Our Honor Defend

By time you’re reading this, I should be on the road to Cincinnati for a friend’s wedding. Before that time, I uploaded two clips from a classic Ohio State win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in 1990. At the time, the victory gave Cooper probably his best win at Ohio State to the point over a one-loss (to the Hurricanes) Hawkeyes team that was ranked 5 of 6 in the polls and was on the cusp of a possible national title. In contrast, the Buckeyes were in a logjam in the Big Ten and had a tie against the Hoosiers, a home loss to the Illini and a spanking to the Trojans in Columbus working against them.

Anyone who has watched this game can attest to this: there’s really no good reason why the Buckeyes won this game. They just did. If not for what must have been some greased up fingers in the Iowa secondary, the Hawkeyes could’ve had 7 or more interceptions in this game. Greg Frey was just awful this game, and his offensive line put up a worse performance than he did. The Hawkeyes consistently blew up the Buckeye offensive line, with Greg Frey spending more time running for his life than reading coverages. The Buckeyes should’ve have lost this game by about 40, but won it with one second to spare. If nothing else, this game is proof positive of dumb luck in college football.

Better to be lucky than good, right?

In this first clip, Jeff Graham is the beneficiary of one of Iowa’s numerous dropped sure interceptions and brings the ball in for 6 with time running out in the half. The ensuing extra point cuts the Hawkeye margin to 3. A little Immaculate Reception-esque, so there you go.

Finally, after the Hawkeyes dominated almost the entire second half, the Buckeyes find themselves in a miraculous position to win the game. With 59 seconds left in the game, Greg Frey takes the Buckeyes down the Iowa half of the field, eventually hooking up with Bobby Olive — a walk-on from Atlanta, Georgia, if memory serves correct — for the game winning score with a second left. The score elicits a rather audible silence from Kinnick Stadium as the Hawkeyes national title aspirations go up in smoke.

The fortunes for both the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes turned south in a big way after this game. The Hawkeyes rebounded the next week to beat the Boilermakers, but inexplicably lost to lowly Minnesota (who finished 6-5) in Minneapolis in the Big Ten finale. Through tiebreakers, the Hawkeyes secured a spot to the Rose Bowl, losing to the Huskies. The Buckeyes took care of business the next week in Madison, but dropped a 16-13 decision in Columbus to the Wolvereenies in their finale. Afterwards, Air Force, a 17 point underdog, lit up Ohio State like a Christmas tree in the Liberty Bowl, 23-11. The Hawkeyes got revenge in Columbus the next year, but would not beat the Buckeyes again until 2004. That 2004 game was most unpleasant.