The only two-time Heisman Trophy winner in college football history almost never got the chance to take the field again after his first series.
A new statue of Archie Griffin will be unveiled outside Ohio Stadium next Friday, one day before the Buckeye football team opens its 2024 season in Columbus. This will be the second sculpture depicting one of the most legendary running backs in college football history, following the sculpture unveiled by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation outside the iconic stadium’s Court of Champions earlier this month.
But such a brilliant career almost never began because Woody Hayes had the same appetite and patience for fumbles as Bill Belichick did as head coach of the New England Patriots.
Nearly 52 years ago, Ohio State kicked off the 1972 football season against Iowa. The Buckeyes beat the Hawkeyes 21-0 at home in a game that featured only one forward pass play all afternoon. On the final series, with the outcome still undecided, Woody decided to use the reserve offensive linemen to give them some experience. 18-year-old Archie Griffin took the field for the first time in an Ohio State uniform, weeks before he was even scheduled to attend his first class on campus.
Griffin did not get a single ball in his debut for the Buckeyes. However, according to game records from the Ohio State University archives, backup quarterback Dave Purdy was charged with a fumble on a pitch attempt that would have otherwise been Griffin’s first running attempt as a Buckeye. The play cost five yards, but Purdy stayed in the game because Woody apparently attributed the fumble to a mistake by Griffin.
Woody further punished the mistake by demoting Griffin to the fifth line before Ohio State’s next game against North Carolina. Sports Radio 97.1 The Fan football commentator Jack Park told NCAA.com that Griffin did not make the usual Friday night trip off campus that is usually made by the first three units at each position, leaving him stuck in Woody’s disfavor on turnovers. Park also recalled that after the fumble, Griffin “wondered if he would ever see the ball again in his career” because of Woody’s resentment of such slip-ups.
The Buckeyes got off to a rocky start against the Tar Heels. Two three-and-outs on the first two possessions preceded a punt block that led to a touchdown and put UNC up 7-0 after barely five minutes of play.
As Ohio State prepared to take the field after a disastrous start, assistant coach Rudy Hubbard talked to Woody. Hubbard was one of the few people on the Buckeye staff who could reason with the notoriously hard-nosed head coach, in part because he regularly drove Hayes home from practice, with stops for pecan rolls and hours of one-sided conversation. He had also recently convinced Woody to trust him with playmaking for the halfbacks.
Hubbard also helped recruit Griffin to Ohio State after working as a student teacher under Griffin’s former head coach Bob Stuart at Eastmoor High School in Columbus. Hubbard saw the potential Griffin had if given a chance to succeed, and after the Buckeyes fell behind the Tar Heels early on, he lobbied Woody to give Griffin a chance at redemption and move up to the new line of rankings.
“The reason I was in that game against North Carolina is because (Rudy Hubbard) stood up for me. He had to jump over some other running backs to get me in the game, and in those situations, you better be right because otherwise you’re putting your job on the line when you’re dealing with Coach Hayes.” — Archie Griffin to Cleveland.com
Griffin took over the first drive for Ohio State on the next series and never looked back. By halftime, he had already accumulated 16 rushing attempts and over 100 yards on the ground. He finished the afternoon with over 250 yards of offense and scored his first career touchdown on the Buckeyes’ final visit to the end zone of the day to seal a 29-14 comeback victory.
At the time, Griffin’s performance was considered the best rushing performance in 82 years of Ohio State football. His 239 yards surpassed the previous record of 229 yards set by fullback Ollie Cline in the Buckeyes’ 1945 game against the Pittsburgh Panthers, which ended in a 14-0 victory. Griffin broke his own record the following season with a 246-yard performance against Iowa. Since then, only seven Buckeyes running backs have passed him – most recently TreVeyon Henderson (277 yards) against Tulsa in 2021 and, most notably, Trey Sermon (331 yards) against Northwestern in the 2020 Big Ten Championship.
Griffin’s breakthrough performance foreshadowed what would become one of the most successful careers of a running back in college football history. Over half a century later, Griffin will soon have two stadium statues honoring his legacy to go along with his two Heisman Trophies.
