The Most Wrong-Headed Thing Joel Klatt Has Ever Said on Air

During the broadcast of #3 Ohio State's 49-14 win over Marshall, Fox color analyst Joel Klatt casually observed that Buckeye running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson were "the best duo that Chip Kelly has ever coached."

Judkins and Henderson are certainly very, very good. Sensational even. Against the Thundering Herd they were the ones doing the thundering, combining for 249 yards on 20 carries, each scoring two touchdowns, both averaging over 12 yards a carry. Judkins proved impossible to herd, busting free for an 86-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Henderson's highlight was equally scintillating, patiently working through a crease on the left side for a 40-yard touchdown in the third.

But Klatt's bald declaration smacked of recency bias. The Buckeye duo has dotted the i over Ohio State's first three wins, but it's indefensible to call them the best duo Kelly has ever coached.

The 6-0, 230-pound Judkins began his college career at Ole Miss. In 2.25 seasons he's rushed for 3,061 yards and 36 touchdowns, chipping in 39 pass receptions for 295 yards and three more scores. Henderson, 5-10, 208, has labored for the Scarlet and Gray for 3.25 seasons, racking up 2,952 yards and 36 touchdowns, 52 catches for 587 yards and 5 more TDs.

That's impressive without doubt. The two are so effective in Kelly's loaded offense that they may tote the rock all the way to a national championship. However, they have much work to do to be considered the best running back tandem the rotund New Hampshire native has ever had.

As head coach at Oregon from 2009-2012, Kelly had a pair of rabbit-quick running backs named LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner.

In three seasons as a Duck LMJ blew by PAC-12 defenses for 5,082 yards, 53 touchdowns, 6.6 yards a carry. He grabbed 51 passes for 586 yards and 4 TDs.

Barner played 49 games over four seasons at UO, piling up 3,623 yards, 41 touchdowns, 6.2 yards a carry, 54 catches for 591 yards and 7 TDs. He holds the all-time single-game rushing record at Oregon, 321 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 2012 game against USC in The Coliseum, a 62-51 Webfoot victory. In addition Barner accounted for 1371 yards in kick returns, 263 yards returning punts, with a 100-yard kickoff return at UCLA as a freshman, an 80-yard punt return TD at Tennessee as a sophomore.

Barner went on to a 9-year career in the NFL and earned three Super Bowl rings. James was a Unanimous All-American in 2010, a first-team All-American in 2011 and won the Doak Walker Award in 2010, picked in the second round by the 49ers in 2012. Barner was a Consensus All-American in 2012; chosen in the 6th round by the Carolina Panthers.

What makes Klatt's kvetch even more egregious is that the Oregon duo was actually a trio: Kelly's Duck backfield also featured a human highlight film named De'Anthony Thomas.

At Ohio State, Henderson and Judkins are certainly imposing and talented-- the two are likely to make a bigger splash at the next level because they are bigger backs than the Oregon trio. James, Barner and Thomas were all more speed and shiftiness than power, though James and Barner could get hard yards when necessary. Judkins is a beast that's averaged 5.3 yards a carry over his career, a full yard less than the Ducks' hurry-up jackrabbits. At 6.3 yards a carry, Henderson matches them in that stat.

Klatt would have been more judicious to give credit to the present without slighting the past. While Oregon fans can't relish the prospect of facing the Buckeyes talented backfield rotation, it's not like they've never seen its equal. The year before James and Barner got to campus, then-Duck offensive coordinator Chip Kelly had a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Jeremiah Johnson (1201 yards, 7.1, 13 TDs) and LeGarrette Blount (1002 yards, 7.3, 17 TDs.) In 2007 at Washington, the Oregon backfield of Jonathan Stewart, Andre Crenshaw and Dennis Dixon rolled up 465 yards and 6 touchdowns in one game.

Three easy wins over Akron, Western Michigan and Marshall do not make a season. As good as they are, the Buckeye twosome has work yet to do to rival that output.