University of North Carolina Athletics
Alan Caldwell and the Tar Heels faced Archie Griffin and Ohio State in 1975.
GoHeels Exclusive: Facing A Heisman Winner
September 9, 2017 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
When the North Carolina football team takes the field for Saturday's home game against No. 17 Louisville, it will face a challenge it hasn't come across in four decades.
The Cardinals will arrive in Kenan Stadium led by quarterback Lamar Jackson, who set numerous Atlantic Coast Conference records last season on his way to earning the Heisman Trophy. And as the Tar Heels have learned, a chance to knock off the reigning recipient of college football's most prestigious award doesn't come often.
The last time UNC played a reigning Heisman came 42 years ago, when the 1975 team took on running back Archie Griffin and Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.
"It's not every day or every year you say, 'Oh, I went against and played against a Heisman Trophy winner,'" M.J. Stewart said. "It may be a once-in-a-lifetime thing."
And for members of the 1975 team, the game against Griffin and the Buckeyes is a memory they still hold on to.
Prepping for the Buckeyes
In the 1970s, recruiting services weren't nearly as prominent as they are now. And when it came to non-conference games, teams knew even less about the players their opponents recruited.
Thus, Griffin, then a freshman playing in just his second college game, was an unfamiliar name to the Tar Heels when they visited Columbus during the 1972 season. That wasn't the case when they left.
Griffin finished with 239 rushing yards, then an Ohio State single-game record, in a 29-14 victory. From there, he registered 1,577 rushing yards as a sophomore and 1,695 as a junior, when he won the 1974 Heisman.
So as UNC prepared to face Griffin once again in 1975, players and coaches knew what to expect.
"Leading up to (the 1975) game, a lot of the conversation was, 'Hey, at least he won't surprise us this time,'" said linebackers coach Al Groh, now a college football analyst for ESPN. "We certainly were well aware of him and our players were very tuned in to the challenge of, 'Let's try to make this better than it was last time.'"
Hours of film time were spent preparing for not only Griffin, but quarterback Cornelius Greene and fullback Pete Johnson. Extra emphasis was placed on gang-tackling, especially when it came to Griffin and Johnson.
"You could tell he had heart," said defensive tackle Rod Broadway, now the head coach at North Carolina A&T, of Griffin. "He wasn't overpowering physically, but he was unbelievably competitive and he could change directions and get behind his pads. He made people miss, and when he had to, he got physical."
The prospect of facing the Buckeyes' backfield was somewhat intimidating, said defensive tackle Brian Hughes, who started with Broadway sidelined because of an injury. As was playing in Ohio Stadium, which then boasted a capacity of 83,112 seats. Kenan Stadium held 48,000.
The Tar Heels went through a walkthrough inside Ohio Stadium the day before the game. Phil Ragazzo, a center who traveled with the team as the second-team deep snapper, said he and his teammates marveled more at the stadium's height than its overall size.
"After practice was over, we went up to see what the field looked like from the last row," said Ragazzo, who was joined by about five other teammates. "So we went up to the upper deck, got up to the upper part and looked down, and I can remember thinking the field looked like a postage stamp."
Ragazzo said he and his teammates couldn't fathom the idea of fans filling the stadium. But when UNC took the field that Saturday, not a single seat appeared to be empty.
"It took us about two and a half minutes to come out, probably less than that," said center Mark Cantrell. "And it took them about four days because they dressed out about 120 of 'em. They put 'em on benches behind the bench."
"They were pretty relaxed during their warmups," said fullback Brian Smith. "It was almost like they were having a backyard game and were just fairly relaxed and taking some things for granted."
'Taking care of business'
Following wins over No. 11 Michigan State and No. 7 Penn State, Ohio State entered the game against the unranked Tar Heels as the No. 2 team in the country. But UNC held its own, at least early on.
The Buckeyes possessed a significant size advantage. But multiple Tar Heels said they weren't in awe of the opposition – which Cantrell remembers defensive end Bill Perdue conveying when he tackled Griffin for a loss at one point in the first half.
"He picked him up with one arm and threw him to the turf," said Cantrell of Perdue, "and then grabbed the front of his jersey and started pulling on him like, 'Don't you come back my way, don't you come back my way.' I was like, 'Good God, he's going to get thrown out.'"
UNC's offense only tallied 41 total yards in the first half. However, the defense kept the team in the game.
Johnson scored a touchdown on each of Ohio State's final two drives of the half. And after a missed extra point and failed two-point conversion by the Buckeyes, the Tar Heels trailed 12-0 at halftime.
"For us to be down 12-0 at the half," said safety Alan Caldwell, "that was a pretty big achievement for us given the caliber of team we were playing."
The start of the second half encouraged the UNC sideline even more. On the half's opening possession, quarterback Billy Paschall and running back James Betterson helped the offense pick up five first downs, the same amount it had in the entire first half.
Celebrating his 21st birthday, Smith capped the 80-yard drive with his first and only career touchdown – a 7-yard reception that cut Ohio State's lead to 12-7. It also marked the first touchdown the Buckeyes surrendered on the season.
"I was like, 'Holy s---, I just scored a touchdown against Ohio State,'" Smith said. "It was taking care of business. I didn't really stop and take in the moment."
"You could hear a pin drop," Caldwell said. "But then, (Ohio State coach) Woody (Hayes) said, 'Enough with this. We're going smash-mouth.'"
Not just Archie
After Smith's touchdown, the Buckeyes quickly responded with seven straight running plays on the ensuing possession, which concluded with Johnson's third touchdown of the game.
The Tar Heels' defense kept Ohio State from scoring for the rest of the third quarter. But by the time the fourth began, the unit was worn down, specifically because of Johnson, Ohio State's 6-foot-1, 246-pound bruising fullback.
"I can remember holding my hands out and trying to get in my mind an idea of how big his legs were," said Ragazzo, who was listed at 6-foot-4 and 224 pounds that season, of Johnson. "They were literally twice the size of my legs, and I was not a small guy. This guy looked like he had pads, on pads, on pads, and he was just a beast."
"We really hadn't seen a back quite that big and as fast as he was," Caldwell said. "On film, he didn't look that fast. But when you saw him in person, he was moving at a pretty good clip."
The Buckeyes pulled away for a 32-7 win after Johnson scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. He finished with 148 rushing yards on 26 carries, and his 30 points and five touchdowns scored remain the most allowed to an opposing player in UNC history.
Griffin also found success. He carried the ball 22 times for 157 yards. Already the leading rusher in Ohio State history, his performance helped him become, at the time, the program's all-time leader in total offense.
But Johnson's outburst is what most Tar Heels remember.
"No disrespect to Archie," Hughes said. "But anybody who thinks Archie was the only thing Ohio State had going for them, it wasn't just him."
Griffin finished the 1975 season with 1,450 rushing yards and secured his second straight Heisman. He's still the only two-time winner of the award. He then went on to be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 24th overall pick of the 1976 NFL Draft and to rush for 2,808 yards and seven touchdowns across seven seasons.
"I never got to see him up in person, I don't even know if I shook his hand after the game or anything like that," Cantrell said. "But I followed his career, and I always tell people, 'I played against that guy in 1975. He's doing pretty well for himself.'"
When the North Carolina football team takes the field for Saturday's home game against No. 17 Louisville, it will face a challenge it hasn't come across in four decades.
The Cardinals will arrive in Kenan Stadium led by quarterback Lamar Jackson, who set numerous Atlantic Coast Conference records last season on his way to earning the Heisman Trophy. And as the Tar Heels have learned, a chance to knock off the reigning recipient of college football's most prestigious award doesn't come often.
The last time UNC played a reigning Heisman came 42 years ago, when the 1975 team took on running back Archie Griffin and Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.
"It's not every day or every year you say, 'Oh, I went against and played against a Heisman Trophy winner,'" M.J. Stewart said. "It may be a once-in-a-lifetime thing."
And for members of the 1975 team, the game against Griffin and the Buckeyes is a memory they still hold on to.
Prepping for the Buckeyes
In the 1970s, recruiting services weren't nearly as prominent as they are now. And when it came to non-conference games, teams knew even less about the players their opponents recruited.
Thus, Griffin, then a freshman playing in just his second college game, was an unfamiliar name to the Tar Heels when they visited Columbus during the 1972 season. That wasn't the case when they left.
Griffin finished with 239 rushing yards, then an Ohio State single-game record, in a 29-14 victory. From there, he registered 1,577 rushing yards as a sophomore and 1,695 as a junior, when he won the 1974 Heisman.
So as UNC prepared to face Griffin once again in 1975, players and coaches knew what to expect.
"Leading up to (the 1975) game, a lot of the conversation was, 'Hey, at least he won't surprise us this time,'" said linebackers coach Al Groh, now a college football analyst for ESPN. "We certainly were well aware of him and our players were very tuned in to the challenge of, 'Let's try to make this better than it was last time.'"
Hours of film time were spent preparing for not only Griffin, but quarterback Cornelius Greene and fullback Pete Johnson. Extra emphasis was placed on gang-tackling, especially when it came to Griffin and Johnson.
"You could tell he had heart," said defensive tackle Rod Broadway, now the head coach at North Carolina A&T, of Griffin. "He wasn't overpowering physically, but he was unbelievably competitive and he could change directions and get behind his pads. He made people miss, and when he had to, he got physical."
The prospect of facing the Buckeyes' backfield was somewhat intimidating, said defensive tackle Brian Hughes, who started with Broadway sidelined because of an injury. As was playing in Ohio Stadium, which then boasted a capacity of 83,112 seats. Kenan Stadium held 48,000.
The Tar Heels went through a walkthrough inside Ohio Stadium the day before the game. Phil Ragazzo, a center who traveled with the team as the second-team deep snapper, said he and his teammates marveled more at the stadium's height than its overall size.
"After practice was over, we went up to see what the field looked like from the last row," said Ragazzo, who was joined by about five other teammates. "So we went up to the upper deck, got up to the upper part and looked down, and I can remember thinking the field looked like a postage stamp."
Ragazzo said he and his teammates couldn't fathom the idea of fans filling the stadium. But when UNC took the field that Saturday, not a single seat appeared to be empty.
"It took us about two and a half minutes to come out, probably less than that," said center Mark Cantrell. "And it took them about four days because they dressed out about 120 of 'em. They put 'em on benches behind the bench."
"They were pretty relaxed during their warmups," said fullback Brian Smith. "It was almost like they were having a backyard game and were just fairly relaxed and taking some things for granted."
'Taking care of business'
Following wins over No. 11 Michigan State and No. 7 Penn State, Ohio State entered the game against the unranked Tar Heels as the No. 2 team in the country. But UNC held its own, at least early on.
The Buckeyes possessed a significant size advantage. But multiple Tar Heels said they weren't in awe of the opposition – which Cantrell remembers defensive end Bill Perdue conveying when he tackled Griffin for a loss at one point in the first half.
"He picked him up with one arm and threw him to the turf," said Cantrell of Perdue, "and then grabbed the front of his jersey and started pulling on him like, 'Don't you come back my way, don't you come back my way.' I was like, 'Good God, he's going to get thrown out.'"
UNC's offense only tallied 41 total yards in the first half. However, the defense kept the team in the game.
Johnson scored a touchdown on each of Ohio State's final two drives of the half. And after a missed extra point and failed two-point conversion by the Buckeyes, the Tar Heels trailed 12-0 at halftime.
"For us to be down 12-0 at the half," said safety Alan Caldwell, "that was a pretty big achievement for us given the caliber of team we were playing."
The start of the second half encouraged the UNC sideline even more. On the half's opening possession, quarterback Billy Paschall and running back James Betterson helped the offense pick up five first downs, the same amount it had in the entire first half.
Celebrating his 21st birthday, Smith capped the 80-yard drive with his first and only career touchdown – a 7-yard reception that cut Ohio State's lead to 12-7. It also marked the first touchdown the Buckeyes surrendered on the season.
"I was like, 'Holy s---, I just scored a touchdown against Ohio State,'" Smith said. "It was taking care of business. I didn't really stop and take in the moment."
"You could hear a pin drop," Caldwell said. "But then, (Ohio State coach) Woody (Hayes) said, 'Enough with this. We're going smash-mouth.'"
Not just Archie
After Smith's touchdown, the Buckeyes quickly responded with seven straight running plays on the ensuing possession, which concluded with Johnson's third touchdown of the game.
The Tar Heels' defense kept Ohio State from scoring for the rest of the third quarter. But by the time the fourth began, the unit was worn down, specifically because of Johnson, Ohio State's 6-foot-1, 246-pound bruising fullback.
"I can remember holding my hands out and trying to get in my mind an idea of how big his legs were," said Ragazzo, who was listed at 6-foot-4 and 224 pounds that season, of Johnson. "They were literally twice the size of my legs, and I was not a small guy. This guy looked like he had pads, on pads, on pads, and he was just a beast."
"We really hadn't seen a back quite that big and as fast as he was," Caldwell said. "On film, he didn't look that fast. But when you saw him in person, he was moving at a pretty good clip."
The Buckeyes pulled away for a 32-7 win after Johnson scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. He finished with 148 rushing yards on 26 carries, and his 30 points and five touchdowns scored remain the most allowed to an opposing player in UNC history.
Griffin also found success. He carried the ball 22 times for 157 yards. Already the leading rusher in Ohio State history, his performance helped him become, at the time, the program's all-time leader in total offense.
But Johnson's outburst is what most Tar Heels remember.
"No disrespect to Archie," Hughes said. "But anybody who thinks Archie was the only thing Ohio State had going for them, it wasn't just him."
Griffin finished the 1975 season with 1,450 rushing yards and secured his second straight Heisman. He's still the only two-time winner of the award. He then went on to be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 24th overall pick of the 1976 NFL Draft and to rush for 2,808 yards and seven touchdowns across seven seasons.
"I never got to see him up in person, I don't even know if I shook his hand after the game or anything like that," Cantrell said. "But I followed his career, and I always tell people, 'I played against that guy in 1975. He's doing pretty well for himself.'"
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