Introducing the OHD Drive-Thru
First up, I took a look at a game I’ve had for months now, but never watched: the 1969 Rose Bowl victory over USC, a game I hope to make the next Classics feature leading up to the actual showdown itself this coming September. The Buckeyes found themselves down 10-0 in the second quarter, after OJ Simpson, the then-Heisman winner and now-punchline, took a ball on a pitch 80 yards for a touchdown2. However, Rex Kern took the ball right back afterwards, hooking up with Ray Gillian to set up the Jim Otis TD. The Buckeyes later tied the game at 10 with 3 seconds left in the half. After the intermission, the Buckeyes went into overdrive, forcing four Trojan turnovers, three of them committed by OJ. You can almost tell Woody had seen everything he needed to see from the USC offense3 in the first half and knew exactly what they were going to do in the second half. OJ Simpson was met in the backfield, often, in the second half, resulting in 2 lost fumbles. OJ later threw an errant pass in the red zone to cap off his third and last turnover of the game. Meanwhile, the efficient Buckeyes capitalized on their chances, running up 27 unanswered points on the Trojans. The Trojans scored a garbage time TD on an absolutely horrid call (you’ll see in the clip) to make the scoreline respectable with less than a minute to play. However, it was too little too late for the Trojans. The undefeated no. 1 Buckeyes won 27-16 over the 2nd ranked 9-0-1 Trojans. Combined with a squeaker by the then-third ranked Nittany Lions over the 6th ranked Jayhawks (yep, you read that right.) in the Orange Bowl and the 4th ranked Georgia Bulldogs getting ripped apart 16-2 by the 9th ranked Razorbacks in the Sugar Bowl, the Buckeyes secured their no. 1 ranking and claimed an outright, unanimous national title.
And don’t say which side is which… it should be obvious.
This is a new thing for me, so comments/critiques/criticisms would be welcome.
- please, someone, tell me you know what SNL skit I’m referencing… [↩]
- Lou Holtz, then a secondary coach for the Buckeyes, has an excellent anecdote about this play. Read the synopsis of the exchange between he and Woody. [↩]
- that is: Steve Sogge, give the ball to OJ and get the hell out of the way and for the love of God don’t touch anything. [↩]
Richard Nixon, Jim Rhodes, Ronald Reagan, Brutus Gumby, Curt Gowdy and “Hurry Up Sloopy”. This post had it all. WTF was up with that USC TD? What the hell was that? That was a touchdown? Really? How did they blow that call?
Curt Gowdy was unintentional comedy this whole game. On the play in question, Curt Gowdy praised the officials for getting the call right when there’s clearly no metric conceivable whereby that’s a touchdown. Not only that, he praises the state-of-the-art 1960s replay technology and the keen eyes of the officials for the next 10 minutes (no joke) even though the camera crew failed to run the clip back (with their state-of-the-art 1960s replay technology). The logic was, according to Gowdy, that ties goes to the offense and that they both caught the ball in bounds. Not only is the second part of that absolutely wrong, but this isn’t baseball… tie doesn’t go to the runner. Hhhhhhow about that?
I wonder: is it too late to petition the NCAA to reclassify this game as a 27-10 victory for the Buckeyes? We have video evidence.
Oh, I forgot, Al Cowlings was in this game.
Wow, that’s terrific bass!
Bass-o-Matic!
I enjoyed watching this game on DVD (I have it, you know). How things have really changed! Refs seemed slow to throw the flags. Today, Jack Tatum would draw a penalty (more likely an assault charge) getting out of his car in the parking lot. All by himself, he’s a crime against humanity, and a role-model for our children.
Wow, it’s like an Ohio State-themed In-N-Out burger. My pants are undoing themselves.
Thanks Gil and Chris. At least some people here know my obscure references *cough*Gabby*cough*
Love the Drive-Thru idea. Some suggestions of games to consider:
2004 Michigan
2006 Fiesta Bowl – Notre dame
1993 Penn State
1992 Washington
Have fun.
I have the 1993 Washington game (the Big Daddy game). I have the 1993 Penn State game (saving that one for a while), but the Tressel era games (after 2003, at least) are low priority for me. One of the reasons I’m doing what I’m doing is to expose Buckeye fans coming of age under Tressel to great games in Buckeye history pre-Tressel. I think the next game I’m going to upload is the 1975 Penn State game.
Sounds good. It makes sense to focus pre-Tressel. I personally like the more current stuff because I don’t have a TV.
I couldn’t really expect you to cater to those die-hard fans that have seen less than 10 games of the Tressel era . . . you would think it was a non-category.
I was trying to think of my best memories as a student in the early 90′s . . . but there just aren’t that many good games from that era. (Sure, we beat Michigan in 94, but that game, against a mediocre UM team, only serves to remind of the failures of 93, 95, and 96.)
And yes, I meant the Big Daddy game. Those 1993 games seem to have some significance now, as OSU re-emerged as a national player after years of frustration.
I will say, one game I’ve been looking high and low for, but can’t find, is the 2002 Wisconsin game. If I can find that one, it jumps to the top of the list.