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COLUMBUS — Two-time Heisman Trophy-winner Archie Griffin always sought out Ohio State's Troy Smith during warm-ups before Michigan games and invariably walked away with a heaping dose of reassurance.

Although the two exchanged few words, Griffin could tell that Smith had matters under control simply by reading his countenance.

"It's his eyes and the smile that he had," said Griffin, the president of the OSU alumni association. "It was a confident smile — not anything that was cocky — but just a little smile. I thought, 'He's feeling pretty good. He's got some confidence.' I don't know if anyone else saw it, but for me, it gave me some comfort."

Griffin anticipates Smith being a tower for strength again when the Buckeyes play Florida for the national title Jan. 8, given his 3-0 record against the Wolverines and his history of producing in other big games. But he'll be playing for the first time with the added weight of being the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

Griffin knows perhaps better than anyone what a burden that can be. After taking home his first bronze statue in 1974, Griffin was held to 75 yards on 20 rushes in an 18-17 Rose Bowl loss to Southern Cal.

When Griffin won again the next season, the Buckeyes returned to Pasadena, Calif., and were poised to claim a national title against UCLA — a team it had obliterated during the regular season. But the Bruins prevailed, 23-10, holding Griffin to 93 yards on 17 carries.

He didn't score a touchdown in either game.

"People are certainly gunning for the winner of the Heisman," Griffin said. "But the thing that affects the winner the most is he's usually asked to do so many things, and it's distracting for him.

"I'll never forget after I won the Heisman in my first year, Coach Hayes called me into his office afterward and said, 'Look, you can't do everything for everybody. If you keep going around trying to do everything for everybody, it's going to make you soft and it's going to affect our season.' "

The team-oriented Griffin was never comfortable being singled out.

"It was kind of embarrassing," he said. "You know why you got there — because of your team. You would prefer that your team get more attention. But it is what it is. You have some obligations, and it's tough. And it's got to be tougher now than it was then."

Of the five Heisman winners who played in the Bowl Championship Series title game, only Southern Cal quarterback Matt Leinart — who faced Oklahoma for the 2004 crown — came away victorious.

Florida State's Chris Weinke (2000), Nebraska's Eric Crouch (2001), Oklahoma's Jason White (2003) and Southern Cal's Reggie Bush (2005) all fell short, and some even had disastrous showings.

Asked if facing a Heisman winner might give his team added incentive, Florida coach Urban Meyer said: "That's legitimate. That will rally the defense, to be challenged by a great player, a guy who's the best player in the country. We faced the runner-up (Arkansas' Darren McFadden), and that certainly motivates a defense. A great player like Troy Smith, to contain him, that's definitely going to be the difference in the game."

Smith is aware of the Heisman history in the title game, but he doesn't see much relevance in it.

"I don't buy into superstitions," he said. "I don't buy into previous things that happened to guys who aren't in my situation."

OSU coach Jim Tressel knows the Gators will be geared to lassoing Smith, but the team's other 12 foes this season had the same objective.

"I'm sure there's an extra target when there's notoriety or rank," Tressel said, "but that type of stuff lasts about 30 seconds — and then you'd better do what you need to do on both sides of the ball.

"Neither of these teams are going to need anything extra. They both have a chance to play for the national championship. How many times in your life do you get to do that?"

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or

dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.