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- Thread starter DaiMonMoore
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I'm going JJ Smith.
I don't have any problem with Clarett, I just wonder if he was really that good or the guys behind him were that bad.
The example I used to make was that if we had had a running back as good as Michael Wiley in 2003, we would have won the whole thing. Lydell Ross was truly a generational, maybe all time, player. Just not the good kind. But out of necessity he still got nearly 600 carries in his career and I swear I remember them all.
www.sports-reference.com
I don't have any problem with Clarett, I just wonder if he was really that good or the guys behind him were that bad.
The example I used to make was that if we had had a running back as good as Michael Wiley in 2003, we would have won the whole thing. Lydell Ross was truly a generational, maybe all time, player. Just not the good kind. But out of necessity he still got nearly 600 carries in his career and I swear I remember them all.
Ohio State Buckeyes Rushing | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
Check out the Ohio State Buckeyes Rushing and more about College Football at Sports-Reference.com
www.sports-reference.com
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I'm going JJ Smith.
I don't have any problem with Clarett, I just wonder if he was really that good or the guys behind him were that bad.
The example I used to make was that if we had had a running back as good as Michael Wiley in 2003, we would have won the whole thing. Lydell Ross was truly a generational, maybe all time, player. Just not the good kind. But out of necessity he still got nearly 600 carries in his career and I swear I remember them all.
Ohio State Buckeyes Rushing | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
Check out the Ohio State Buckeyes Rushing and more about College Football at Sports-Reference.com
If Dru Humphries was around for 2003 I think we win it all.
One other check mark for the MoC side; if he doesn't come off the bench, shoulder and all, to play what little he did in The Game '02, we lose it and there is no Miami Fiesta Bowl. That I will say without reservation. We get shutout by tsun without MoC.
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The turnover reversal vs Miami was a generational play.
JJ may become the best to do it period. But Mo shot out of the cannon at the same speed, and elevated a bad RB room to great heights. Emeka, Carnell and Brandon is a pretty elite bunch. No one is JJ, but that's enough to win it all (but not a guarantee?.
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but isn't it more impressive for a kid to be that valuable as a freshman?
(we can just go back and forth on this all day, there is no right answer in my mind)
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It’s a close call for me. Take either guy off the team and there’s simply no Natty in either 2002 or in 2024.
MoC made the offense functional, good enough to win numerous close games alongside an elite defense. JJ made a pretty good offense a juggernaut in 3 of the 4 playoff games, and drew so much attention from Texas that others made plays.
The other guys that were dominant enough to lift a team as TRUE freshmen were Pace and Katzenmoyer. Archie Griffin and Cris Carter were very good as freshmen, but neither elevated the team as much as the other guys. And none of these 4 were contributing in a year that ended with a Natty.
MoC’s strip is on the short list of legendary plays, with Holy Buckeye and JackSaw’s strip-sack/scoop/score, but I give the nod barely to JJ Smith for the overall impact on the team.
And I’m grateful that with NIL and no lawsuit against the NFL, we will give us two more years to witness true greatness.
Hopefully he can claim a Heisman, and he can aspire to join this list of two-time Unanimous All-American Buckeyes:
Hopalong Cassady, Bob Ferguson, Archie Griffin, Orlando Pace, Marvin Harrison, Jr. (and potentially Caleb Downs).
MoC made the offense functional, good enough to win numerous close games alongside an elite defense. JJ made a pretty good offense a juggernaut in 3 of the 4 playoff games, and drew so much attention from Texas that others made plays.
The other guys that were dominant enough to lift a team as TRUE freshmen were Pace and Katzenmoyer. Archie Griffin and Cris Carter were very good as freshmen, but neither elevated the team as much as the other guys. And none of these 4 were contributing in a year that ended with a Natty.
MoC’s strip is on the short list of legendary plays, with Holy Buckeye and JackSaw’s strip-sack/scoop/score, but I give the nod barely to JJ Smith for the overall impact on the team.
And I’m grateful that with NIL and no lawsuit against the NFL, we will give us two more years to witness true greatness.
Hopefully he can claim a Heisman, and he can aspire to join this list of two-time Unanimous All-American Buckeyes:
Hopalong Cassady, Bob Ferguson, Archie Griffin, Orlando Pace, Marvin Harrison, Jr. (and potentially Caleb Downs).
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Fill111
Newbie
Haha, I get what you're saying! It feels like sometimes it's less about individual talent and more about the surrounding pieces. Michael Wiley could've made a huge difference in 2003, no doubt. Lydell Ross had the workload, but yeah, he was definitely a tough player to watch. It's funny how certain teams just need that one extra spark to get them over the topI'm going JJ Smith.
I don't have any problem with Clarett, I just wonder if he was really that good or the guys behind him were that bad.
The example I used to make was that if we had had a running back as good as Michael Wiley in 2003, we would have won the whole thing. Lydell Ross was truly a generational, maybe all time, player. Just not the good kind. But out of necessity he still got nearly 600 carries in his career and I swear I remember them all.
Ohio State Buckeyes Rushing | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
Check out the Ohio State Buckeyes Rushing and more about College Football at Sports-Reference.com
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MoC elevated them from Iowa to National Champions.
JJ elevated a loaded team to heights that they struggled to reach mentally. No one would confuse that team with Iowa, but they could score points like Iowa when JJ was not involved.
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BUCK3YE5
Inaugural Champions
I see the point, but I don't think Smith should be punished just because he played with better players on offense.
Granted, there is something to be said for putting the entire offense on your back, though. Especially as a true Freshman.
I agree, it's kind of an impossible choice. I just think from a talent and production perspective, Smith had more. It's not hyperbolic at all to say he'd be a top 5 draft pick right now; I don't really remember those kind of conversations happening for MoC, though I'm sure he would have at least been a borderline 1st rounder.
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The conversations around MoC were that he could go to the NFL right now kind of thing not a top 5.
I agree that Smith seems to have "more" as we sit here today but then I ask myself is it because Mo played 20+ years ago? Recency bias is a thing.
I do recall feeling that MoC was just different when he was the current player. His vision, stop/start, power and speed were absolutely different than any other RB at the time but then again, there were some badass RB's back then and they meant something different in the NFL.
Agree 100%. Impossible problem to solve but a fun topic.
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Yeah, but 2002 Iowa was good enough to be #3 in the country before the bowl games.
And that of course was a year where Ferentz won COY over a Buckeye coach, both in the Big Ten and the national AP award.
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