22 Days until kickoff, Woody Green remains the pinnacle for Sun Devil running backs

Our last check in on the countdown focused on the longest tenured player in Sun Devil history, Chase Lucas. With 22 days until the season kicks off on August 30th, we turn our focus back to the offense and to a player who IS the bar when it comes to Sun Devil running backs, Woody Green.

Hailing from Jefferson High School in Portland OR, Woody made the trip to the warmer climate of Arizona in 1970 to play under Frank Kush, who's rise to legendary status was just starting. After not playing in his freshman season, he announced his presence with authority early in 1971, rushing for 214 yards in the second game of the season against Utah which was good for the 6th-best single game performance in program history at the time.

Playing in Kush's run-first offense proved to be a perfect match for Green's hard-nosed running style, as he would finish the season with an incredible 1,310 rushing yards (3rd-highest total in program history at the time), adding 12 rushing touchdowns. He was a no-brainer choice for First-Team All-WAC, also earning honorable mention All-American honors from UPI and the Associated Press.

Unwilling to settle for being third-best, Woody exceeded his outstanding sophomore campaign in impressive style, blowing past Whizzer White's 22-year old record by rushing for 1,565 yards (since broken), setting another program record with 19 rushing touchdowns.

He had six games rushing for at least 150 yards, with his best game coming in the 1972 Fiesta Bowl when he ran for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns en route to a 49-35 win over Missouri, taking home Fiesta Bowl offensive MVP honors in the process.

Green's record-setting season earned him All-WAC honors for the second straight season, but also made him the second consensus All-American in program history after Ron Pritchard.

Returning for his senior season, Green led the Sun Devils rushing attack for a third straight season, tallying 1,310 yards and 12 touchdowns, finishing his career with still-standing records of 4,188 yards and 39 rushing touchdowns. In fact, no other Sun Devil has come within 600 yards of his career mark, a testament to both Kush's rushing strategy and Green's running style.

The All-WAC and consensus All-American honors seemed old hat at this point for Woody, but he added one more accolade to his incredible career, finishing 8th in the voting for the Heisman Award in 1973, ultimately won by another senior running back, John Cappelletti of Penn State.

Woody was not simply a one-dimensional running back, showing that he could catch passes out of the backfield in a run-heavy offense. He recorded 35 catches for 537 yards and 9 receiving touchdowns, giving him another Sun Devil record of 48 total touchdowns.

Green still sits at or near the top of many categories in the Sun Devil record books, some of his other records including most career 100-yard rushing games (21), most 200+ yard games in a season and career (3, shared with Whizzer White), and highest career rushing YPG average (126.9). These many accolades made Woody an obvious inclusion for the inaugural Sun Devil Hall of Fame Class of 1975, having been previously inducted into the Portland Interscholastic League Hall of Fame in 1970.

Woody was drafted in the 1st round (16th overall) in the 1974 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, enjoying a dynamic but injury shortened career as a professional. In 28 games (24 starts) over three seasons, Woody recorded 1,442 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns before multiple knee injuries called an early end to his career.

Modern running backs like Eno Benjamin and Cam Skattebo have since surpassed some of Woody's totals, but his all-around dominant play in the 1970's sets him at the peak of Arizona State running backs, and cements his place in today's countdown honors.