Our Honor Defend

This day a year ago, I uploaded my first batch of YouTubes taken from the Illinois game.  I remember all 3 of us here, back when it was more of a collaborative effort as opposed to just me doing everything, were mystified that Ohio State fans were left wanting for some great moments in Buckeye history¹.  In other words, Ohio State fans had no equivalent to WolverineHistorian.  As I’ve found out, apparently not everyone is as fascinated with the 1975 Ohio State v. Penn State game and the 1987 Cotton Bowl as I am.  However, some of the obvious classic moments were nowhere to be found on YouTube, such as Eddie’s superb performance during the 1995 season.  Fortunately, my friend Max had burned me a copy of the 1995 Illinois game and sent it to me alongside his copy of the 2004 Fiesta Bowl that I still need to send back to him².  They were the only games I had on DVD at the time.  I uploaded a few clips from the Illinois game (notably this one), created a stupid moniker for it conjuring up the cheesiest “advances” in “technology” made for the 1950s/early 1960s cinema specializing in truly awful science fiction film showings, and kept adding to it for a year now.

I’m not sure if YouTube-o-vision™ is a keeper, but it certainly appears to have satisfied a demand out there… however slight³.  I still have plenty of games that I have yet to upload⁴.  And, as usual, I’m always on the lookout for an important game here and there that I covet, but don’t have already.  I’m still on the prowl for the 1968 Michigan game, the 1983 Oklahoma game, the 1984 Illinois game and, indeed, any victory from the 1980s.  I really, really want to get my hands on that 1983 Oklahoma game.  My dad was a victim of the 1977 game and I think he needs to see it to heal those wounds.

Anyways, to commemorate this petty, vain excuse for a post bump in the Big Ten Bloggers Feed, I uploaded the game that I get, by far, the most requests for (of all the games that I have, at least.  1968 Michigan game excluded.): the much anticipated Ohio State-Notre Dame game from 1995.  My copy of this game is far from master, secondary, or even tertiary quality, but it is still watchable.  That said, you might want to use high quality resolution on YouTube.

I’m not sure if I have my facts straight on this, but I believe the game was booked 10 years in advance.  Even in the mid-to-late 1980s, there was apparently a tangible interest in this game according to this Scout prospective.  By time the day finally arrived, the aura around Ohio Stadium had every bit the feel of Woodstock.  It was nationally televised on ABC, with Keith Jackson on the call.  Ticket sales were off the charts and Ohio Stadium crammed in a then-record 95,000+ fans.

The Buckeye fans in attendance walked away from the ‘Shoe having witnessed one of the best regular season games in Ohio State history.  Without hyperbole, a reasonable argument could be made for it being the best in Ohio Stadium history⁵.  Despite a scoreless first quarter and a first half deficit, Ohio State blitzed through Notre Dame in the second half for a 45-26 victory.  The game featured big plays aplenty for Ohio State.

The final score does belie how difficult the game was for Ohio State in the first half.  Notre Dame jumped out first with an early 2nd quarter field goal, capping off a 90+ yard drive that followed Ohio State’s failed 4th down attempt for paydirt by Bobby Hoying and Rickey Dudley.  The Irish scored a touchdown on its next possession, set up by a big pass play to the fullback Marc Edwards.  Randy Kinder had torched the Buckeye rush defense for 82 first half yards, finishing with 143 yards on the game⁶.  The Buckeyes did drive the length of the field on their ensuing possession to cut the lead to 10-7, but Notre Dame again responded on the ground with another Randy Kinder score.  Ohio State’s next drive seemed to establish both a rhythm on offense and a rhythm for the game to set them up for the second half.  With under a minute to spare, Dimitrious Stanley made a remarkable catch with the sun in eyes to set up the Buckeyes for just a 17-14 deficit at intermission.

Notre Dame started the second half with the ball, and added to their lead with a field goal.  However, the Irish would start unraveling soon thereafter.  Ohio State’s first drive of the second half stalled, setting up a punt return that was botched by Emmett Mosley and wound up in the waiting hands of longsnapper Dean Kruezer to extend Ohio State’s drive.  Rickey Dudley willed his way into the end zone to give the Buckeyes their first lead of the game.

It was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.  Notre Dame’s second drive of the second half serves as the breaking point for the Irish this game.  It didn’t start well with a botched reverse on the kickoff return pinning the Irish at their own 12 yard line.  With the first Buckeye lead of the game, Ohio Stadium was hollering at peak noise level, frustrating Ron Powlus in the process.  He had to burn a timeout with a playclock nearing expiration, a timeout that he and Lou Holtz politicked to have charged against Ohio State.  Back in the day, apparently, there was a crowd noise rule on the books⁷.  Powlus did get lucky on the next play after the timeout.  The play clock was again winding down and Powlus exhibited great confusion on what exactly was going on.  However, after the ball snapped, Powlus found that Derrick Mayes had torched Shawn Springs, setting up a 56 yard heave to flip field position.  Ron Powlus decided to celebrate by looking at the student section while pointing to his ear.

Ohio Stadium responded by formally making Ron Powlus their bitch for the rest of this game.  After a Kinder off-tackle run for 5 yards, Powlus was stuffed for a 5 yard loss on an option run, was forced to call a timeout amidst the resurgence of the crowd noise and ultimately found the waiting arms of Shawn Springs for Notre Dame’s first turnover of the day.

3 plays later, I think you remember what happened.

On Notre Dame’s first play of their next drive, Powlus botched the center exchange and turned it over.  Ohio State tacked on another touchdown, this time by Eddie George to go up 35-20.  Notre Dame did find the endzone on its next drive, but was unsuccessful on its 2 point conversion.

Up 35-26, Ohio State resumed its next drive.  This was the famous drive that catapulted Eddie George on his successful Heisman campaign.

Ohio State eventually won 45-26, finishing with over 533 yards of offense.  Eddie George had 207 yards, Hoying 272 yards passing (14/22) and 4 TDs.  Terry Glenn also had 4 catches, 128 yards and two TDs himself.  Scout.com has a really informative write-up of this game if you want to know more.  You can watch the game below.

1. Keith, formerly of Buckeye Commentary, and person who needs to get back to blogging the Buckeyes for the better of this country, has some clips that satisfy the bill.  However, even his collection is limited. [↩]
2. I know… I know. [↩]
3. Again, no one is interested in the 1975 Ohio State v. Penn State game? What in the sam hell is wrong with you people. [↩]
4. Michigan 1970, 1972, 1974, 1987 || UCLA 1979 || 1981 Liberty Bowl || Colorado 1985 || 1987 Cotton Bowl || LSU 1988 (second-half only) || Iowa 1990 || Washington 1993 || Pitt 1994 || 1999 Sugar Bowl among several others that I’m forgetting at the moment.  [↩]
5. I said “argument”.  The 2006 The Game was interesting as well. [↩]
6. Notre Dame finished with almost 200 rushing yards for the game.  The Buckeyes’ rush defense was a serious liability for them in 1995, as the Michigan game and Citrus Bowl show. [↩]
7. It sounds like fascism, right? Well… it was… [↩]