TreVeyon Henderson Enters Year Two at Ohio State With High Expectations After Record-Setting Freshman Campaign

Whereas returning quarterback and 2021 Heisman Trophy finalist C.J. Stroud is the headliner on an Ohio State offense set to as soon as once more be one of the crucial harmful the nation, weapons abound for Ryan Day’s unit. 

Chief amongst them is sophomore tailback TreVeyon Henderson after the true freshman lit up defenses – and Ohio State’s file e book – throughout a sterling marketing campaign. 

Henderson, a 5-foot-10, 215 pounder out of Hopewell, Virginia, arrived in Columbus as a five-star expertise and made his presence recognized early, turning into the third early enrollee to shed his black stripe throughout spring camp. 

Even together with his sky-high potential, Henderson was simply the third working again on the sector within the season-opener in opposition to Minnesota behind Miyan Williams and Grasp Teague III. By sport three nonetheless, Henderson was rewarded together with his first profession begin and promptly set Ohio State’s freshman file with 270 speeding yards in a win over Tulsa. This 48-yarder pushed him shut the file: 

And this one put him excessive: 

Henderson would go on to play in all 13 contests and set an Ohio State freshman single-season file with 19 whole touchdowns whereas chewing up the second-most speeding yards (1,248). 

He rushed for greater than 100 yards in three contests whereas posting six video games with not less than 100 mixed speeding and receiving yards because the Buckeyes went 11-2 together with a win over Utah within the Rose Bowl. 

Simply the fifth true freshman to function Ohio State’s beginning tailback over the steadiness of a season, his numbers stacked up favorably to these of his predecessors in Archie Griffin, Robert Smith, Maurice Clarett and J.Ok. Dobbins. 

Now, with yr one within the books, Henderson turns his consideration to besting his freshman output. yr two manufacturing from the likes of Archie, Smith and Dobbins, it is no gimme Henderson will be capable of take his sport to the following stage however there is no doubt he has his head on straight and is targeted on enhancing in all sides. 

Archie set the usual for Ohio State working backs in additional methods than one and notably was the primary true freshman to start out at working again for the Buckeyes. Griffin did so in 1972, the primary season true freshmen have been eligible to play, outdoors of some war-time situations in many years prior. 

Like Henderson after him, Griffin exploded onto the scene with a record-setting sport early in yr one. For Griffin, it was within the schedule’s second contest as he torched North Carolina for a then-school-record 239 speeding yards. This breakout efficiency occurred on the heels of the season-opener wherein he fumbled on his one and solely carry of the afternoon. 

Griffin went on to have a sturdy freshman marketing campaign because the crew’s main rusher regardless of ending second in makes an attempt inside Ohio State’s T-formation assault. He took issues to a distinct stage as a sophomore nonetheless, speeding for 1,577 yards on 6.4 per carry because the I-formation tailback, dusting his 1972 numbers. Griffin’s monster second season set the stage for back-to-back Heisman Trophy wins in 1974 and 1975. 

It wasn’t till 1990 that one other true freshman would begin at tailback as Robert Smith burst onto the scene by means of Euclid, Ohio. 

That includes effortlessly lengthy strides and sprinter velocity, Smith recorded a 39-yard landing run in his collegiate debut and ran for 105 yards the following week. In an in any other case extraordinarily forgettable season (7-4-1), Smith’s lengthy runs popped off the display on the way in which to 1,126 speeding yards and eight touchdowns. 

A falling out with offensive coordinator Elliott Uzelac noticed Smith sit out the 1991 season – attending OSU on a monitor scholarship as an alternative – earlier than returning to John Cooper’s crew forward of the 1992 season. 

Smith’s 1992 season noticed a dip in manufacturing in comparison with his 1990 stats although he nonetheless ran for five.6 yards per carry for an additional common Cooper crew (8-3-1). 

A dozen years after Smith’s record-setting freshman season, Maurice Clarett got here to Columbus to play for newly minted head coach Jim Tressel and set the school soccer world on fireplace. 

Grabbing the eye of teammates in spring ball through a fearless, assured angle and rugged working model, Clarett caught the eyes of the nation with 175 speeding yards and three touchdowns within the season-opener in opposition to Texas Tech. Two weeks later in opposition to No. 10 Washington State, Clarett went for 230 yards on 31 carries with a pair of scores. 

Regardless of nagging accidents, Clarett would finally rush for over 100 yards in seven of 11 video games performed together with 119 in a 14-9 thriller over Michigan, sending OSU to the BCS nationwide championship sport. With the Buckeyes vying for the title, Clarett had simply 47 speeding yards however scored twice and turned within the play of the sport, stripping Miami’s Sean Taylor after Taylor had picked off Craig Krenzel in the long run zone. 

Issues fell other than there sadly, and Clarett by no means performed one other down for the Buckeyes. 

Fifteen years after Clarett’s clutch freshman season, J.Ok. Dobbins arrived in Columbus and delivered 181 speeding yards in his collegiate debut versus Indiana. Dobbins would go on to rack up probably the most single-season speeding yards of any Ohio State freshman through a ridiculous 7.2 yards per carry. 

Dobbins wasn’t fairly as efficient throughout his sophomore season and neither was his offensive line. He nonetheless reached the 1,000-yard plateau however on considerably much less yards per carry as Ohio State’s offense morphed right into a pass-heavy assault driving the rifle connected to Dwayne Haskins’ proper shoulder. 

Simply 4 years after Dobbins began as a pup, Henderson confirmed the velocity and flexibility as a real freshman tailback, becoming completely into Ryan Day’s system. His 312 receiving yards have been greater than double any of his fellow Buckeye beginning freshmen tailbacks and his 6.8 yards per carry trailed solely Dobbins’ 7.2. 

This yr, all indicators level to Henderson’s sophomore season trying extra like Archie’s 1973 marketing campaign, versus backsliding to the various levels realized by Smith and Dobbins. 

As a real freshman, Henderson, regardless of taking part in in each contest, was nicked up once in a while. Success, elevated energy, and a yr of seasoning will hopefully permit Henderson to play a better share of his snaps whereas feeling 100%. 

Mix these elements with defenses having to account for Stroud and what must be a dominant passing sport, even because the Buckeyes change Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, and Henderson must be primed to show in an electrical 2022 season.