Michael Citro
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Broken Records: This Ohio State rushing record may stand forever
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Even the great Corny Greene’s powerful rushing teams couldn’t come close to threatening an OSU record that may never fall. | Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
No Buckeye team has come within 200 yards of the school’s all-time record in this category.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about records, the ones that have been broken, the ones that could be broken, and the ones that will never be broken. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”Broken Records” articles here.
The Ohio State Buckeyes did something on Sept. 27, 1930 that not only hasn’t been done since, but it seems unlikely to ever be done again. That 1930 squad, playing the first September game ever at Ohio Stadium, defeated Mount Union, 59-0. Ohio State has won other games by that score, including a notable Big Ten title game, but that wasn’t the most remarkable thing fans saw that day.
The Buckeyes rolled for nine touchdowns that day, starting with a Wes Fesler score. But again, nine touchdowns is something Ohio State has done since and surpassed.
Ohio State rushed for an incredible 718 yards in the Pop Warner offense that coach Sam Willaman installed. Not only has no OSU team been able to equal that feat, there hasn’t even been an instance of the Buckeyes getting within 200 yards of that mark. Ohio State has gotten no closer than 517 yards rushing in any game since then, and the Buckeyes have done that twice.
Even though the innovation of the forward pass has made the achievement more unlikely, there have been many rush-only OSU offenses that haven’t come close. Some of those offenses were powerful and included many players who have written their names in the history books.
Some of those rushing juggernaut teams existed in the modern (adjacent) era. The 1974 team, featuring Archie Griffin, Jeff Logan, Cornelius Greene, and Pete Johnson, is the last Ohio State team to “threaten” the record, tying for second in school history with 517 yards on the ground at home against Illinois in a 49-7 win on Nov. 2 of that year.
OK, that was 50 years ago. That’s a long time, but at least it’s within living memory, even if only for those of us who were kids at that time.
Two years later, Ohio State run all over Michigan State for 463 yards in the season opener on Sept. 11, 1976, in a 49-21 home victory. That stands as the fifth-most rushing yards in one game by an Ohio State team. The Buckeyes came “close” again in 1978, rushing for 511 yards in a 63-20 home win over Northwestern — the fourth-highest total of yards on the ground in a game.
Looking a little closer to today, the Buckeyes ran for a season high of 215 yards in 2023. It was one of only two games in which Ohio State rushed for more than 200 yards as a team last season. The high-water mark in 2022 was 340 yards rushing against Indiana. In 2021, Ohio State ran for 323 yards against Tulsa.
The Buckeyes started the decade with a 399-yard performance against Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship. Trey Sermon rushed for most of that — a school record 331 yards by an individual runner. It’s difficult to imagine how high the total could have been if Ryan Day had committed to the run earlier in the game. But even if he had, it’s not likely the 2020 Buckeyes would have done much more than climb into the top five team rushing performances in school history that day.
The last time an Ohio State team rushed for more than 400 yards in a game was the 2016 matchup with Rutgers, picking up 410 yards on the ground in a 58-0 victory. The Buckeyes ran for 441 at Illinois in 2013 (a 60-35 win), marking the second time that season Ohio State eclipsed the 400-yard mark, joining the 408 ground yards gained in a 63-14 home win over Penn State on Oct. 26, 2013.
What these numbers all mean, is that it’s extremely rare for a team that employs the forward pass to surpass 400 yards on the ground in modern college football. Ohio State hasn’t reached 500 since 1978, and hasn’t gotten to 600 other than that win over the Purple Raiders in 1930, proceeding to rack up an additional 118 yards on the way to 718.
Fesler was named an All-American for the third straight season and was named Big Ten Most Valuable Player after Ohio State’s 5-2-1 season.
While it’s foolish to speak in absolutes, it just doesn’t seem credible that a modern Ohio State team will ever see a rushing performances of more than 700 yards. Perhaps some weird future OSU team can do it someday if passing is outlawed again, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Continue reading...
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Even the great Corny Greene’s powerful rushing teams couldn’t come close to threatening an OSU record that may never fall. | Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
No Buckeye team has come within 200 yards of the school’s all-time record in this category.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about records, the ones that have been broken, the ones that could be broken, and the ones that will never be broken. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”Broken Records” articles here.
The Ohio State Buckeyes did something on Sept. 27, 1930 that not only hasn’t been done since, but it seems unlikely to ever be done again. That 1930 squad, playing the first September game ever at Ohio Stadium, defeated Mount Union, 59-0. Ohio State has won other games by that score, including a notable Big Ten title game, but that wasn’t the most remarkable thing fans saw that day.
The Buckeyes rolled for nine touchdowns that day, starting with a Wes Fesler score. But again, nine touchdowns is something Ohio State has done since and surpassed.
Ohio State rushed for an incredible 718 yards in the Pop Warner offense that coach Sam Willaman installed. Not only has no OSU team been able to equal that feat, there hasn’t even been an instance of the Buckeyes getting within 200 yards of that mark. Ohio State has gotten no closer than 517 yards rushing in any game since then, and the Buckeyes have done that twice.
Even though the innovation of the forward pass has made the achievement more unlikely, there have been many rush-only OSU offenses that haven’t come close. Some of those offenses were powerful and included many players who have written their names in the history books.
Some of those rushing juggernaut teams existed in the modern (adjacent) era. The 1974 team, featuring Archie Griffin, Jeff Logan, Cornelius Greene, and Pete Johnson, is the last Ohio State team to “threaten” the record, tying for second in school history with 517 yards on the ground at home against Illinois in a 49-7 win on Nov. 2 of that year.
OK, that was 50 years ago. That’s a long time, but at least it’s within living memory, even if only for those of us who were kids at that time.
Two years later, Ohio State run all over Michigan State for 463 yards in the season opener on Sept. 11, 1976, in a 49-21 home victory. That stands as the fifth-most rushing yards in one game by an Ohio State team. The Buckeyes came “close” again in 1978, rushing for 511 yards in a 63-20 home win over Northwestern — the fourth-highest total of yards on the ground in a game.
Looking a little closer to today, the Buckeyes ran for a season high of 215 yards in 2023. It was one of only two games in which Ohio State rushed for more than 200 yards as a team last season. The high-water mark in 2022 was 340 yards rushing against Indiana. In 2021, Ohio State ran for 323 yards against Tulsa.
The Buckeyes started the decade with a 399-yard performance against Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship. Trey Sermon rushed for most of that — a school record 331 yards by an individual runner. It’s difficult to imagine how high the total could have been if Ryan Day had committed to the run earlier in the game. But even if he had, it’s not likely the 2020 Buckeyes would have done much more than climb into the top five team rushing performances in school history that day.
The last time an Ohio State team rushed for more than 400 yards in a game was the 2016 matchup with Rutgers, picking up 410 yards on the ground in a 58-0 victory. The Buckeyes ran for 441 at Illinois in 2013 (a 60-35 win), marking the second time that season Ohio State eclipsed the 400-yard mark, joining the 408 ground yards gained in a 63-14 home win over Penn State on Oct. 26, 2013.
What these numbers all mean, is that it’s extremely rare for a team that employs the forward pass to surpass 400 yards on the ground in modern college football. Ohio State hasn’t reached 500 since 1978, and hasn’t gotten to 600 other than that win over the Purple Raiders in 1930, proceeding to rack up an additional 118 yards on the way to 718.
Fesler was named an All-American for the third straight season and was named Big Ten Most Valuable Player after Ohio State’s 5-2-1 season.
While it’s foolish to speak in absolutes, it just doesn’t seem credible that a modern Ohio State team will ever see a rushing performances of more than 700 yards. Perhaps some weird future OSU team can do it someday if passing is outlawed again, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Continue reading...