1968; The Year that Saved Ohio State Football
by David Hyde
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Book Summary Information
Author: David HydeEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-01
ISBN: 1933197609
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Orange Frazer Pr
Book Reviews of 1968; The Year that Saved Ohio State Football
Book Review: When Woody Rebounded in a Memorable Way
Summary: 5 Stars
The 1966 season was a rough one for the Ohio State Buckeyes and head coach Woody Hayes; a 4-5 record had fans clamoring for a coaching change and some in influential spots wondering about the future of the program.
The head coach since 1951, Hayes last won a Big Ten Conference and national (National Football Writers of America poll) crowns in 1961, as the club finished 8-0-1 overall, but did not play in the Rose Bowl due to the faculty council voting to decline the invitation. It seemed as if that controversy between academics and athletics was a drag on Hayes and the team....and college players aren't the ones who get fired.
A 6-3 record in 1967 was not the type of improvement that was going to buy Hayes many more years to get things turned around. And then came the magic of 1968.
Author David Hyde does a spectacular job with his research, which included interviews with players and coaches to piece together this remarkable era. Hayes retooled his offensive strategy, formed what was arguably one of the best assistant coaching staffs ever in the major college game and looked in earnest outside the Buckeye State for top recruits in the lead-up to '68.
Hyde writes on the hiring of George Chaump, who was brought in to help revamp the offense for 1968: "(He was) hired that winter out of John Harris High School in Harrisburg, Pa., where he had been undefeated the previous three years running a wide-open offense. Dennis Green, who went on to NFL coaching fame, had played for him. So did Jan White. Hayes had visited Harrisburg to recruit Chaump's latest quarterback, Jim Jones, and ended up taking the coach to lunch. It turned into a job interview. Hayes knew, like it or not, he had to upgrade the offense some....Jones signed with Southern Cal after hearing about the quarterback waiting to take over Ohio State, Rex Kern. But Hayes got a recruit that trip, after all. Chaump signed a few weeks later as its quarterback and receivers coach."
Other assistant coaches included Lou Holtz, Earle Bruce, Bill Mallory, Esco Sarkkinen and Hugh Hindman, who - as OSU athletic director - fired Hayes after the fallout from the 1978 Gator Bowl, when Hayes punched a Clemson player during the game.
Hayes is shown as a demanding perfectionist, but crafting what had the potential to be something special. The "Super Sophs" of '68 won the National Championship by going 10-0, outscoring opponents by 323 to 150 and downing a rugged Southern Cal team - led by running back O.J. Simpson - 27-16 in the Rose Bowl.
The names on the championship roster continue to resonate in Buckeye lore - Jim Stillwagon, Jack Tatum, Mark Stier, Larry Zelina, Jim Otis, Kern - with 11 of the players earning All-America honors in their career, with six drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in 1969 or 1971. While a few went on the gridiron glory on Sunday afternoon, others took the lessons learned on the field of play and applied them successfully in the game of life, which is a very interesting section in the book.
The history of this triumph by the Ohio State Buckeyes - while facing incredible odds - is a tremendous read. Hyde captures every angle while delivering a gem for any college football fan's collection.
Summary of 1968; The Year that Saved Ohio State Football
1968 begins in the mens' room of an exclusive Columbus restaurant and ends two years later in The Rose Bowl, an unwitting but flawless metaphor for Ohio State University's rise to the pinnacle of college football. Between these two events occurs one of the great adventure stories in the history of the sport.Against a backdrop of national turmoil and international crises, Coach Wayne Woodrow Hayes uncharacteristically brings into his lagging program new young coaches and an impressive bunch of extraordinary kids, including the first significant number of African-Americans.
There is an irreverent military school lineman who begins the school's lifting program by bringing his own weights, a Brooklyn fullback who can't believe Ohio's open spaces, a running back with New Jersey street-gang cred, and a homegrown quarterback with a bad back and an unassailable talent.
All of them labor under the shadow of Hayes, the promethean figure who would leave an indelible legacy as one of the century's great coaches- sly, mercurial, pugnacious, maddeningly contradictory, a larger-than-life figure who carries the football ambitions of an entire state on his beefy shoulders.
1968 is a rich tapestry of scenes and stories throughout an incandescent season, including some of the best football dialogue ever written. In scene after scene, the raw intensity of an unforgettable season pulls the reader along to its breathless climax in Pasadena when the Super Sophs take on one of college's greatest running backs.
It s a story that has everything- great drama, achievement, colorful characters, and the complex unfolding of Woody Hayes's multifaceted personality.
Near the end of a chaotic decade, the Buckeyes provide a badly needed feel-good lift to an entire state. And just as Woody predicted, they found themselves a large, inextricably bound family, tied forever by the commonalities of blood literally theirs sweat, tears, laughter, and, of course, their near-miraculous season.
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