Dennis Franklin was the first black Quarterback in the history of Michigan football. Cornelius Greene was the first black Quarterback in the history of Ohio State football. They met up in 1973 in a game that featured two black starting Quarterbacks for the first time in NCAA Division 1 history.
But, this game was really more important than just that.
1973 was an unusual season. I wrote about that season and it’s controversial championship here: 1973
There were a number of undefeated teams in 1973 and if Ohio State, or Michigan, had won this game one of them could have been national champions.
Dennis Franklin grew up in the famous community of Massillon, Ohio. It’s famous, that is, if you are a huge football fan. The list of college and NFL players that came from Massillon is long and the talent runs deep. Paul Brown, that the Cleveland Browns are named after coached at Massillon once.
Ohio high school football players tend to wind up at Ohio State. But, there are exceptions like Dennis Franklin. The Buckeyes recruited Franklin and some teammates, but he was just not interested.
Franklin signed with the one school that would infuriate Woody Hayes and the Ohio State Buckeyes the most, Michigan.
The year he signed with Michigan was 1971 which was the last year that freshmen were not eligible to play on the varsity.
In 1972, Dennis Franklin became the first black Quarterback to start for the Michigan Wolverines.
Franklin never put up huge numbers in the passing game because the Wolverines under Bo Schembechler were a power running team. Franklin led his team to a 10-1 record in 1972 losing only in a tight game with rival Ohio State.
He passed for 818 yards during his sophomore season and 6 Touchdowns. He also ran for 497 yards and 3 more Touchdowns. Those weren’t particularly impressive statistics, but those were the times.
Cornelius Greene came to Ohio State from the mean streets of Washington DC. He played at Dunbar High School and was famous for being smooth and slick on the gridiron.
He was a gifted athlete, a leader and his teammates loved him.
He signed with Ohio State in the Spring of 1972 in the same recruiting class as Buckeye legend, Archie Griffin. Freshmen were eligible for the first time that season and Griffin started right away, but Greene had to wait.
Ohio State Buckeye coach Woody Hayes elected to go with junior Quarterback Greg Hare and bring Greene along slowly.
As a sophomore in 1973, Hayes benched Hare in favor of Cornelius Greene. He then became the first ever black Quarterback at Ohio State just one year after the Michigan Wolverines did the same.
Michigan cruised through the 1973 season with 10 straight wins. The only close game they had all season was against Illinois when they won by only 21-6. They blew out everyone else they played that season.
Dennis Franklin was running the Wolverines offense to perfection and his job was mostly to hand off to any number of Michigan Running Backs.
The same situation was taking place down in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes led by sophomore Cornelius Greene, were also rolling along and just demolishing everyone they faced in 1973. Greene only threw for 343 yards the entire season, but he ran for 720 yards and 12 Touchdowns. The offensive star for the Buckeyes was sophomore Archie Griffin who ran for 1,577 yards and 12 Touchdowns setting himself up for the next two seasons and the Heisman Trophy.
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Fullback Bruce Elia ran for 429 yards and 14 Touchdowns.
But, the Buckeyes defense was incredible giving up 20 points in the first 8 games and then they gave up a season high 13 points against Iowa. This was a good team with a really good defense.
The 9-0 Ohio State Buckeyes traveled north to take on the 10-0 Michigan Wolverines. The Buckeyes were ranked #1 and the Wolverines were #4.
Most fans would more than likely find this game a bore fest, but as a fan of great defense it was a pleasure to watch.
Ohio State scored the first 10 points to lead at halftime 10-0. But, the Michigan defense held them scoreless in the second half while the Wolverines were able to score 10 4th quarter points to tie the game. With 2:33 remaining in the game, Michigan Quarterback Dennis Franklin broke his collarbone which would be hugely important later on to both of these schools.
There was no Overtime in those years and the game ended in a tie. After the tie, Ohio State was 9-0-1 and they lost their top ranking dropping to #4.
The Big 10 had some strange rules back in the day. Only the Big 10 champion was allowed to go to a bowl game, the other teams stayed home and it didn’t matter how good they were.
Only Ohio State or Michigan could go to the Rose Bowl and the other would be home for the
holidays.
In one of the more controversial events in college football history, the Big 10 Athletic Directors voted on who would represent the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl.
They chose Ohio State and Michigan’s Bo Schembechler was angry about that decision for the rest of his life.
Tying Michigan destroyed Ohio State’s national title hopes and undefeated Alabama and Notre Dame passed them in the Polls and they met in the Sugar Bowl to determine the national title. Notre Dame beat Alabama in a famous thriller of a game.
Ohio State crushed USC in the Rose Bowl and they may have been the best team in the nation that season, but the tie did cost them dearly.
Dennis Franklin started for 3 seasons for the Wolverines and led them to a 30-2-1 record. Franklin was drafted by the Detroit Lions as a Wide Receiver, but only played in a few games before his career was over.
Cornelius Greene also started for 3 seasons. The Buckeyes were 31-3-1 during his years as a starter.
After Ohio State, Greene played in the Canadian Football League.
They were both exciting players to watch right in the middle of the famous 10 Year War.