Now that the former Heisman Trophy winner is coaching in the Buckeye State, it’s worth remembering his time as a player.
On March 9, former Ohio State running back Eddie George was named head coach at Bowling Green, signing a five-year deal to lead the Falcons after a successful stint at Tennessee State. With the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner and unanimous All-American set to return to the Buckeye State as a coach, it’s the perfect time to look back on his time in Columbus as a player at Ohio State.
After all, it’s been three decades — it hurts me just to type that part — since George etched his name in college football history. Most of today’s OSU seniors weren’t even born yet when George played. They weren’t around for to take part in the chants of “EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!”, so a little history lesson is not only in order, but also fun.
Here are some of the greatest games in the OSU playing career of Edward Nathan George, Jr.
Sept. 30, 1995 vs. No. 15 Notre Dame
Although George rushed for more yards in 1994 at Michigan State than he did in this game, I’m putting this one in my top three for a couple of reasons. First, that 1994 Spartans team was bad, going just 4-4-0 in Big Ten play before forfeiting all wins that season after investigations into the football program. Eddie ran for 219 yards and two touchdowns — including a 76-yarder — on Oct. 15, 1994 to lead the Buckeyes to a 23-7 road win.
The second reason I’ve got this game above that MSU road contest is because I was at this game, which featured an insane amount of hype because the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish hadn’t played in a long time. It had been 60 years since Notre Dame had last played in Ohio Stadium, and it was a tough ticket to get. A then-record crowd of 95,537 were on hand in the Shoe to see John Cooper’s Buckeyes face Lou Holtz’s Fighting Irish, who took an early two-score lead at 10-0.
While the big plays were mostly limited to the OSU defene taking the ball away and Bobby Hoying’s passing to Terry Glenn, George had one of his own on a 61-yard run. Other than that, he was a steady beast, carrying 32 times for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns, leading a 31-9 second half, en route to a convincing 45-26 win over Notre Dame. He also caught three passes for 22 yards.
Sept. 16, 1995 vs. No. 18 Washington
George’s third-most rushing yards in a game came against a ranked Washington Huskies team at home during his 1995 Heisman Trophy-winning season. Ohio State took care of business against the Huskies that day, racing out to a 30-7 lead before giving up a couple of late cosmetic scores.
Along the way, George was his usual dominant self, rushing 36 times for 212 yards to become the first back in school history to hit the 200-yard mark three times in his career. George figured in the scoring with a pair of touchdown runs. His 7-yard scoring run in the second quarter put the Buckeyes ahead 23-7, and he added a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter to push Ohio State’s lead to 23 points at 30-7.
His longest run of the game went for 51 yards. That run in the second quarter set up his first touchdown of the day. [Check the video below at the 1:04:00 mark to see Eddie gash the Huskies and then score a few plays later]
Nov. 11, 1995 vs. Illinois
While Illinois wasn’t the best opponent on Ohio State’s schedule, the Fighting Illini were a bit of a bogeyman team for the Buckeyes at times in those days. They were difficult to play in their wind tunnel of a stadium, and the teams battled annually for the Illibuck Trophy, taking that trophy game seriously.
Ohio State had lost the 1994 home meeting — a quirk of the schedule putting the matchup in Columbus two straight years — meaning the Buckeyes hadn’t beaten the Illini at home in Eddie’s career.
George had his own personal complicated history with Illinois, having fumbled twice deep in the red zone during his freshman season. The Illini’s Jeff Arneson returned the first of those fumbles 96 yards for a touchdown. The second came at the 1-yard line late in the game with the Buckeyes up by one point. Illinois drove down the field for the winning field goal, edging Ohio State 18-16. George was hardly used the rest of that season.
Eddie got his revenge in 1995, setting a school record with 314 rushing yards, a mark that stood until the 2020 Big Ten Championship Game, when Trey Sermon went for 331 against Northwestern. George was on a mission that day against Illinois, carrying 36 times, averaging 8.7 yards per attempt, and scoring two rushing touchdowns (along with the aforementioned 314 yards).
His two scoring runs covered 64 yards and 13 yards — both in the third quarter. Eddie also caught a team-high four passes for 32 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown near the end of the third quarter. That gave George three consecutive Buckeye touchdowns in the third quarter to help Ohio State blow out Illinois 41-3.
Eddie’s legacy is carved in stone at Ohio State. A Heisman Trophy and a tree in Buckeye Grove followed a 1995 season that saw him rush for a school-record 1,927 yards on 328 attempts, scoring 24 touchdowns. He averaged 148 yards per game and 5.88 yards per carry. He also caught 47 passes in 1995 for 417 yards and the one touchdown against Illinois.
Although J.K. Dobbins beat his single-season school record in 2019, George’s 1,927 yards is still the second best rushing season in Ohio State lore. George is still tied for the school record for most 200-yard rushing games in a season (3) and a career (5) with Ezekiel Elliott. His 12 consecutive 100-yard games in 1995 is the most in one season and the third-most consecutive times hitting the century mark in an OSU career.
He rushed for at least 100 yards 20 times in his college career, which is third most in school history behind Archie Griffin and Elliott. Only Griffin, Dobbins, and Elliott have amassed more career rushing yards than Eddie’s 3,768.
Whether George ends up being a successful coach at Bowling Green or not, his place as an elite running back — both at Ohio State and in the NFL — is unquestionable.