Our Honor Defend

Yes, I know, I should be working on the Terrelle Pryor feature, but that is nearing completion and I’m hoping to have it up next week sometime. In the interim, YouTubes is what you get.

For those unaware of the story of Mike Lantry, sit around and read up. Younger generations of Buckeyes may not know, but before Mike Nugent, Vlade Janakievski and even Rich Spangler (not that younger Buckeyes know who the last two are), there was a legendary kicker in Ohio State football history, universally adored by Buckeyes across the country. Mike Lantry, shall we say, came through in the clutch for the Buckeyes when he was needed the most. When the Buckeyes needed a win in the final seconds, Lantry was sure to deliver.

Indeed, his revered foot is responsible for assuring the Buckeyes’ birth in the 1974 and 1975 Rose Bowls. In the 1973 season finale against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Lantry came through in crunch time for the Buckeyes, not once, but twice, with 61 seconds left to play. The ensuing tie and conference AD votes sent the Buckeyes to Pasadena, where the Bucks thrashed USC.

Again, in the next year, and with a trip to Pasadena on the line, it came down to Mike Lantry to rise up and help the Buckeyes in The Game.  Lantry was certainly not having his best game before this final kick, missing more than a couple field goals.  He was even 4 for 13 on the year before being called up for a crucial field goal with 16 seconds left and the game on the line.  Lantry stepped up and delivered in a big way with a booming kick that once again sent the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl with a Big Ten title in tow.  With this epic kick, Mike Lantry secured his spot as one of the all-time heroes in Ohio State football history.

The problem for Lantry, of course, was that he played for Michigan.

Buummmmer.

To highlight how much of a soul-crushing disappointment this last kick was, one needs to remember that by this time, only the Big Ten champion played in a bowl game.  Before Bo Schembechler raised hell on the issue after the 1974 season, everyone else stayed home.  In non-Ohio State games from 1972 to 1974, Michigan was 30-0 under Dennis Franklin’s tenure as QB. It was never ranked lower than 6th in the AP poll.  It went to exactly zero bowl games.

And all because of Mike Lantry.

Oh, and yes, that’s Joe Paterno, back when he was barely turning senile, doing color commentary for this game.  He took time from his busy schedule of preparing to beat the holy hell out of Baylor in the 1975 Cotton Bowl to join Keith Jackson in the booth.