Ohio State Football - Central Ohio News

1944 Les Horvath (1st)

1950 Vic Janowicz (1st)

1954 Hopalong Cassady (3rd)

1955 Hopalong Cassady (1st)

1958 Bob White (4th)

1961 Bob Ferguson (2nd)

1969 Rex Kern (3rd)

1970 Rex Kern (5th)

1973 John Hicks (2nd)

1973 Archie Griffin (5th)

1974 Archie Griffin (1st)

1975 Archie Griffin (1st)

1979 Art Schlichter (4th)

1981 Art Schlichter (5th)

1984 Keith Byars (2nd)

1995 Eddie George (1st)

1996 Orlando Pace (4th)

# In 1973, linebacker Randy Gradishar finished sixth in the Heisman voting.

COLUMBUS -- Ohio State football has an intimate relationship with the golden statue that immortalizes the nation's top collegiate player.

Most OSU fans have little trouble listing the Buckeyes' Heisman Trophy winners. Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, Hopalong Cassady, Archie Griffin (twice) and Eddie George all have their numbers retired after weaving their magic in the belly of Ohio Stadium. Only Notre Dame, with seven Heisman Trophy winners, has a higher total.

However, a better trivia question is to name the three Buckeyes who finished runner-up for the award.

How long ago was it that Keith Byars ran out of his shoe, picked up 275 yards, scored five touchdowns, and brought Ohio State back from a 24-0 deficit to beat Illinois on national TV?

It was 1984. Many Buckeye fans figured they were watching a Heisman Trophy winner that season, topped by that signature performance from Byars. Yet someone else had an even bigger moment.

A few weeks later Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie fired his incredible 65-yard Hail Mary pass to teammate Gerald Phelan to complete yet another miraculous comeback as the Eagles stunned Bernie Kosar and Miami 47-45, also on national TV.

Flutie may have won the award without that play. He became the first college player to throw for more than 10,000 yards and garnered the Heisman in a landslide. Flutie racked up 2,240 points, compared to just 1,251 for runner-up Byars. Most figured Byars would pick up his hardware the following season, as a senior. Unfortunately, a broken bone in his foot suffered during the preseason doomed his final campaign.

A far closer vote, and one that certainly could've gone to a Buckeye, was in 1961.

Ohio State fullback Bob Ferguson was a consensus two-time All-American. He was the epitome of Woody Hayes' beloved offensive philosophy "Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust."

No one was more punishing than Ferguson, who brutalized foes with his straight-ahead efficiency. As a senior, Ferguson was the thunder, while sophomore teammate Paul Warfield was the lightning.

Ferguson racked up 938 yards, averaged 4.6 yards per carry, and scored 11 TDs to lead Ohio State to an 8-0-1 record and a national championship from the National Football Writers Association.

The 215-pounder had his signature moment, too, fittingly at Michigan in the season finale. In a game that OSU figured would clinch its Rose Bowl trip, Ferguson ripped off 152 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Buckeyes buried the Wolverines 50-20 in Ann Arbor.

However, in a surreal scenario, Ohio State's Faculty Council voted to veto the Rose Bowl berth. OSU stayed home for the holidays, and immediately dropped to No. 2 in both major polls where the Bucks finished behind previously No. 2 Alabama.

Meanwhile, Syracuse running back Ernie Davis captured the Heisman Trophy despite gaining 115 yards less than Ferguson while playing in an extra game (in those days bowl games didn't count on season statistics). Davis collected 823 yards, averaged 5.5 yards per carry and scored 15 touchdowns for the Orangemen, who finished 8-3 and ranked No. 14.

Davis won the Heisman by a scant 53 points, edging Ferguson 824 to 771. This remains one of the closest votes in Heisman history.

The third Buckeye to finish second in the voting still has the distinction of being one of the game's most honored linemen.

Senior tackle John Hicks, who won the Outland and Lombardi Awards, finished behind Penn State running back John Cappelletti for the 1973 Heisman Trophy. Hicks had no statistics to back up his candidacy, save for the 1,577 yards and 6.3-yard rushing average sophomore tailback Archie Griffin had that year.

Those numbers were better than Cappelletti mustered (1,522 yards). Ironically, Hicks was probably hurt by playing for one of the greatest teams in school history.

Ohio State finished No. 2 in the final AP poll after recording a 10-0-1 season, and destroying defending national champion USC 42-21 in the Rose Bowl. Griffin was fifth in the Heisman voting and linebacker Randy Gradishar was sixth. It remains the only time in history three players from one school finished in the top six in the voting, which probably hurt each of their chances.

Penn State went undefeated, but finished fifth due to what the voters considered a weak Eastern schedule. Still, it didn't bother them in the Heisman voting, where Cappelletti garnered 1,057 points, compared to 524 for Hicks.

In total, the Buckeyes have authored 17 top-five Heisman Trophy placements.

OSU's third-place finishers include: Cassady (1954) and Rex Kern (1969). Fourth-place finishers were: Bob White (1958), Art Schlichter (1979) and Orlando Pace (1996). Those who finished fifth included: Kern (1970), Griffin (1973), and Schlichter (1981).

Contact Phillips by e-mail at lbphillips@nncogannett.com or call (419) 521-7238.