There are 84 days that separate us from Ohio State's march to Blacksburg. To help pass the time until the Buckeyes put the Sandman to sleep I will countdown Ohio State's top 100 players according to the rubric* listed at the bottom of this article.

Jim Otis won a national title, 2 Big Ten titles and went 2-1 against That Team.

NO. 84 JIM OTIS, FB (1967-69)
Born: 1948 (Celina, Ohio)
High School: Celina

OHIO STATE CAREER

• The Buckeyes were 24-4 with Otis on the team.
• 1968 National Champion.
• 1968 Big Ten Title.
• 1969 Big Ten Title.
• 1969 Defeated USC 27-16 in the Rose Bowl.
• 1968 Defeated No. 1 Purdue 13-0 at Ohio Stadium in Week 3.
• Went 2-1 against That Team.

HONORS

• 1969 Ohio State MVP
• 1969 All-American.
• 1969 All-Big Ten.
• 1996 Varsity O Hall of Fame.
• 2000 Named to the Ohio State All-Century Team.

NFL DRAFT
Round 9 to the New Orleans Saints with the 218th pick of the 1970 draft.

Otis doing damage against That Team.

Jim Otis' Ohio State career per ohiostatebuckeyes.com:

Jim Otis won All-America and all-Big Ten honors in 1969 when he became the school's first 1,000 yard rusher with 1,027 yards on 219 carries. He was also the team's MVP.

In 1968, Otis helped the Buckeyes to the Big Ten and National Championships with a 10-0 record. He finished his career with 2,542 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns-never losing a yard on 585 carries.

Jim Otis' family history with Ohio State per Wikipedia:

Otis's father, Dr. James John Otis, had been the roommate and best friend of Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes when both men were members of the Sigma Chi fraternity of Denison University in the 1930s. To avoid any appearance of impropriety, Hayes broke off all social contact with the elder Otis during the son's college career. Dr. Otis lived and operated a medical practice in Celina, Ohio.

Otis's son James John Otis II was a star high school quarterback in the St. Louisarea. He was invited to Ohio State in 2001 as a preferred walk-on and lettered in 2003 for special teams play. Jim Otis's other son, Jeff Otis, has been under contract with five NFL teams and is currently a free agent.

Jim Otis currently lives in St. Louis.

EXCERPTS OF ROB OLLER'S INTERVIEW OF JIM OTIS FROM 11-19-2014:

Question: Let’s begin with your best Woody Hayes story, shall we?

Answer: Who is the kid who dropped the ball at Minnesota? (Jalin Marshall). He’s hearing about it (on social media), but I heard about it from Woody at halftime, and it was a lot worse than what this guy is getting. Woody’s parting words to me were, “You’ll never play here again.” That was after I fumbled against Illinois my sophomore year. We went in at halftime and Woody was very upset. He came over three benches to get me. And he got me. But just like anything else, the opportunity arose again and everything was OK. I did miss the next two games because of it, though. That’s why I hardly ever fumbled after that, even in the pros.

Q: Many former players have stories about how generous Woody was. How about you?

A: So many great stories, because we were like a big family. So Woody gives ties out at Christmas time, to each one of us. And one year he went around to different dorms and gave us black, skinny ones. And we all started laughing and he said, “What’s so funny?” I said, “Well, we don’t wear those anymore. We wear wider ties with stripes and different colors.” He went around and picked up all the black ties around campus and came back the next day with the best ties you ever saw. I would hate to be the guy who sold him those black ties. That’s how much Woody cared about us.

[...]

Q: What about your marriage partnership?

A: I’ve been married (to Jan) for 41 years and we have four kids. One is a physical therapist; one an OB/GYN; one (James) is a real estate guy working with me, who played on the 2002 Ohio State national championship team; and the baby, Jeffrey, moved around for two or three years in the NFL and now is with Boston Consulting Group.

[...]

Q: Does it bother you that the fullback has become something of a dinosaur in football?

A: You can bring the tailback up (closer to the line of scrimmage), but when you’re running short yardage, there’s only one way to do that, and a lot don’t know how to do it. You have to start at a certain spot and be able to get to the line of scrimmage very, very quickly. I know a lot of people want to wait for that block, but that doesn’t happen in short yardage. When you’re running fourth-and-1, if you miss that you turn the ball over. You have to make sure you get that one yard and can’t be worried about maybe break out and go. You can’t be real deep. Four feet off the ball. I do like (Ezekiel) Elliott. He has great vision.

For more information on Otis and other players who wore No. 35:

Sources- The Ohio State Team Guide, ohiostatebuckeyes.com, buckeyextra.com and Wikipedia

ALL PLAYERS COVERED TO DATE