Mike Weber agonized over whether he wanted to leave Ohio State after the Cotton Bowl but chose to return after hearing what he needed to hear from Ohio State's coaches about next year's offense. Ohio State's starting quarterback will, in all likelihood, be less of a rushing option than J.T. Barrett was.
That will spread out more carries for both Ohio State's tailbacks and afford them an opportunity to place themselves in rare company in Ohio State's record books. There have been only eight seasons since World War II ended in which Ohio State had two tailbacks each rush for over 700 yards. It last happened 20 years ago when Michael Wiley and Joe Montgomery had 1,235 and 766 rushing yards, respectively.
It first happened in 1956 when Don Clark and James Roseboro each eked out 700-plus rushing yards. Ohio State's offense in 1956 bears little resemblance to a modern offense. Frank Ellwood was the starting quarterback despite throwing just 20 passes all season. James Roseboro, nominally the team's No. 2 halfback, was also the second-leading passer on an offense that averaged around five attempts a game (and about one completion per contest). Still, Don Clark and James Roseboro were a formidable backfield for a team that finished 6-3 and were the first tandem of any kind since 1945 to each rush for over 700 yards in a season.
It would take 14 years before it happened again, yet that 1970 season would start a stretch in which it happened four times in seven seasons coinciding with the height of Woody Hayes 1970s dominance. Woody Hayes found a winning formula at this time. A star tailback would do most of the work getting the ball to the red zone and a star fullback would do most of the work getting the ball to the end zone.
The 1970 team was a senior-laden squad that finished the regular season undefeated with an offense propelled by two first-round NFL draft picks. John Brockington, the team's fullback, led all rushers with 1,142 yards and 17 touchdowns. Leo Hayden, the team's halfback, complemented him with 767 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
| Season | Back | Yards | Attempts | Avg | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Don Clark | 797 | 139 | 5.7 | 7 |
| 1956 | James Roseboro | 712 | 152 | 4.7 | 5 |
| 1970 | John Brockington | 1142 | 261 | 4.4 | 17 |
| 1970 | Leo Hayden | 767 | 132 | 5.8 | 3 |
| 1972 | Archie Griffin | 867 | 159 | 5.5 | 3 |
| 1972 | Champ Henson | 795 | 193 | 4.1 | 20 |
| 1975 | Archie Griffin | 1450 | 262 | 5.5 | 4 |
| 1975 | Pete Johnson | 1059 | 227 | 4.7 | 25 |
| 1976 | Jeff Logan | 1248 | 218 | 5.7 | 6 |
| 1976 | Pete Johnson | 724 | 186 | 3.9 | 19 |
| 1981 | Tim Spencer | 1217 | 226 | 5.4 | 12 |
| 1981 | Jim Gayle | 732 | 153 | 4.8 | 9 |
| 1989 | Carlos Snow | 990 | 190 | 5.2 | 11 |
| 1989 | Scottie Graham | 977 | 183 | 5.3 | 10 |
| 1998 | Michael Wiley | 1235 | 198 | 6.2 | 10 |
| 1998 | Joe Montgomery | 766 | 118 | 6.5 | 7 |
The next two seasons to have this feat involved Archie Griffin, who led the Buckeyes in rushing for all his four seasons in uniform. He led the Buckeyes with 867 rushing yards as a true freshman, largely getting the Buckeyes from midfield to scoring position. Champ Henson did the work from there, scoring 20 touchdowns to go with his 795 rushing yards in 1972.
The 1975 season may have featured Ohio State's best-ever offensive team. Both Archie Griffin and Pete Johnson topped the 1,000-yard mark with Griffin doing most of his damage getting to the red zone and Pete Johnson doing most of the work from there. This is the only season in Ohio State football history in which two tailbacks rushed for over 1,000 yards.
Griffin's departure did not stop Ohio State from duplicating most of what made the mid-1970s Buckeyes great. Jeff Logan, Griffin's backup for his last two years, led the Buckeyes with 1,248 rushing yards while Pete Johnson added 724 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. That Ohio State was able to duplicate this feat is all the more impressive in hindsight given Pete Johnson's injury issues that year.
The 1976 season may have been the last hurrah for Ohio State's mid-1970s dominance as one of college football's premier rushing offenses. Since then, Ohio State has had three seasons in the past 41 years in which two tailbacks rushed for over 700 yards. None of these three seasons share many features with what produced the kind of rushing attacks Ohio State had in the 1970s.
Tim Spencer led the 1981 Buckeyes with 1,217 rushing yards, which was second most of all backs in the Big Ten. Jim Gayle added 732 rushing yards and nine touchdowns that same season. Yet, Ohio State was not necessarily a juggernaut in 1981 and the offense leaned heavily on a senior Art Schlichter throwing to one of the Big Ten's best offensive weapons, Gary Williams.
This feat next happened in 1989 in which Carlos Snow and Scottie Graham rushed for 990 yards and 977 yards, respectively. Both almost hit the 1,000-yard mark and the difference between the two top rushers among those in this list was the closet ever, beating the 82-yard difference between Griffin and Henson in 1972 and 85-yard difference between Clark and Roseboro in 1956. However, Ohio State was not a great team in 1989 either, finishing 8-4.
The 1998 season stands out on this list as best approximating the most optimal and plausible path to which Dobbins and Weber could appear in Ohio State's record books on this metric. Michael Wiley was a versatile tailback and plausible receiving threat while Joe Montgomery, his backup, was a fire hydrant of a tailback that could be situationally explosive.
This dynamic helped propel one of the country's best teams to a Big Ten championship and a Sugar Bowl win over the Big XII champion Texas A&M Aggies. This does well to capture the dynamic between Dobbins and Weber and approximates the kind of season both had in 2017.
Mike Weber returned after hearing what he needed to hear from Ohio State's coaches. A new offense will allow for more carries for Weber, even as he knows he'll split a lot of time with J.K. Dobbins. Both will try to make history as only the ninth halfback tandem to each rush for over 700 yards, a feat that hasn't happened since 1998.
An even more remarkable feat would see Dobbins and Weber each hit the 1,000-yard mark, which has happened only once in program history. A starting quarterback like Dwayne Haskins, who is less a threat to run the ball, can help Dobbins and Weber achieve this rare feat in 2018.
