How Does Zeke Elliott Compare To These Buckeye Greats?

Archie Griffin

There is only one “Mister Buckeye”,  Archie Griffin. 40 years after Archie played a football game at The Horseshoe, some of his accomplishments have never been matched. And to those who saw him play, it wouldn’t matter if someone else did. He would still be the greatest Buckeye of all time.

In the early 1970’s a college football team was only allowed to have three of their games televised during the regular season. If you were a young Buckeye fan, usually you had to find the Ohio State game on the radio. If you missed the game, the next morning you had to run and get the Sunday morning paper. You just had to find out what the young running back, Archie Griffin, did the day before. And he didn’t disappoint.

Griffin rushed for 867 yards in his freshman year. But when coach Woody Hayes switched to the I-formation in Griffin’s sophomore season, he exploded onto the scene. Griffin ran for 1,577 yards and finished fifth in the Heisman voting. That was just a prelude of things to come.

In 1974 Griffin rushed for 1,695 yards, 12 touchdowns and won the Heisman Trophy. He was one of only a handful of juniors that had accomplished that feat. But no player had ever won two Heisman Trophies. Until Archie.

His senior season Griffin ran for 1,450 yards, and 12 more touchdowns. He ended his stellar career at Ohio State as a three time All-American, and is the only two time Heisman Trophy winner.

When Archie Griffin’s playing days had ended at Ohio State, he held numerous Buckeye and NCAA records. His 5,589 yards rushing were an NCAA record, and is still the most by a Buckeye. His 34 games of rushing for 100 yards in a game is 14 more than Eddie George, and his 31 in a row is still an NCAA record.

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Archie was also looking out for the fans. While the networks were only allowed to show three regular season games, they could show a fourth game if a team made it to a bowl. That was difficult to do at that time. So Archie carried the Buckeyes to four straight Rose Bowls. That way we could watch him play one more time each season. Everyone wanted to see him run the football, because nobody could do it like Archie.