Colorado University Athletics
Former Buffs Great Orvis Selected For College Hall Of Fame
January 08, 2016 | Football
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Herb Orvis, one of the most prolific pass rushers in University of Colorado football history, has been selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation announced here Friday morning.
Orvis, 69, is one of 14 players and two coaches in the Class of 2016 that will be inducted this Dec. 8 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The announcement kicked of a weekend full of activities ahead of Monday night's national championship game.
He will become the eighth Buffalo enshrined in the Hall, joining Byron White (inducted in 1952), Joe Romig (1984), Dick Anderson (1993), Bobby Anderson (2006), Alfred Williams (2010), John Wooten (2012) and Coach Bill McCartney (2013). Orvis becomes the third player who was coached by the late Eddie Crowder to enter the Hall, preceded by the Anderson brothers; Crowder piloted the Buffaloes from 1963-73.
“First of all, it's a great surprise," Orvis said Friday morning after learning of the honor. "A run of vivid memories come back to mind … the players you get to play with, the coaches you played for, the games. They all eventually disappear into another life, but an honor like this brings it all back together — just the excitement of playing on a great team and the love of the game. This is truly an unexpected honor.”
A near unanimous All-American at defensive end as a senior in 1971, earning recognition from five organizations, including AFCA/Kodak, Walter Camp and The Sporting News (he was a third-team Associated Press team member), Orvis was also honored as a Playboy Preseason All-American prior to the season. He played a significant role in helping CU to a 10-2 record and No. 3 final national ranking, both school-bests at the time. Colorado's only losses came to top-ranked Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma, and to this day, it is the only time that the same conference occupied the top three spots in a final poll.
Orvis, who stood 6-foot-5 and weighed 235 pounds, had developed the reputation as fierce pass rusher his sophomore and junior seasons, when he racked up 144 tackles, which included 26 for losses and 17 quarterback sacks. A badly sprained ankle early in his senior year forced him to miss the better part of three games and play extremely limited in two others, but when healthy, he was a force against the run as well as a terror in opponent backfields. Example: he helped limit Nebraska's potent running game to just 180 yards and recorded two sacks in Lincoln.
Colorado's interior line coach for that '71 team, Jim Mora, once said of what Orvis' style of play meant to the defense: “He gives us the kind of lift on defense that a Cliff Branch runback does on offense. It's the kind of thing you can't really explain. It's electric in its makeup and it sometimes can turn a game around.”
He was a two-time first-team All-Big Eight Conference performer as a junior and senior, and was the Big Eight Conference Newcomer of the Year as a sophomore in 1969, when he had 75 tackles, with 12 for losses, including nine quarterback sacks.
Orvis was the national lineman-of-the-week for his play in CU's 41-13 win over Penn State on Sept. 26, 1970; that victory stopped the Nittany Lions winning streak at 23 games and their unbeaten run at 31 games as Orvis posted 12 tackles, three for losses, including two sacks. He also helped limit the potent Penn State rushing attack featuring Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell to 144 yards on 50 carries.
He finished his career with 189 tackles (regular season), tied for the most at the time among CU defensive linemen and still tied for 13th. His 20 career quarterback sacks would have ranked first at the time of his graduation, but they weren't computed until several years later (film study); his 32 tackles for loss at the end of his career did rank second.
Colorado was 24-10 in the three seasons he lettered, earning bowl invitations all three years. As a sophomore in 1969, the Buffs defeated Bear Bryant and Alabama in the Liberty Bowl, 47-33; the following year, CU lost in its return to the Liberty to Tulane; and in '71, Colorado upended No. 15 Houston in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in what was practically a home game for the Cougars. In that game, he tied for the game-high in recording 10 tackles (five solo, three for losses), a sack and a pass broken up.
In the three bowl games, he recorded an additional 24 tackles, three sacks, two passes broken up and a fumble recovery.
A standout performer at Flint Beecher High School in Petoskey, Mich., he joined the Army while still in high school and earned his diploma overseas. He met Crowder in Germany when the Buffs boss was in Europe on a government-sponsored coaching tour and found his way to Colorado.
Orvis was a first round pick by the Detroit Lions in the 1972 National Football League Draft; the 16th overall selection, it was the highest at the time that a CU defender had ever been selected. He went on to play in 122 NFL games with Detroit (1972-77) and Baltimore (1978-81). He was a second-team NFC All-Conference performer at tackle for the Lions in 1975.
Orvis was inducted into CU's Athletic Hall of Fame in its Class of 2014, was selected as a member of the All-Big Eight Decade team for the 1970s and inducted into the Big Eight Hall of Fame in 1982. He also played in the 1972 Hula Bowl.
This year's inductees bring the total to 977 players and 211 coaches who are or will be enshrined in the Hall; that's out of over 1 million who have been involved in the game since 1869.
