We are seven days from the Michigan game, so out of respect for the Michigan Wolverines, here is a look at the seven most distinguished graduates of the University of Michigan.
1. Unelected former U.S. president Gerald Ford: Ford even played football for the Wolverines during his time at the school. Gerald Ford is best remembered for his pardoning of hated president Richard Nixon and for losing the 1976 Presidential Election to Jimmy Carter. Here Ford can be seen showing off some of that Wolverine athleticism:
Michigan alumnus Gerald Ford bumbling around with a soccer ball. Photo is from www.vintag.es.
2. Terrorist and anarchist Theodore Kaczynski: Kaczynski is best known for attempting to murder people through homemade bombs that he sent through the mail. He currently resides in a federal prison.
Ted Kaczynski after Michigan's 17-16 loss to Northwestern in 1996.
3. Old timey serial killer H. H. Holmes: you may know Holmes from his habit of murdering and disfiguring people at his giant property in Chicago in the 1890s. He was hanged in 1896.
H. H. Holmes staring on in disbelief after Michigan was shut out 4-0 by Harvard in 1895.
4. Famous wife-killer Dr. Hawley Crippen: in 1910, after taking a mistress, Crippen poisoned his wife, hid her torso under their house, and told the police that she had moved away. He was convicted of murder and hanged later that year.
Dr. Hawley Crippen remaining stoic after the Buckeyes tied Michigan 3-3 in 1910.
5. Former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers: Ayers is best known for his involvement with a radical group that bombed the Pentagon and the NYC Police headquarters.
Bill Ayers trying to make sense of Michigan's 3-9 season in 2008.
6. Inflammatory political pundit Ann Coulter: her career consists mostly of yelling and screaming on television and writing books that are little more than racist tirades.
Coulter watching the 2003 Fiesta Bowl.
7. Voice actor James Earl Jones: best known for lending his evil Wolverine tones to the role of imperial overlord Darth Vader, Jones also played Santa Claus in the direct-to-video cartoon Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street.
Jones catching the end of Michigan's 18-15 loss to Ohio State in 1979.
As you can see, some of America's best and brightest come from the University of Michigan. A week from today, the Buckeyes have the honor of taking on the Wolverines once again.
The Pride of the Buckeyes sings We Don't Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan
The Buckeyes have met Kent State only twice, in 2002 and 2007; we won both games easily. In fact, we have played a MAC team almost every season since the 1990s and have never lost to one of them. The last time we lost to a school that is currently in the MAC was September 15th, 1894, when we lost to Akron in the season opener, which was held at the 1894 Ohio State fair. Kent State, as far as I can tell, has never beaten a Big Ten team.
Have a look at the Buckeyes 48-3 victory over Kent State in 2007, the last time we played.
Coach Tressel put in a lot of second string players to develop some depth on the bench.
Kent State has a football program that dates back to 1920, and has some well-known former players such as Lou Holtz (linebacker 1956, 1957), Nick Saban (defensive back 1970, 1971) and Gary Pinkel (tight end 1970-1973). Current NFL players from Kent State include Cleveland Brown Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, Denver Bronco Jameson Konz, Indianapolis Colt Monte Simmons, New England Patriot Julian Edelman, New York Jet Brian Winters, and Oakland Raiders Daniel Muir and Usama Young. Former Bengals linebacker James Harrison and cornerback Rico Murray also played for Kent State. Linebacker Jack Lambert is Kent State's most famous football product. He played for the Steelers from 1974 - 1984 as one of the best linebackers to ever play the game.
Kent State started their football program in 1920, and promptly lost every game they played until finally getting a win on the field in 1925. For the Buckeyes, 1920 was one of our best seasons, we went 7-0 in the regular season and played California in the Rose Bowl. In 1931 Kent State joined the Ohio Athletic Conference and in 1951 they joined the Mid-American Conference, where they still play today. In 1954, the Golden Flashes made it to the Refrigerator Bowl, which they lost to Delaware. While Kent State was getting their first taste of success in the 1950s, we were on our second and third national titles (1954 & 1957). The early 1970s were Kent State's best years, winning the MAC in 1972 and going to the Tangerine Bowl. They lost the Tangerine Bowl to the Tampa Spartans, who were coached that year by future Buckeye head coach Earle Bruce. This era was also one of Ohio State's golden ages of football, as we won Rose Bowls and national titles in 1968 and 1970. We also went to the Rose Bowl after the '72, '73, '74 and '75 seasons. The Golden Flashes made it to the GoDaddy.com Bowl after the 2012 season, which they lost to Arkansas State.
Two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin running the ball against USC in the 1974 Rose Bowl. Photo from buckeyeempire.com
Kent State is a substantial football team: in 2012 they won the MAC East Division and beat #15 Rutgers along the way. Last season was not as good for them, as they went 4-8. This year they will have a hard time getting to 6 wins, due to a relatively strong schedule. Here is a detailed preview of their upcoming season.
We will play a day game against them on September 13th at Ohio Stadium. The game should be an easy one for us, and if we get ahead early, maybe we will get to see Cardale Jones come in at quarterback to give Braxton Miller a break. At this point in the season, we should be coming off of wins against Navy and Virginia Tech and looking forward to a week off before facing Cincinnati on September 27th. This will be a day game and hopefully an entertaining win for us.
Our second game of the season is against Virginia Tech. We have never played them before, but Virginia Tech has a long history of successful football. They played their first football game in 1892, about 17 months after Ohio State's first game. The uniforms were gray and black, but apparently the fans thought they looked too much like prison uniforms, so they were changed to maroon and orange. In their early days, the Virginia Tech nickname was the Gobblers or Fighting Gobblers, but now they are known as the Hokies.
Much like Ohio State, Virginia Tech played in a local conference in their early days. Ours was the Ohio Athletic Conference; theirs was the Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In 1912, we joined the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) and in 1921 Virginia Tech joined the Southern Conference. The major football schools left the Southern Conference and formed the SEC and ACC. In 1965, Virginia Tech left the Southern Conference to compete as an independent. The Hokies joined the Big East in 1991, but left to join the ACC in 2004, where they still compete today.
Virginia Tech's only undefeated season came in 1954, the year the Buckeyes won the national championship. We also went undefeated, 10-0, including a victory over USC in the Rose Bowl. At the time, Virginia Tech was still playing local schools with basic football programs, but an undefeated season is always something to be proud of. The Buckeyes know that, we have had ten undefeated seasons and are proud of each one. In the late 1960s, Virginia Tech built Lane Stadium, where they still play today. The home field crowd is reputed to be very intense, giving a real edge to the Hokies when they play at home.
Howard "Hopalong" Cassady hopping into the end zone against Michigan in 1954. Photo is from Cleveland.com
Virginia Tech's best shot at a national title came in the 1999 season, when quarterback Michael Vick led the Hokies through an undefeated regular season only to lose to Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. Since then, they have been a strong contender in their conference every year. Playing in the ACC since 2004, they are one of the teams that makes the conference strong, along with Florida State, Clemson and Boston College. Virginia Tech currently has a streak of bowl appearances stretching back to 1993, with nine wins and twelve losses.
Michael Vick playing in the 2000 Sugar Bowl against Florida State. Photo is from blog.nola.com
With such a long history and so many bowl games, it is surprising that the Buckeyes have never met the Hokies on the field. This year the game will be our home opener, after the away game at Navy to start the season. If we had to travel to Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, VA to face the Hokies on their own turf, I might be worried. But, since they will have to face the emotion and clamor of Ohio Stadium in its first football game since November 23rd, we should have them on their heels right from opening kickoff. This is a prime time game, so we will take to the field at 8:00 PM.
Ohio Stadium pumped up for a night game. Photo is from Dan Harker of the-Ozone.net
I am sharing a wonderful poem by a great Ohioan, Osman Hooper, along with a short biography. Osman C. Hooper was born in 1858 in Alexandria, a village in Licking County, near Columbus. He went to Denison and graduated in 1880. Hooper began working for the Columbus Dispatch (originally as a telegraph editor) and stayed there until 1938, having worked his way up to Literary Editor. That's right, he worked for the Dispatch for 58 years, until he was 80 years old. Hooper also did some work for the Cincinnati Enquirer and taught Journalism at Ohio State. He published History of the City of Columbus, Ohio in 1920. He founded the OSU Journalism Hall of Fame in 1925. In 1932, Hooper became a Professor Emeritus at Ohio State. He published "The History of Ohio Journalism" in 1933. Hooper died in 1941. The Ohio Newspaper Association gives out the Osman C. Hooper Newspaper Award each year to the best weekly newspapers in Ohio. This poem was published in an anthology in 1911, so the date of composition is unknown. I love it, and not just because it contains the phrase, "sturdy sons" when referring to Ohioans. The imagery is beautiful and Hooper's understanding of Ohio history is evident. The references to the Civil War are interesting, as we can see that Hooper takes pride in Ohio's role in preserving the Union and combating slavery. The great men he speaks of are William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and James A. Garfield, among others.
Ohio Beautiful
by Osman C. Hooper
In beauty Ohio stands cut from the forest, Early rough-hewn by the pioneer's blade, But chiseled at length to majestic completeness. Glorious home-land in sun or in shade.
Once clad in the green of the forest primeval,
The Indians trod o'er her hills and her vales,
And sang in the rapturous joy of the morning
A song which the breeze taught the westering sails.
O'er sea and o'er land to thy beautiful river,
E'er by the beckoning benison led,
The home-seekers come, bringing virtue and vigor
Meet for the riches thy bounty had spread.
They felled and they builded, they spun and they planted,
And lo! rose a State from the wild-wood austere,
A lake is her crown and her path-way a river,
And e'er as she walks she is scattering cheer.
Her fire-sides have given new strength to the nation —
Men for the mightiest problems of peace,
And war heroes, leading their armies to victory,
Giving to bond-men a gracious release.
An empire within a vast empire of free-men,
Ohio stands binding the east and the west,
Her sturdy sons striving and ever achieving
For God and our country the highest and best.
CHORUS
Ohio, Ohio! Fair home-land we love thee!
Millions of glad voices give thee acclaim !
Rich are thy fields and the sky blue above thee !
Ohio, forever enduring thy fame.
We are set to open the season in Baltimore against the Naval Academy. While this should be a win, you can never tell at the beginning of the season, so I am sure Urban Meyer will have the Buckeyes on guard. Navy's football program has been improving over the last several years under head coach Ken Niumatalolo. Last year they went 9-4, beat their rival Army and won their bowl game against Middle Tennessee State. Their star quarterback Keenan Reynolds is coming back, as is our Braxton Miller, so this should be a great game. We have met Navy a few times before but have never lost to them. Here is a look at those games. These photos are from the Makio yearbook.
November 8, 1930:
Here we are in our away white jerseys forcing a Navy ball carrier to the ground in 1930. I hate to see it, but we wore winged helmets in those days.
The Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to Municipal Stadium (now Memorial Stadium) in Baltimore for our first meeting with Navy. In the first quarter our big halfback Stuart Holcomb eluded six Navy tacklers before scoring on a 23-yard run, making it 6-0 Buckeyes (PAT was no good). We then scored on an interception ran back by Dick Larkins to make it 13-0 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Lewis Hinchman intercepted a Navy pass and ran the ball back for a touchdown; we were now up 20-0. Bob Grady grabbed another Navy pass out of the air to give us the ball on the Navy 39 yard line in the fourth quarter. Wes Fesler ran the ball to the 14, from where Joe Benis threw a touchdown pass to Bob Horn, giving us a 27-0 lead. Navy mustered a 64-yard drive at the end of the fourth quarter, but Bob Grady ended it by pulling down his second interception of the day. As the Makio described it, this was "a great day for the Scarlet and Gray aggregation."
This was much-needed win as we had just lost two games and tied one. We had not won since beating Indiana on October 4th. We finished the season (Wes Fesler's last) 5-2-1 with losses to Northwestern and Michigan and a scoreless tie against Wisconsin.
November 7, 1931:
Hard to tell in black and white, but the Buckeyes are on defense here against Navy in 1931. We are sporting red jerseys and winged helmets.
A crowd of 60,649 fans came out to Ohio Stadium to watch the Navy game in 1931. Our strong defense, aided by heavy rain, stifled Navy's offensive progress at every turn. The first quarter was a punt exchange, with little offense from either side. Early in the second quarter, a pass to Ohio State tight end Sid Gilman was deflected by a Navy defender, but then caught by Gilman, who ran it in for a touchdown. It was now 6-0 (PAT no good). Right before halftime, Navy attempted a field goal which was blocked by Robert Haubrich. Buckeye end Junie Ferrall scooped the ball and took it all the way back to the Navy end zone, giving us a halftime lead of 13-0.
In the third quarter, Navy came out throwing, but Junie Ferrall picked off the ball and ran it in for another Ohio State defensive touchdown. Neither side could get much going on the ground or in the air in the second half, and we have our defense to thank for this win. The final score was 20-0 Ohio State. The Navy offense outplayed us, but four interceptions and a blocked kick stole any momentum that Navy built. The Lantern described our play as "straight, alert football."
December 30, 1981: The Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN
Watch the highlights here:
On Navy's first drive, we blocked their punt and recovered the ball at the 24 yard line and ended up with a field goal. Their next drive ended when out nose tackle Nick Miller caused a fumble behind the line and jumped on the ball at midfield. We jumped out to a 10-0 lead after quarterback Art Schlichter found Gary Williams outrunning the Navy defensive backs and hit him in stride for a 51- yard touchdown pass.
Navy fought back and tied the game up in the second quarter. We lost the ball as Schlichter bungled an option pitch, but soon got it back when our big, fast defensive line powered through to knock the ball loose from the Navy quarterback and recover the fumble on the Navy 28-yard line. We drove down and Jimmy Gale punched in the touchdown on a one-yard run. Navy managed to get a field goal before the half, making the halftime score 17-3 in favor of the Buckeyes.
Early in the 3rd quarter, Navy blocked our punt and ran the ball in for a touchdown to go up 20-17. Schlichter led another drive with good passing that ended in another short touchdown run by Jimmy Gale, making it 24-20 Ohio State. Before the end of the quarter, we got great field position as Navy's long snapper sent the ball over the punter's head, giving it to us on the Navy 21 yard line. We got a field goal try out of this, but missed.
So, in the 4th quarter we were up 24-20. Our cornerback Kelvin Bell got us every defensive player's dream and every quarterback's nightmare: a 4th quarter interception. A 9-yard TD pass from Schlichter to Cedric Anderson increased our lead to 31-20. But the Navy Midshipmen, never losing heart, down by 11 points, drove for another touchdown and 2-point conversion, cutting our lead to three points in the final seconds of the game. Navy did an onside kick, which we recovered to end the game. The Buckeyes came out victorious: 31-28.
Just to recap the crazy special teams plays in this game: we blocked one punt, then another (which was called back because we were offside), Navy faked a punt, then blocked a punt, and screwed up a punt with a high snap.
September 5th, 2009: Season Opener
Some of the highlights:
After losing a TON of great players to graduation and the NFL draft, we opened the 2009 season against Navy. Brandon Saine returned the opening kickoff 47 yards after a nifty hand-off from Jermale Hines. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor led the opening drive with receptions by Devier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher, who went in for a touchdown to put us up 7-0. Navy tied it up, but we answered with a field goal to make it 10-7.
Our linebacker Thaddeus Gibson forced a Navy fumble early in the 2nd quarter, giving us the ball on our own 44 yard line. Pryor, with help from Boom Herron and Dane Sanzenbacher, drove us down for a touchdown, running the ball in himself from two yards out. Later, our backup QB Joe Bauserman led a decent drive that ended in a field goal, making it 20-7 at halftime.
Navy, however, would not give up and fought back with a 3rd quarter touchdown drive to make it 20-14. Early in the 4th quarter, we got a field goal to go up by nine and our defensive back Kurt Coleman forced a fumble, giving us the ball on the Navy 30 yard line with 13:00 to play. Pryor passed, ran and then gave the ball to Boom Herron for a touchdown. We missed the extra point, so the score was 29-14 with less than 12:00 left. Kurt Coleman intercepted a pass to end Navy drive and it looked like we had the game in the bag.
But Navy pulled off some late heroics, scoring a touchdown on an 85-yard pass play and intercepting a pass from Pryor with 3:30 left. Navy's quarterback rushed from 24 yards out to score another touchdown, putting Navy just two points behind us at 29-27. They went for the two-point conversion and our linebacker Brian Rolle snagged the ball at the goal line and sprinted back to Navy's end zone to give us a rare defensive two-point conversion. Final score 31-27 Ohio State. What a way to open a season!
Navy Midshipmen football facts:
Program Duration: 1879 - present
All-time Record: 670-540-57
Record against Ohio State: 0-4
Bowl Appearances/Wins: 19/8
National championship(s): 1926
Heisman Winners: halfback Joe Bellino (1960) and quarterback Roger Staubach (1963)
I recently watched a 1942 film called The Male Animal because it was based on a Broadway play by Buckeye alum James Thurber. Thurber's writing partner Elliott Nugent also went to Ohio State. The play, of the same name, was first performed in 1940 and was very popular. is about a college professor caught up in a controversy over his supposed communist sympathies, on the weekend of a big football rivalry game on campus. I will pretty much read or watch anything Thurber had a hand in, so I wanted to give The Male Animal a try. Having written the play together, Thurber and Nugent also collaborated on the film. The film sticks close to the play and is well-acted and very entertaining.
Henry Fonda plays the lead role (you may remember him from The Grapes of Wrath, How the West Was Won or On Golden Pond). He was a gifted actor and plays the role of Professor Tommy Turner perfectly. Olivia de Havilland plays his wife Ellen. De Havilland also acted in Gone with the Wind and They Died with their Boots On.
Because they wanted to use a football-crazy university setting for The Male Animal, Thurber and Nugent use Ohio State as the template for the school in the film. They call it "Midwestern State University" and the big football rivalry game is against University of Michigan. I thought this was interesting, but did not think about the OSU connection until the students sing, "We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan . . . now or evermore." It made me laugh out loud to hear it - they took the tune and lyrics right from Ohio State. They also sing, to our very own tune, "and when we win the game, we'll buy a keg of booze and we'll drink to old Midwestern till we wobble in our shoes." There is no mistaking Ohio State as the basis for the school in the film.
Students in The Male Animal singing "We Don't Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan." The "M" on the sweaters is for Midwestern State University.
Thurber and Nugent also drew from Ohio State for the plot of the film, in which there is a lot of tension between the academics and the football team. The professors see the football players as idiots and refer to them as "stadium-builders." This has always been the case at Ohio State. There was a movement to scrap the football program in 1901, Wes Fesler promoted academics and good personal conduct over wins on the field as head coach, and the faculty voted to decline the Rose Bowl in 1961 due to football's huge popularity at OSU. Nowadays, the football program is more beloved.
The film shows a few plays in the Michigan game, which Midwestern University rallies to win by one point. While Midwestern is losing, one of the boosters says, "We build them a new stadium and they can't even beat Michigan in it." This was actually true for a while, since we began playing in Ohio Stadium in 1922 and went on a six-year losing streak to Michigan. The football game scenes are interesting to watch, they show the players in leather helmets, lined up with the ends in tight, in a full-house T formation.
Midwestern State's marching band entering the rally before the Michigan game. Don't those uniforms look familiar?
The film's story centers on Tommy Turner, a young English professor. A heroic football player, "Whirling" Joe Ferguson, returns to town and drives Professor Turner crazy. He can't stop talking about football and hitting on Turner's wife. Turner also has to deal with allegations that he is a communist, which could get him fired. During the Michigan game, he gets drunk at home with one of his students and hilariously reasons that he should fight Joe Ferguson, because of a primal instinct to protect his manhood. He attempts to fight Joe, then goes to bed and sleeps through Sunday. When he wakes up Monday morning, he has to face the faculty and argue that he is innocent of communism. It is quite funny and the acting is great.
If you are wondering about Ohio State football at the time, the year The Male Animal was released, we won our first national title.
Find the film and watch it some time, if you are a Buckeye fan, it will entertain you. Here is the trailer:
Ohio State players have won the Heisman seven times, which ties us with Notre Dame for the most wins by University. Michigan players have only three Heisman trophies, but who's counting? Of course, there are great players every year that do not win the big trophy, and many of them have played at Ohio State. Here are the seven best Buckeyes who did not win the Heisman. PACE - 1996 Orlando Pace came in 4th in Heisman voting in '96, which is pretty great for a lineman. Pace was as good an offensive tackle as we have ever produced and he played with some great players, like Eddie George, Shawn Springs, Mike Vrabel and Joe Germaine. He became famous for his complete dominance of defenders, which included frequent "pancake" blocks. Until Orlando Pace came along, they were called knockdowns. The pancake block was a stat invented by Ohio State and Orlando Pace in 1996. The '96 season was going very well for Head Coach John Cooper and the Buckeyes, as usual. We were ranked No. 2 almost the entire season and were all set up to play Florida State for the national title when we lost to Michigan. We redeemed ourselves by defeating Arizona State in the Rose Bowl and finishing the season No. 2. Florida beat Florida State and won the national title. Their quarterback Danny Wuerffel won the Heisman. Pace at least won the Lombardi Trophy in 1995 and 1996.
To get an idea of Pace's dominance, see this video that shows him destroying Penn State's defensive line.
BYARS - 1984 Keith Byars, running back, was second in Heisman voting in '84. This was Byars' junior year and he was outstanding. He rushed for 1,764 yards and 22 touchdowns, and caught for 479 yards and two more touchdowns. Byars played with great players like Mike Tomczack, Jim Lachey, Cris Carter and Chris Spielman. Byars was a huge part of our 1980s Big Ten dominance. We beat Michigan and won the conference in 1984. Unfortunately we lost the Rose Bowl to USC. Doug Flutie, quarterback for Boston College, won the 1984 Heisman.
Here is Byars returning a kickoff for a TD against Pittsburgh. He was a big back with short strides, not the type you normally see returning kicks.
SCHLICHTER - 1979 Art Schlichter came in fourth in Heisman voting in '79. This was Schichter's sophomore season, and as quarterback, he led the team through a difficult transition. 1978 was Woody Hayes' last season and many doubted if the Buckeyes would carry on successfully without him. Head coach Earle Bruce was doubted by many, but he and Schlichter brought us a lot of success that continued into the 1980s. Schlicter was a great passer, and he threw for 1,816 yards and 14 touchdowns in 1979, and rushed for 430 yards and nine more touchdowns. We went undefeated all year and were No. 1 going into the Rose Bowl against USC. We lost the national championship by a single point as USC came back in the fourth quarter to win 17-16. Fittingly, USC running back Charles White won the 1979 Heisman Trophy.
Here Schlichter impressively leads OSU down the field to win in the final minutes of the '79 UCLA game.
HICKS - 1973 John Hicks, offensive tackle, was second in Heisman voting in '73. He had the great honor of playing with the 1970 championship team, as well as the next generation of Buckeyes that included Archie Griffin. Or perhaps, all of those players had the honor or playing with John Hicks. Without him, Rex Kern and Cornelius Greene would not have had time to throw, and Champ Henson and Archie Griffin would not have had room to run. He was impossible to get around, and most footage of Hicks involves him shoving defenders helplessly backwards. Sports Illustrated did a good article in 1973 about how it is nearly impossible for a lineman to win the Heisman, which remains true today. Hicks did win the 1973 Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy, while Penn State's John Cappelletti won the Heisman.
KERN - 1969 Rex Kern came in third in 1969's Heisman votes. Kern quarterbacked during the golden age of OSU football and '69 was his best year. He threw for just over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns, while rushing for 583 yards and nine more touchdowns. He played with a ridiculously good group of players including Jack Tatum, Jim Otis, John Hicks, Jim Stillwagon, and Bruce Jankowski. 1969 was set to be our perfect year, with the Buckeyes defending the national title and continuing a win streak that lasted as a school record until 2013. Michigan, with their new Coach Schembechler, beat us at the end of the season, ending our win streak at 22 and dashing everyone's expectation that we would repeat as national champions. Oklahoma's Steve Owens won the '69 Heisman.
Here is Kern leading us to victory over Purdue in 1969.
FERGUSON - 1961 Bob Ferguson was second in Heisman voting in 1961. He was a tough fullback whose main job was to run the ball right up the middle for four or five yards to keep drives going. In 1961, he ran for 968 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was one of the best running backs to ever play at Ohio State, and we would probably have won the national championship with his rushing abilities, but OSU itself denied us. We had tied the first game of the '61 season, but had won every game since, so we had an undefeated record and were on our way to the Rose Bowl to play UCLA, a team we had already beaten back in the second game of the season. Things looked great as we were cruising to our fourth national title, when the Ohio State faculty voted to decline the Rose Bowl invitation because they wanted the university to stay focused on academics. The students rioted in response, but Woody Hayes remained calm. Minnesota went to the Rose Bowl instead, and beat UCLA. Ferguson won the Maxwell Award, but the brilliant running back Ernie Davis (of Syracuse) won the Heisman. On a much more tragic note than our missing out on the national championship, Ernie Davis went on to the NFL, but died of cancer at age 23, before he could play a game.
Here is Ferguson rushing; check out that uniform! Photo: fanbase.com
WHITE - 1958 Bob White came in fourth in 1958's Heisman votes. White had played on the 1957 national championship team and had a great 1958, too: 859 yards and 12 touchdowns. He played alongside Buckeye greats Don Clark and Dick Lebeau. We came into the year ranked No. 1, but after two ties and a loss, we fell in the rankings. Although we beat Iowa by ten points, they won the conference and went to the Rose Bowl. At least we beat Michigan. Army's Pete Dawkins won the Heisman.
Here is an old photo of Bob White, looking tough. Photo: fanbase.com
