Ohio State Football: George Chaump made Woody’s offense fun to watch

Woody Hayes played smash mouth football during his 28 years as the Ohio State football coach but things opened up when George Chaump came aboard.

Everyone is well aware when Woody Hayes was head coach of the Ohio State football team his offense was described as being three yards and cloud of dust. However, after George Chaump came on board it was a fun offense to watch.

Fortunately for me the first full season I started following the Buckeyes was the first coach Chaump was an assistant. I had become hooked as a fan when I was 10 years old when Ohio State defeated some team up north in 1967 and I couldn’t wait for the next season to begin.

I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

This was an era when college teams were only allowed to be televised three times during the regular season and another if they were invited to a bowl, and there weren’t many at that time. You usually had to catch Buckeye games on the radio or read how they performed in the Sunday paper.

I know I caught a couple regular season games on TV in 1968 but Ohio State’s Rose Bowl victory over USC to win the National Championship stands out. Coach Chaump’s offense was more than three yards and a cloud of dust.

Yes, fullback Jim Otis pounded the ball between the tackles as did sophomore halfbacks John Brockington and Leo Hayden. But that wasn’t the entire Buckeye offense.

Sophomore wingback Larry Zelina ran counters, sweeps or was involved in the option game. And quarterback Rex Kern running the option was just too cool and spurred me to play the position.

The cameras would often follow Otis being tackled by Trojans and then find Kern or another back running with the ball on the edge. It was a thing of beauty.

Kern also threw two touchdown passes and was named the Rose Bowl MVP.

The offense stayed the same until Archie Griffin stepped on campus. After he rushed for 857 yards as a freshman in 1972, it was obvious things had to change to get the ball in Archie’s hands more often. Woody went to the I formation and only used the full house backfield in goal line and short yardage situations, or when the Buckeyes were trying to run time off the clock.

Coach Chaump utilized the weapons he had at his disposal without going away from Woody’s offensive principles.

The fullbacks still got their share of the carries and Champ Henson, Bruce Elia and Pete Johnson were touchdown scoring machines. And the option was still a big part of the offense, and who better to run it than quarterback Cornelius Green.

To give you an idea how the ball was spread around in coach Chaump’s offense, chew on these stats.

In 1975 Archie Griffin won his second Heisman Trophy by rushing for 1,450 yards. Fullback Pete Johnson rushed for 1,059 yards and 25 touchdowns.

And neither of the two won the Silver Football awarded to the best player in the Big Ten. That honor went to quarterback Cornelius Green who rushed for 518 yards, passed for 1,066 and most importantly was the field general of one of the most potent offenses in college football.

When Archie and Cornelius moved on the offense stayed roughly the same the next two seasons with Rod Gerald taking over at quarterback. In coach Chaump’s final season Woody decided to open up the offense a little with freshman quarterback Art Schlichter coming aboard.

Ohio State finished 7-4-1 that season, but with the way Schlichter and receiver Doug Donley developed it was certainly a plus for Earle Bruce when he took over as head coach the following year. The two were key players when the Buckeyes went undefeated during the 1979 regular season and played for the national championship in the Rose Bowl.

The era when George Chaump was an assistant was a special one for me. It spanned from the first season I followed Ohio State football through my high school years and most of the time I was in the Navy.

More from Ohio State Football

• Ohio State Football: How Denzel Burke has bounced back so far this season
• 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
• Ohio State Football vs. Notre Dame Prediction, Odds, Spread and Over/Under for College Football Week 4

With the success the Buckeyes had during those years you can understand how a young guy could get hooked as a fan for life. And much of that success was due to the fact coach Chaump had an innovative and exciting offense.

Once he joined the Ohio State staff, Woody’s offense was no longer just three yards and a cloud of dust. A big play could happen at any time.

It’s ironic when George Chaump and Woody Hayes coached their last game for the Buckeyes in the 1978 Gator Bowl I was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida. I couldn’t get away to go to the game and it was blocked out on TV in our area because it wasn’t sold out. Wanna talk about a young sailor being bummed out when he found out that golden era had ended.

George Chaump quite simply was one of the best Ohio State assistant coaches ever. He will be missed by Buckeye fans, especially those of us who had the privilege of watching his offenses perform.