Did Troy have Orlando Pace blocking for him?
Just checking.
One of the biggest NFL decision mistakes ever was the RB who followed George.
Pace was a three-year player from 1994-1996. I don't know if this is true but I read once that in three years starting on the tOSU O-line, Orlando Pace Never gave up a sack. It might be true, he was that good.
So funny little Eddie George story. This was pre NIL of course so college football players weren't supposed to be getting paid at all and even if they were getting cash it had to be kept to a minimal level so as to not be too obvious. Anyway, Eddie's last year at tOSU was 1995 when he won the heismann. That year during the SuperBowl Eddie appeared in an AD for some painkiller. It was a cute ad. It had a bunch of NFL guys and Eddie and basically was saying "you'll need this once you get here, rookie".
The day after the Super Bowl I was walking down High Street headed for a class when a HUMONGOUS and BRAND NEW Land Rover approached on one of the side streets. Eddie George was driving.
Back to the story:
Pretty much the entire tOSU O-line from 1995 returned for 1996 and Ohio State's leading rusher was a guy named Pepe Pearson who carried 286 times for 1,373 yards (4.8 avg). The thing is that any of us could probably have averaged at least 3 yards because following Orlando Pace isn't all that complicated. The 1996 tOSU O-line was THAT good.
Pearson opted NOT to go to the NFL after the 1996 season and probably still regrets it. His 1997 season was a dropoff. He didn't get worse but he lost his starting QB and most of his line.
Now to get to
@FearlessF 's point, in 1995 Eddie rushed 303 times for 1,826 yards (6.0 avg) so I think that was a LOT better than Pearson's 4.8 avg a year later. It is an even bigger difference when you consider that Pearson's O-line was a year older and BETTER than the line that blocked for George in 1995. Eddie's extra 1.2 yards per carry is a BIG difference.
The extra ppg in 1996, to address
@betarhoalphadelta 's point, were mostly because tOSU had a LOT more short fields due to the 1996 defense being stifling. The passing and rushing stats were around the same or worse.