In 1890 the Ohio State Buckeyes, named after the Ohio state tree, played their first football game and what began was one of the best football programs in NCAA history. At the end of the 2005 season the Ohio State Buckeyes all time record was 774 – 301 – 52. Their 774 wins ranked them tied for fifth all time with Alabama, who they have now passed this season and their .710 winning percentage ranks them 6th all time. The Ohio State Buckeyes have been the consensus National Champion on six occasions, been to 35 bowl games and have had six Heisman Trophy winners. Ohio State joined the Western Conference in 1913, but from 1917 on it was called the Big 10 conference. Ohio State has won the Big 10 conference 29 times.
Best Team
In 1968 legendary coach “Woody” Hayes put together what was probably the best team in Ohio State Buckeyes history. That season “Woody” Hayes started eleven sophomores for the Ohio State Buckeyes that were affectionally called the “Super Sophmores”. In 1968 the Buckeyes averaged 32 points and 440 yards per game while the defense only allowed 15 points and 292 yards per game. In the third game of the season the Ohio State Buckeyes upset then number one Purdue. Ohio State finished the regular season 9 – 0 including a 50 – 14 win over the rival Michigan Wolverines. The Ohio State Buckeyes went on to the Rose Bowl where they beat the USC Trojans 27 – 16 to capture their fifth National Championship.
Best Coach
The best coach in Ohio State Buckeyes history is without a doubt Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes. To his opponents “Woody” Hayes was a hot-tempered, difficult, and aggressive man but to Ohio State Buckeyes fans he was a loving, gentle, kind man. But what they could both agree on was that “Woody” Hayes was a great coach who wouldn’t accept losing. “Woody” Hayes amassed a 238-72-10 record at Ohio State and a 205-61-10 record in the Big Ten. The Ohio State Buckeyes won four of their six National Championships while “Woody” Hayes was their coach and won thirteen of their twenty-nine Big 10 Championships under Coach Hayes also. Woody” Hayes coached fifty-six All Americans and three Heisman Trophy Winners. Woody” Hayes also produced some great coaches; one of his assistants Bo Schembechler went on to be head coach at Michigan and compile a 194-48-5 record and another assistant coach Lou Holtz went on to have a 100-30-2 record at Notre Dame. “Woody” Hayes believed in having a team whose strengths were running and defense and that passing should only be used as a surprise tactic. Once Coach Hays said about passing, “There are three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them ain’t good.”
Best Player
The Heisman Trophy has been awarded to the best player in College Football every year since 1935. In the seventy-one year history seventy different players have won the Heisman, which means only one person has won it twice; that man is Ohio State Buckeyes running back Archie Griffin. Archie Griffin started as a freshman at Ohio State and led the team in rushing with 867 yards including a school record 239 yards in just his second game. The following year the Ohio State Buckeyes switched to an I-formation and Archie Griffin exploded for 1,428 yards his sophomore year, 1,620 yards as a junior and 1,357 yards his senior year. Archie Griffin’s 5,177 career yards was a NCAA record at the time and Griffin remains the only player to lead the Big Ten Conference in rushing for three straight years. Archie Griffin rushed for at least 100 yards in 34 games including an NCAA record 31 consecutive games of at least 100 rushing yards. The Ohio State Buckeyes record while Archie Griffin was on the team was 40-5-1.
Biggest Rival
If you ever visit Ohio State University and decide you need to use the restroom you may realize that painted in the urinals are a “M”. The “M” represents just how the Ohio State Buckeyes feel about the Michigan Wolverines. However, most of the Buckeyes fans won’t say “Michigan” as if the word is a curse word. Instead Buckeyes fans refer to Michigan as “that school up north” but I guess T. S. U. N. would’ve been too many letter to fit in the urinals. “Woody” Hayes was the one who first called Michigan the school up north and there is one legend that says “Woody” Hayes was once in Michigan when his car ran out of gas. Rather than go to a gas station in Michigan he opted to push his car across the state border and get gas in Ohio instead. In 1968 Ohio State’s best team was stomping Michigan 50 – 14 when “Woody” Hayes decided to go for the two point conversion. After the game someone asked Coach Hayes why he would go for two points when he was already up by 36 points, his response was “Because they wouldn’t let me go for three.”
Best Games
It’s hard to choose just a few games from a team that has been playing for over a decade but arguably Ohio State’s best game came in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. Some people believe it was the greatest game ever played. The Miami Hurricanes came into the Feista Bowl with a 34 game winning streak and the heavy favorite. The Ohio State Buckeyes were leading by three late in regulation when Michigan’s punt returner Roscoe Parrish returned a punt for 50 yards which set up a game tying 40 yard field goal by Todd Sievers. The Michigan Wolverines scored first in the first overtime to take a 24 – 17 lead. It looked about over when Ohio State got to 4th down and 14 but Craig Krenzel converted a pass to Michael Jenkins. Ohio State got to 4th down again and threw an incomplete pass. Michigan started to celebrate but it was premature. One of the officials called pass interference giving Ohio State a first down. Three downs later Craig Krenzel ran a quarterback sneak to tie the game at 24 – 24. In the second overtime Maurice Clarett put the Buckeyes ahead 31 – 24 with a 2 yard run. The Miami Hurricanes got the ball inside the two yard line but failed to score on four straight plays and Ohio State won the National Championship.
One of the Ohio State Buckeyes’ wildest games came in 1947 against Northwestern. Northwestern was ahead 6 – 0 late in the game when Ohio State quarterback Pandel Savic threw an interception to end the game, or so Northwestern thought. Northwestern was penalized for having 12 men on the field so Ohio State got another chance. Ohio State again failed to score and Northwestern again thought they had won the game. But Northwestern was penalized yet again for being offsides. Finally Pandel Savic threw a touchdown pass on the third try. Ohio State just had to make the extra point and they would win 7 – 6 but the extra point was blocked. However, Northwestern was penalized for offsides again. Ohio State got a second chance at the extra point, made it, and won 7 – 6.
There are many other memorable games in Ohio State’s history. In 1968 they had probably their biggest upset as they beat then number one Purdue on their way to a perfect season and National Championship. Ohio State went on a roll from that point on, they won 22 games in a row and were winning games by an average of 27 points. That is until they met Michigan the final week of 1969 and suffered the biggest upset against them when Michigan beat them 24 – 12. Another great Ohio State game came In 1989 when Ohio State was trailing Minnesota 31 – 0 late in the second quarter but the Buckeyes scored 41 of the last 47 points to win 41 – 37, capping the game with a 15 yard touchdown pass with 51 seconds left.
