Ohio State Buckeyes nominated to the College Football Hall of Fame.
When it was reported on Ohio State Buckeyes.com that Jim Otis, Keith Byars and Chris Ward were on the College Hall of Fame ballot it surprised me a little. I guess I had assumed the Buckeye running backs had already been inducted into the HOF.
I can think of reasons why they haven’t been so honored, and if I am correct, they had nothing to do with the Ohio State running backs performances on the field. One fell victim to the changes in college offenses, and the other was affected by an undersized quarterback who had a magical season.
I will make the case why those things shouldn’t matter, and the two Buckeye greats should finally be inducted into the College Football HOF.
In this article, I will take a look at the fullback who led the Buckeyes to a national title, Jim Otis.
If they are only going to look at the stats Jim Otis compiled during his playing days at Ohio State, voters may not even consider the Buckeye great for the College Football Hall of Fame. The I formation took hold in college football shortly after Otis graduated, and consequently, featured tailbacks began putting up rushing yard totals that dwarfed his.
But if Hall of Fame voters understand the era in which Otis played, and the impact he had on the Woody Hayes “three yards and a cloud of dust” offense, he should be a shoo-in for the HOF.
Otis played at a time where the ball was more evenly distributed among fullbacks and halfbacks, as most teams ran some version of the T formation. Otis finished his career as Ohio State’s all-time leading rusher, and had scored more touchdowns than any other Buckeye to that point.
Otis was the catalyst in Woody Hayes T formation offense. He was effective at running the ball between the tackles in either the strong T or full house backfield. This also made it easy for QB Rex Kern to fake the ball to Otis and run the option, or hand the ball to wingback Larry Zelina on a counter or a reverse.
In the 1968 championship season, the junior Otis was asked to carry the load with so many “Super Sophs” on offense. He didn’t disappoint as his 985 rushing yards set the single season record for an Ohio State running back.
Otis’ importance to the Buckeye offense was especially evident in the 1969 Rose Bowl vs. USC, which doubled as the National Championship Game. And his importance manifested itself in different ways.
He was effective running between the tackles as usual, and scored a one yard touchdown run to pull the Buckeyes to within three at 10-7 in the second quarter. And because everyone expected Otis to carry the football often in the second half he became a great decoy.
Sophomore quarterback Rex Kern threw two touchdown passes in the second half, one on a play action fake to Otis. But just as importantly, the Buckeye QB would often fake the ball to the big Ohio State fullback and keep the ball on an option play to move the chains.
The Trojans were certain Otis would get the ball so it worked to perfection. Anybody who watched the game will remember that it usually faked out the NBC camera crews as well.
That’s because everybody was expecting Otis to run the ball on nearly every play when it came down to crunch time. That’s just how much respect the Buckeye fullback garnered.
More from Scarlet and Game
- Ohio State Football: How Denzel Burke has bounced back so far this season
- Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes conference schedule is set
- Ohio State Football rolling into form at the perfect time
- How Ohio State football has done historically versus new Big 12
- Ohio State Football: We need to see “Killer Ryan Day” at South Bend
Unfortunately Ohio State didn’t repeat as national champions the following year, but in 1969, Jim Otis became Woody Hayes first 1,000 yard rusher. He totaled 1,027 yards in only 9 games that season.
Otis ended his career with 2,542 yards rushing in 27 games played. His 94.1 yards per game is third best all time by an Ohio State running back, trailing only Archie Griffin and Ezekiel Elliott. And this while running almost exclusively between the tackles.
His 34 rushing touchdowns in 27 games is impressive, especially when 32 of them came in the last 19 games he played for the Buckeyes.
It could be argued that Otis was the best running back in the late 1960s, and possibly in the entire decade. Running backs like O.J. Simpson were getting most of the accolades, but no other back was more important to his team than the Buckeye fullback.
Next: Number 2 Ranked Class Loaded On Defense
With his stellar play in Woody Hayes offensive system at the time, as well as his overall impact on the college game, Jim Otis certainly deserves to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.