Drive-Thru: Holy Buckeye
I don’t think you need much of an introduction for this one. The Buckeyes were ranked 3rd (I think) in the country, but were no. 2 in the BCS on account of strength of schedule (thank you Washington State). However, unlike Oklahoma (no. 1 in the BCS) and Miami (no. 3 in the BCS, but defending national champion), most of their games were uncomfortably close. It took until the final minute to beat Cincinnati, then a Conference-USA doormat. They looked flat in their first conference road game at Northwestern. They didn’t look particularly offensively impotent against Penn State, who by that time was on the verge of a 2 year funk. They survived their next road test in Madison, Wisconsin but now returned to the road to the site of a banner night for Drew Brees in 2000. As a freshman in college, I was bracing for another nailbiter.
And that’s precisely what we got. For 58 minutes, Ohio State’s offense struggled for answers. They leaned very heavily on their defense, led by Matt Wilhelm, who was arguably defensive MVP of the game for the Buckeyes (8 tackles [5 solo], a TFL and an interception. Full stats are here, if you’re interested.). Their only points of the game came by virtue of a frenzy at the end of the first half, where Matt Wilhelm’s interception set up the Buckeyes for a scrambling FG with no time remaining and the clock running to tie the game at 3 at intermission. However, Ohio State’s offense continued to look stumped in the second half. Worse yet, the Buckeyes’ defense nearly exploded when a 58yd bomb was air-mailed by Brandon Kirsch — who came in for Kyle Orton after Tiller’s ceremonial QB benching of Orton after intermission — to freshman Ray Williams, setting up the Boilermakers at the Ohio State 22. Purdue continued to march until Matt Wilhelm stepped up on a 3rd and 3 on the goalline, tackling Kirsch for an 11yd loss and forcing the go-ahead FG for Purdue in the 4th quarter.
To make matters even worse, the Buckeye offense was unable to mount a response on their next drive. They made it to their own 49 yard line, but were forced to punt. Andy Groom, special teams superhero, pinned the Boilermakers in their own 10 yard line with 4 minutes and 50 seconds left to play. Fortunately, the Boilers got into conservative mode and were forced into a 3 and out, killing only 1 minute and 40 seconds off the clock. The change in field position helped the Buckeyes, as Chris Gamble returned the punt to the Purdue 46 yard line.
However, with just over 3 minutes to play, Craig Krenzel began the drive by being sacked back to midfield. He then threw wide of Hartsock to make it 3rd and 14. Krenzel found Hartsock on the next play, making it a 4th and 1 with time very quickly becoming an urgent factor. The rest after that? Oh it’s just history…
Incidentally, Keith, formerly of Buckeye Commentary, did a neat write-up way back in the way back machine about one of the plays the Buckeye offense ran that game called King Right 64 Y Shallow Swap. It’s worth reading.
It’s also worth asking: Where were you when this game was going on? It seems like one of those moments where we all remember where we were, what we were doing and how we reacted. As for me, as a freshman at Ohio State, sitting alone in my dorm room watching the game and the final minutes, I remember my exact reaction being “oh fuck…” when the ball went up and “OH FUCK!” when Jenkins caught it. Naturally, the screams that echoed around Baker Hall East were cause for an impromptu celebration on the 1st floor corridor.
Memories.
Written by: Vico |
i was actually listening to the end of the game on the radio. all i heard when that last throw went up was “…and krenzel lets it go… AAAAAFHGHDGFHUSDFHAIUSHIAUSDOIAOSJNFAISNDJLI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!1!!!!1″ and it sounded more angry than anything so for about a minute i didn’t know what the hell had happened
This was the year after I graduated. It was also the first game I took my now-wife too. I watched it with friends from the student section and just collapsed screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! when he made the catch.
I hated that season for Purdue. We led the Big Ten in both offense and defense, but lost 6 games by 22 points total. My wife, a Miami alum, got burned a few months later.
Good luck this weekend.
BTW – I thought we were 3rd in the BCS that week, and that night was when Reggie McNeal put on a show and A@M beat Oklahoma. But I digress.
I was also a college forsh, and went with my buddy to his uncle’s house in Bexley, and watched it with a few of his uncles friends. When Krenzel let it go, we all stood, in unison, completely silent. When Jenkins scored, we all yelled as loud as he could. One guy pulled the d-bag move and said “wait, there’s a flag”. My buddy tackled him violently.
We were second, behind Oklahoma and ahead of Miami. Texas and Wazzu were after the Hurricanes with Wazzu being responsible for putting us up at no. 2. One-loss Georgia, then annual losers to Florida in the game formerly known as the World’s Largest Cocktail Party, was no. 6. http://ourhonordefend.com/images/bcs_standings_2002_purdue.png
I remember watching it from my apartment and going nuts. Since college football is regional down here, there’s a lot of Georgia fans here in Alabama. More than a few of them told me that play made them so sick to their stomachs that they threw up when it happened. They were watching the noontime kickoff in hopes that the Buckeyes would eventually lose and hopefully (for them at least) open up Georgia’s road to the Fiesta Bowl. Nooooope
.
What a great day for college football, indeed, America.
I was a senior in high school, and I was a sports playing nerd…..football, baseball, and quiz bowl. Anyways, we hosted a quiz bowl tournament that day, so after we finished cleaning up, we had the TVs that were in the room tuned to ABC so we could catch the last 5 minutes of the games, picking up the antenna feed. So, watching as the image moved around the screen and static flickered across the screen, there were maybe 20 people watching in a classroom, and we all went crazy.
Was in a tux on a day when I had not one but *two* in-season weddings that day, watching in-between ceremonies. Thought that the day could not get any worse, and then fourth and one happened. That play is my own personal Zapruder film. I’ve watched the mpeg no fewer than 500 times, no exaggeration.
Nickey should do Gamble’s yardwork for the rest of his life for saving his ass on the following drive.
I was at my now in-laws’ house in Cincinnati. They are not huge OSU fans (like most of Cincinnati), and so I’m sure that they thought I was crazy when I ran around their house screaming after the Holy Buckeye play. They still let me marry their daughter.
Oh my goodness, I forgot about A&M and Oklahoma being that same day. Kyle Field was electric that day, and so was my little dorm room, cheering for the Aggies.
I was a sophomore living on Lane Avenue; the night before the game, I nearly drank myself to death, went unconscious and vomited all night long. I didn’t remember any of that when I woke up the next afternoon, and I was confused as to how I had ended up in my room. I stumbled to my window and looked out onto Lane Avenue and realized it was already well into the afternoon. Then, all of the sudden, I heard a low, dull, reverberating roar rise up from the off-campus area. I didn’t know it at the time, but Krenzel had just connected to Jenkins on Holy Buckeye, and every Buckeye was celebrating at once.
Really, a magical season that I don’t think will ever be replicated in terms of its nail-biters and sheer surprises. Was a privilege to be there while it went down.
THAT SHIT WAS SO DAMN CLASSIC!!!!!!!