| 20 February 2012
1967 - a year that will live in Buckeye lore for eternity - and for very good reason. It was in this year that the Ohio State Buckeyes went 6-3, but failed to make the Rose Bowl, or to win the conference. 1967 would effect the Buckeyes deeply as Woody Hayes commented that not making the Rose Bowl “Strongly impaired Ohio State’s efforts to recruit within its own state.” Woody Hayes new that if he wanted to get back to the top of the conference again, he would need to journey beyond the borders of the Buckeye State, and tap in to new talents in other states.
Coach Hayes’ efforts paid off with a group of young men who would bring two National Championships to Columbus in 1968 and 1970, as well as a 3-1 record against TSUN, you may know this group as the “Super Sophomores”. Led by Rex Kern (Ohio), Jack Tatum (New Jersey - pictured left), Jim Stillwagon (Ohio), Bruce Jankowski (New Jersey), John Brockington (Ohio), Tim Anderson (West Virginia), Mike Sensibaugh (Ohio), Jan White (Pennsylvania), Larry Zelina (Ohio), Mike Vladich (Ohio), Doug Adams (Ohio), and Mark Debevc (Ohio) the “Super Sophs” would go on to bring glory to the Scarlet and Gray, and become legends of the fall. Back in those days, freshman were not allowed to participate at the Varsity level in any sport in the NCAA, so the aforementioned players had to sit out their first season, but it was all well and good, for all the players listed also became three year starters, and several (Kern, Tatum, Stillwagon, Brockington, White, Sensibaugh, Anderson) would all go on to become All-Americans.
With the class of 1970 being a prime example of how much out-of-state recruiting can pay off, we’ll go through some of the greatest Buckeyes who may have not had the privilege of being a native Ohioan, but who cemented themselves as legends of the Scarlet and Gray.
We’ll start off the list with players from down south, and who better to begin with than NFL and College Football Hall of Fame member Jim Parker. Parker, who hails from Macon, Georgia, played his senior year of High School at Scott High School in Toledo Ohio. The two time All-American was the key blocker for the 1954 National Champions, and the 1955 Heisman Trophy winner, Howard “Hopalong” Cassady and was awarded with the Outland Trophy in 1956.
The next player we come to is a native of the sunshine state of Florida, wide receiver Santonio Holmes. In recent years under former coach Jim Tressel, Florida has fed a steady pipeline of talent into Columbus, and none may have been better for the Buckeyes than Holmes. Although never an All-American, Holmes brought in 140 receptions for 2,295 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Next we come to another native of Florida and the most recent player on this list, center Michael Brewster. The class of 2008 was one of the most heralded classes in Ohio State’s history, and it was led by the great recruiting efforts of Brewster, who was able to convince other talents like JB Shugarts (Texas native), Etienne Sabino (Florida Native) and others to join him in Columbus as a part of the “Brew Crew”. The Orlando native was as good as advertised, picking up the starting job his freshman year for the injured Steve Rehring and never looked back, earning Freshman All –American honors in 2008 and All-America honors in 2010.
We then move out a little west to the state of Texas for our next Buckeye great, All-American wide receiver David Boston. A native of Humble, Texas, Boston might just have been the greatest wide receiver to wear the Scarlet and Gray, amassing 2835 receiving yards on 191 receptions for 36 touchdowns.
We now go to the northeast and to the Garden state for our next player - All-American and Thorpe award winning defensive back Malcolm Jenkins. Jenkins, a native of Piscataway, was a two time All-American for Ohio State in 2007 and 2008, and was a shutdown corner on an outstanding unit for the “Silver Bullets”.
Moving up north ever so slightly we come to the Empire state of New York where we find All-American defensive end and a teammate of Jenkins’ on the New Orleans Saints, Will Smith. Never to be confused with the actor of the same name, Smith sure made a name for himself on the “Silver bullets” defense, raking in 22 career sacks and helping lead the Buckeyes to ultimate glory in the 2002 National Championship game against Miami (Fla).
From New York we now head on west to the Keystone state of Pennsylvania (ughh...) where we find a trio of talented players - one a Heisman winner, one a son of two states (the other being Georgia) and the third still ripe with much controversy (bet you can’t guess who). We start off with All-American and Heisman Trophy winning running back Eddie George. A native of Philadelphia, George started off his career fumbling, bumbling and with an unsure future of playing time. He more than made up for his freshman follies, rushing for career statistics of 3,768 yards (second to Archie Griffin) and 44 rushing touchdowns (third on Ohio State’s list) on his way to the 1995 Heisman Trophy as well as the Walter Camp award, Doak Walker Award, and Maxwell award. The next player is an interesting case; he was born in Pittsburgh (ughh…) but raised mostly in the state of Georgia, but is now playing for the Steelers in the NFL (ughh…). The player I am talking about of course is All-American defensive end Cameron Heyward. An All-American in 2007, Heyward more than honored his late father Craig “Ironhead” Heyward on the football field, bringing in 14.5 career sacks for the Buckeyes while being the great leader and stalwart on the “Silver Bullets”.
Next we come to inarguably the most controversial player on this list (did you guess who it was yet?). The most heralded and sought after prospect in high school for the 2008 class, this player was ultimately the most important player on the Buckeyes offense during his stay in Columbus, leading them to many victories on his legs and play making abilities. His name of course is (drum roll please…) Terrelle Pryor. Yes, I went there, Terrelle Pryor. Mock me if you like, but I still respect him and have forgiven him of his sins he perpetrated in the Scarlet and Gray. I will always love and respect any player who suits up for Ohio State in any sport for any amount of time (Unless they publicly bash there school in the middle of a controversy *cough* Ray Small *cough*) and he is no different. Throwing for 6,177 yards and 57 touchdown passes as well as 2,164 yards rushing for 17 touchdowns, there is no denying his impact on the Ohio State offense.
And last but not least we pay a visit the Great Lakes state (I’ll try my best not to swear) and the North Star state respectively. We start off with 2002 National Champion Craig Krenzel. A native of Utica of TSUN, Krenzel is most famous for the play “Holy Buckeye” which sealed the deal against a tough Purdue team on their home turf when on fourth and one he threw a 47 yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins (Ohio Native) with 1:36 left in the game to win. Next we come to another native of TSUN, All-American defensive end Vernon Gholston. A native of Detroit, Gholston destroyed quarterbacks as the LEO defensive end in the “Silver Bullets” defensive scheme, ending his career with 22.5 sacks including 14 in his junior season.
Before we move on to our final player of honor, let me just say I’m thankful for those natives of TSUN who have brought their talents to Ohio State (Reid Fragel, Jonathan Hankins among others). God knows they don’t produce much football talent up there (that’s why they resort to stealing kids from Ohio, something that boils my blood like nothing else).
And now, finally, we come to the last player of honor, the pride of Wayzata, Minnesota, three time All-American and Nagurski, Butkus, Lott and Lambert award winner James Laurinaitis. The son of former pro wrestler Joe “Animal” Laurinaitis, James would go on to amass 365 total tackles and honoring those great Ohio State linebackers who went before him.
In closing, Ohio State has had some great players from out of the state suit up in the Scarlet and Gray, and in leaving some out (Jim Marshall, Joe Germaine, among others) it just goes to show how exclusive the list is, and how players from around the country should be clamoring to be a part of the pride, tradition, and excellence that is THE Ohio State University.
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