The Ohio State Buckeyes have a rich and storied tradition of nurturing impact talent at every position on the field, and that's especially accurate when talking about the wealth of top-tier running backs the program has played host to over decades and decades of Buckeyes football awesomeness.
With that being said, here's our list of The 7 Best Running Backs In Ohio State Football History.
7. Antonio Pittman
Pittman may not have had the name value of offensive counterparts such as Troy Smith and Teddy Ginn, but his two 1,000-yard seasons helped ground and stabilize the team's offense during its back-to-back top-five AP poll finishes in 2005-06 & 2006-07.
6. Tim Spencer
Spencer may even be underrated on this list, considering that he's still third on the Buckeyes' career rushing yards list (3,553). While his name value has waned a bit over the past few decades, Spencer was a true stalwart of the team's rushing attack in the early 1980s.
5. Chris "Beanie" Wells
A seemingly perfect combination of between-the-tackles strength, size, and edge speed, Wells posted two 200-yard games during his banner 1,609-yard sophomore season. Injuries limited his explosiveness throughout his junior season, but he still topped 1,000 yards before making an early exit to the NFL. The memories of his crowd-igniting sophomore season, however, remain fresh in fans' minds to this day.
4. Howard "Hopalong" Cassady
The original BAMF of Ohio State Buckeyes running backs, Cassady was one of the craftiest and fastest collegiate backs of the 1950s. After starting his career with a three-touchdown bang, Cassady spearheaded the team's attack during its 1954 national championship season before bringing the Heisman Trophy to Columbus the very next season.
3. Keith Byars
A massive mound of man, Byars had deceptively smart feet to go with a level of brute strength very rare at the running-back position. Byars was legitimately robbed of the Heisman Trophy in his junior season, as his 1,764 yards and program record-tying 24 touchdowns wasn't enough (in the voters' minds) to topple the marketing machine behind 1984 winner Doug Flutie.
2. Eddie George
If you had to draw up the ideal running back from scratch on a notepad, you couldn't do much better than the epically-muscular Eddie George. Yet, while George's physique was impressive, the work he put in to overcome early fumble programs and his subsequent rise to stardom was even more awe-inspiring. His 1995 Heisman-winning campaign remains one of college football's greatest season-long performances by a running back (1,927 rushing yards, 2,344 yards from scrimmage, 25 total touchdowns, 2 200-yard games, 1 300-yard game).
1. Archie Griffin
The only player in college football history to win the Heisman Trophy twice, Griffin is the only player in Buckeyes history to lead the team in rushing for four-straight seasons. Any aspiring running backs in the audience should unearth some of Griffin's highlights off of YouTube, as his athleticism and unmatched football IQ made him the standard-bearer for what a modern running back could be.
Oh yeah...and there's the fact that he finished his career with an OSU-record 5,589 yards -- a full 1,821 yards more than second-place rusher Eddie George.
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