensus All-American all three years he played - 1916, 1917 and 1919. It would be 16 years after his last season that the Heisman Trophy was first awarded to the nation's outstanding college football player.

In 1950, when the Associated Press selected its All-Star college football team of the first half of the 20th century, the well-known running back great Red Grange from Illinois was a second-team selection. The first-team running backs were Carlisle's Jim Thorpe and Ohio State's Chic Harley.

...

He is one of Ohio State's few four-sport lettermen. In addition to his football heroics, he was a two-year starter at guard on the basketball team and a three-year starter in the outfield for the baseball team - the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns later offered him contracts to play Major League Baseball. In the spring of his sophomore year, as a favor to Ohio State track coach Dr. Frank Castleman, he competed in a track meet for the Buckeyes and set a Big Ten record in the 50-yard dash that stood for years. The first time Harley's nephews took him golfing he shot an 82. The legendary pool player Willie Hoppe once lost to Harley in a game of billiards at the Clock Restaurant in downtown Columbus.

...