Ron Springs, Woody Hayes' last starting tailback, passed away tonight. He had been in a coma since 2007.

First, the good news of sorts.

The B1G TEN announced it had arranged its schedule with ABC/ESPN, allocating seven night games in the 2011 B1G TEN season.  Of note for Ohio State fans, the Buckeyes will appear in three night games in 2011.  It was long rumored that the trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, the first B1G TEN home game for the Cornhuskers and the first game back for the Tat Five and Jim Tressel, would be a night game.  That was confirmed.  Further, Ohio State fans will be happy to know that the game against Wisconsin will be a night game as well.  Buckeye fans quietly bemoaned that the past three trips to Camp Randall were night games, activating what may be the conference’s hell on earth, just for the Buckeyes.¹  Meanwhile, Ohio State usually plays host to Wisconsin in a blasé noon time kickoff.  Ohio State fans will get their wish to rain holy hell on Wisconsin in what we hope will be the football version of the Deal With It game.

It will also add a nice wrinkle to Eleven Warriors’ second annual tailgate.   “Eat Too Brutus” is far from a just simple pre-game mixer for Buckeye fans and bloggers looking for a reprieve from their respective scarlet and gray “man caves”.  It will be organized with assistance from City Barbeque and will be held to benefit a cause very near and dear to all of our hearts: the Stefanie Spielman Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.  Any charity is good charity, but this might be official charitable endeavor of Ohio State football and it is deserving.  So, the fact this is a night game should make this occasion all the better.  Make plans to show.  I am about 95 percent certain I can make the trip.  If I can, I will.

The third night game to note for Ohio State is also the first: against the Miami Hurricanes in Miami, Florida.  The ACC confirmed that game will be played with a 7:30 or 8:00pm kickoff time.

On a sad note, Ohio State fans lost one of their own when Ron Springs (’76-78) passed away tonight.  Springs, 54, had been in a coma since 2007.  Springs got national attention for a heartwarming kidney transplant surgery, for which the donor kidney came from his good friend and Dallas Cowboys teammate Everson Walls.  Sadly, another surgery just months after the kidney transplant for an elbow cyst went awry, resulting in a cardiac arrest and a terminal coma.  Family members were hopeful that he could come out of his coma, but the bleak prognosis by doctors bore out.

Our younger fans might know Ron Springs more as the father of Shawn Springs, one of John Cooper’s best defensive backs from his tenure in Columbus.  Let us not forget that Ron Springs was a quality player in his own right.  He was not a native Ohioan.  Rather, the Williamsburg, Virginia native played on the same high school team as Lawrence Taylor and spent a year of eligibility at Coffeyville Community College before getting the call from the legendary head coach for Ohio State.  He was a scholarship player from the 1976 to 1978 and played almost immediately.  Jeff Logan (aka: his man-prettiness) entered the 1976 season as a starting tailback, succeeding Archie Griffin.  Springs started playing shortly when injuries mounted for senior fullback Pete Johnson.  This moved Jeff Logan to fullback and the rookie Ron Springs to tailback.

Ron Springs was a team captain as a senior in 1978, the final year for Woody Hayes. L to R: Tom Cousineau, Byron Cato, Woody Hayes, Tim Vogler, Ron Springs

Springs came into his own from there, sharing carries in 1977 with Jeff Logan and starting in 1978.  Springs was a serviceable tailback for the Buckeyes.  Though sharing carries with Jeff Logan, he lead the Buckeyes in rushing in 1977 with 1,166 yards.  Injuries derailed a good portion of the 1978 season, for which Paul Campbell led the team in rushing with 591 yards.  Regardless, Springs is currently 18th all-time in career rushing for Ohio State and he had a good career in the NFL.  He is a little lost on most Buckeye fans for being at Ohio State during a fairly tumultuous time, coinciding with the firing of Woody Hayes in Ron Springs’ last game for the scarlet and gray.  Springs did not immediately succeed Archie Griffin, but his name is connected to a time in Ohio State football where, we know now, it would never be as good as the Fab Four backfield of Baschnagel, Greene, Griffin and Johnson.  Think of a Buckeye football game involving Ron Springs and it’s probably bad, perhaps the shutout loss to Michigan in 1976 or being held without a touchdown on senior day in 1978.  The Buckeyes scored 9 points in Springs’ 3 years against Michigan, and these sad results exclude the stunning home loss to Missouri in 1976 and that kick by that [expletive deleted] Uwe von Schamann.  Buckeye fans who remember Ron Springs will not connect his name with “glory days” for the program, but this is not the fault of one of the better tailbacks in our program’s tailback-rich history.

You may gather from my post about Jack Tatum’s passing and my tributes to Austin Spitler and Nader Abdallah that I take, seriously in fact, the idea that every player in the program’s history, from Chic Harley to Srecko Zizakovic, contributes to the great narrative that defines us as Ohioans (i.e., Buckeyes).  They should all be celebrated.  Springs had a good career for Ohio State, though greatness abounds at his position.  No matter, Springs’ affiliation with Ohio State defined him going forward.  Everson Walls, who donated his kidney to Springs in 2007, discussed how their interactions with one another during their playing days included the contrast between Springs’ big school affiliation (Ohio State) and Walls’ small school allegiance (Grambling State).  He carried his allegiance into the professional ranks and eventually passed it on to Shawn Springs, who (arguably of course) may have had the better legacy of the two for the Buckeyes.  Very, very few of us² who obsess minute by minute about Ohio State will know what that’s like: playing for Ohio State and then watching your son continue the family name for the next generation of Buckeye fans.  However, more than a few of us know what it’s like without the football element.  Many alumni of The Ohio State University eventually enroll their kids at the university that defined their coming of age.  I, myself, am a second generation Buckeye whose father (a native Clevelander) dropped off at Ohio State all the way from Los Angeles, California.   Currently living in Alabama (though no interest in staying there), I strongly wish to do the same one day myself.

That’s where people like Ron Springs leave a unique legacy for Buckeye fans, by paying forward, by taking the alumnus tag seriously and by not pretending that The Ohio State University doesn’t define you.  It does.  It defines all of us, and Ron Springs (like Jim Herbstreit and Howard Cassady, among others) passed it along to the next generation.  It’s why, among other reasons, he should be celebrated and mourned tonight.

1. Meaning: Wisconsin appears to play disproportionately better at home than they do on the road, on average.  Contrast that with Ohio State, which has been pretty much golden no matter where it is (sans Glendale, Arizona).
2. …likely zero of us, contingent on who is reading the blog.

We can construct an interesting bricolage of all the memorable plays and players we’ve had in our program’s rich history.  What made Tatum unique was that he, moreso than any other player in the program’s entire lore, was the embodiment of total mayhem on the field.  Our more astute readers may argue that Tatum, a former running back from Passaic, New Jersey, honed his craft at Ohio State as a linebacker/safety type hybrid and truly became “The Assassin” with the Oakland Raiders.  Regardless, he was our Assassin.  He was the physical embodiment of the agony and hopelessness we hope to inflict on those that stand between the Buckeyes and greater glory.  Unfortunately, that herculean image we have of him withered with age.  He struggled with the severe side effects of diabetes for years following his retirement before dying of a heart attack on Tuesday.

A national champion and consensus All-American, Tatum was everything we as fans want from our former greats.  We want them to live fulfilling lives and remember the university that served as an important springboard to success.  That was Jack Tatum.  The Ohio State football program frequently reached out to him and Tatum was happy, it seemed, to reach back and be involved.  The diabetes that afflicted him served as cause for the Ohio-based Jack Tatum Fund for Youthful Diabetes and his involvement as co-chair of the Central Ohio Diabetes Association.  There may be only one Archie Griffin, but we always ask for more Jack Tatums.

61 is just too young an age to shuffle off the mortal coil, but Tatum’s legacy does not end here.  Tressel, who inaugurated the Jack Tatum Hit of the Week Award when he arrived at Ohio State, noted that Tatum, one of our greatest Buckeyes, is the first name you conjure when you think of Ohio State defense.  My good friend Ben, still living in Columbus, told me that Chris Spielman said on his radio show that Tatum was his all-time favorite Buckeye.  Recent graduate Malcolm Jenkins shared this tweet on how Tatum, who graduated from Ohio State almost 20 years before Jenkins was born, was an inspiration for the fellow New Jersey resident.  All told, Jack Tatum will live forever in the hearts and minds of people born enthralled with Ohio State football.  He leaves behind a wife and three children, but will never leave our consciousness.  The longer his legacy passes on from generation to generation, the more he becomes a Paul Bunyan type figure.  The tall tales of his gridiron success will become the source of inspiration for future Buckeye players and fans.  He will always be “The Assassin”.

The matriculation of Nebraska to the Big Ten comes not too far removed from recent articles discussing the connection between the programs as they stand now.  For one, Bo Pelini, the current head coach of the Cornhuskers football program, is an Ohio State graduate.  The Youngstown Cardinal Mooney grad was one of Earle Bruce’s last recruits and a special teamer on the 1987 team.  He finished as a starting safety, graduating after the 1990 season.  Pelini became a graduate assistant under Hayden Fry, took a few assistant jobs in the NFL and later established himself as a defensive coordinator at Nebraska and LSU.  He left the bayou after the 2007 season to take over the program at Lincoln.  These topics, and more, came up in this article detailing Osborne’s invitation to Tressel to come tour the program and give a speech at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes function.  Pelini later returned the favor, giving a speech at a coaching clinic at Ohio State.

Howard Cassady has fond memories of the Nebraska Cornhuskers

The most important link between both programs is clearly Tippy Dye, who may be the only the person that will ever hold the distinction of being not just involved, but legendary, in the lore of these two tradition-laden programs.  His Ohio State credentials are readily apparent.  He was a three sport athlete for the Buckeyes, lettering in football, baseball and basketball.  He was all conference in basketball, returning to Ohio State after his pro football days to coach the Buckeye basketball team before leaving for Washington in 1950.  His football credentials may ring a bell.  He quarterbacked the Buckeyes from 1934 to 1936, famously holding the distinction to be the first Buckeye quarterback to beat Michigan three times.  This was a point of conversation during the 2006 season, as Troy Smith was able to match this feat during his successful Heisman campaign.

His Buckeye credentials are obvious, but many may not know how he acquired heralded status in the Nebraska Cornhuskers program.  He arrived in Lincoln in 1962 after a stint as Wichita State’s AD, a position for which he retired from coaching the Washington Huskies basketball team.  He inaugurated his tenure by hiring Bob Devaney to coach the otherwise mid-level Cornhuskers program.  The turnaround was immediate.  In the ten years that Devaney led the Huskers, the program won eight conference championships and two national championships.  One of those national championships, 1970, comes as a result of a Buckeye loss in the Rose Bowl.  It may be fair to wonder how much of that is attributable to Dye.  He was obviously not coaching the team and I think Devaney was even his second or third choice in that particular hiring position.  However, Dye is revered because the success that Devaney was able to achieve comes because of a culture change that Dye brought to Lincoln.  He came to Lincoln to preside over a program that he fully expected, and demanded, to be a national power.  Dye stepped down after 1966 and the Cornhuskers success continued under Devaney and, later, Tom Osborne.  Nevertheless, Dye’s lofty expectations were accomplished and he, the Ohio State graduate and football legend, was instrumental in shaping Nebraska’s winning tradition.

Tippy Dye (b. 1915) is fortunately still with us, as is Bill Glassford (b. 1914) aforementioned.  Two programs — operating in separate conferences, in different and removed stretches of the heartland, and seemingly on different frequencies — have an important mutual history.  Importantly, these connections between Lincoln, Nebraska and Columbus, Ohio may be cemented permanently in a mutual conference as early as this weekend².

1. We’ll ignore how that month and season ended.
2. I definitely look forward to regaling to my kids, in Dana Carvey crabby old man parlance, that, back in my day, the Big Ten used to be 11 members.  And wee liked it… weeeee loved it.

The Buckeyes entered the 1987 season as one of the hottest teams to finish the 1986 season.  After losing the season opener against Alabama in the Kickoff Classic, and following that game with a 40-7 thrashing by the Washington Huskies, the Buckeyes almost won out.  They lost to TSUN to be denied the Rose Bowl, but finished the season with a dominating effort on defense in the Big Ten’s first foray into the Cotton Bowl against heavily favored Texas A&M.  Their reward: a #5 preseason ranking in 1987 and a defense led by veterans like Eric Kumerow, Greg Rogan, William White, David Brown and, the leading tackler in the NCAA in 1986 (206), Chris Spielman.

But what of the offense?  This proved to be a prickly issue in the summer of 1987.  Ohio State lacked any other real option at quarterback in 1987 beyond Tom Tupa, who backed up the departed Jim Karsatos in 1986.  He also served as the team’s punter.  Gone from 1986 was center Bob Maggs, right tackle Jay Shaffer, tight end Jim Taggart and flanker Nate Harris and contributor Jamie Holland.  Tom Tupa was capable, but not an all-American candidate at the position.  They would rely on George Cooper and tailbacks like Vince Workman (starter), James Bryant and newcomer Carlos Snow to move the ball.  Cris Carter, the senior split end, would serve as the get out of jail free card for Tom Tupa.

However, something unexpected happened. Cris Carter was ruled ineligible after it was discovered he had secretly signed with notorious sports agent Norby Walters.  Ohio State decided to not appeal the decision in September and, thus, began the football season without its best player on offense.  The receiving game now featured two new faces as starters: Everett Ross and freshman Tony Cupe, who took over at Carter’s split end position.  Ohio State had to press on.  Meanwhile, Cris Carter, who was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles in the supplemental draft, became a player without a team.  Contract negotiations were still ongoing with the Eagles, his Ohio State career was abruptly over and, thus, he was in the stands with the locals watching the Buckeyes begin what would’ve been his senior season¹.  Their opponent: Major Harris and the West Virginia Mountaineers.

A player without a team in September 1987

Don Nehlen’s Mountaineers squad knew what they had to do, and were aware of what to expect in an Ohio State home opener.  Nehlen himself is an Ohioan, previously having coached high school football in Canton against Massillon, coached by Chris Spielman’s father, Sonny, before moving up the ladder to become head coach of the Mountaineers.  Further, this season opener had a special significance for starting defensive back Terry White for the Mountaineers.  Previously a starter for Earle Bruce, he was booted off the team for what was apparently a disagreement between he and Bruce regarding beer bottles found under White’s bed.  He transferred to West Virginia.  More aware than anyone of what the atmosphere would be like, Terry White desperately wanted this victory.

However, this was possibly the worst start to a game I’ve seen from anyone.  Nehlen later described it as a nightmare.  West Virginia’s John Talley fumbled the opening kickoff, allowing Matthew Frantz to open the game with a field goal lead for Ohio State.  On West Virginia’s first play from scrimmage, after not fumbling the ensuing kickoff, WVU’s AJ Brown fumbled on a running play.  Ohio State recovered and, a few plays later, James Bryant found the end zone for a 10-0 lead.  It got worse.  After an exchange of punts, Tom Tupa’s Buckeye offense put together their only real drive of the game, going 67 yards for a touchdown when Everett Ross slipped behind WVU’s secondary in the end zone.  As for WVU: they could not stop turning the ball over.  Ohio State’s punishing defense ended any drives before they started, usually with an inopportune turnover.  West Virginia had 6 first half turnovers and finished the game with 8.  Six of those eight were interceptions; three were had by William White, two by Chris Spielman (who also had 19 tackles and a FF) and the last by Greg Rogan.  William White returned one of those INTs for six to ultimately conclude the game in the 4th quarter.  In fact, the six interceptions, at the time, was second in Ohio State football history, behind the seven interceptions netted in a 60-0 romp of the New York University Violets in 1936.

A dominating performance on defense to be sure, but the 1987 season opener seemed to create more questions than it answered.  Given how bad West Virginia was on offense, and how often they put their own defense behind the 8 ball, it should be surprising the Buckeyes could not score into the 30s or the 40s.  In fact, any extended drive would’ve been welcome.  Instead, the Buckeye offense sputtered badly down the stretch, grateful for the fact that the “nightmarish” first quarter for WVU was enough to secure the victory.  The Buckeye offense began the game nicely.  Tom Tupa incorporated a lot of short roll-outs to begin the game, easing Cupe and Ross into the game with short passes against soft zone coverage.  When appropriate, the Buckeyes fed the ball to George Cooper and Vince Workman on short yardage situations.  The tide turned in the second quarter and carried through the rest of the game.  Cooper and Workman weren’t picking up big chunks of yards, WVU’s defensive line had taken away their running lanes, Cupe and Ross were getting easily locked down and Tupa had lost his rhythm.  The Ohio State offense had a meager 149 yards in the first half, understandable considering the short field they usually had.  However, no excuse remained for their 64 yard second half effort.

The Buckeyes did not suffer for it against WVU, but promised a better effort.  They arguably did not get that the next week in a 24-14 victory over Oregon.  Afterward, they slid to 7th in the AP.  The next week, they drew LSU 13-13 in Baton Rouge and slid to 9th.  The next week, they scored 10 against Illinois in a 10-6 victory, but only 10 the next week against the Hoosiers in a 31-10 loss.  After consecutive victories over Purdue and Minnesota, a 3 game losing stretch against Michigan State, Wisconsin and Iowa cost Earle Bruce his job.  The season ended with a victory over TSUN, a bittersweet moment that brought Bruce’s time as Buckeye head coach to a close.

So yes, this is not exactly a game that many dwell on and is arguably not worth as many words as I have just said about it.  But I love finding games like these and adding them to my collection.  Buckeye fans, as a microcosm of the broader human phenomenon, have limited cognitive capacities.  There’s only so much they can internalize in the grand informational deluge of Ohio State football.  Rose Bowl victories, victories over Michigan, Big Ten and national championships are always cherished.  The intricate details of some of these finer moments — say: David Boston’s post-TD strut, Jake Ballard’s catch, Clarett’s strip, Cie Grant’s blitz, Archie Griffin’s pre-Heisman run in 1974, Will Allen’s pick, Gonzo’s catch in 2005 and so on — are the things that go on posters hung in your office and entertainment room.  Still, I’m always fascinated when I can find a game like this and have someone post a comment saying something to the effect of “Oh my God I remember watching William White pick-six Mike Timko to end that game”.  So, hopefully it brought back some good moments for you.

Game is below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhgxpbHygmE

Appendix

• My copy of the game was carried by WPXI-TV 11 in Pittsburgh, but was calling itself “The Big Ten Network”.  You even hear this in the final seconds of the game.  The crew for this game was Jim Simpson, Steve Davis and Gene Washington (sideline).  They would frequently call into Dave Diles live from a studio in Champaign, IL and frequently check in on a Mississippi State-Tennessee game.  Does this ring a bell for anyone?  I’m interested to know more but cannot find anything on it.
• The son of the aforementioned Terry White, Patrick White, is now on Michigan State’s roster.
• Play us out, Neutron Man…

My policy: if for any reason you have a problem with Neutron Man (RIP), I hate you.

1. He was even interviewed during halftime in a very, very uncomfortable interview.

Ohio State’s presence in this bowl game is unique beyond that.  Our older readers may remember that 1982, the first year post-Schlichter, was problematic.  A 3 game losing streak to the likes of John Elway’s Stanford Cardinal, up-and-comer Florida State and, arguably the most embarrassing, a 6-nil loss to Wisconsin soured things in Columbus.  All three losses were at home and their cumulative effect led to the temporary benching of starting quarterback and Schlichter successor Mike Tomczak in favor of junior QB Brent Offenbecher.  The season got back on track the next week at Illinois and continued until the season finale against Michigan.  The 1982 clash between Michigan and Ohio State is also worth noting.  Michigan was undefeated in the Big Ten while Ohio State had the aforementioned loss to Wisconsin.  Should Ohio State win, they would share the conference championship and get the bid to Pasadena, right? Wrong. Thanks to a scheduling quirk, Michigan actually played all 9 other conference teams in 1982 while Ohio State only played 8.  Even if Ohio State won, Michigan would retain the overall winning percentage and thus entered the game knowing they had the Rose Bowl in hand.  Ohio State, for its part, was able to take that out on the field and get bragging rights, winning 24-14.  Nevertheless, Ohio State had to settle for the at-large bid to San Diego to play the WAC champion Brigham Young Cougars, led by Steve Young².

Brigham Young moved the ball down the field with ease to begin the game, suggesting that Ohio State’s secondary — the weak link of 1981 and hence the transition from DB coach Nick Saban to Dom Capers — was simply not accustomed to seeing a team with an offensive scheme like Lavell Edwards employed in Provo.  Likewise, after Brigham Young missed the field goal to end that first drive, it became clear that Brigham Young was simply not accustomed to seeing a team as overly physical as Ohio State was.  Ohio State raced down the field on their first drive and got a field goal.  Steve Young, probably the best player on the field that night of any team, responded by finding Neil Balholm for 6 and a 7-3 lead.  3 plays later, Tim Spencer broke free for a 61 yard touchdown.  The Buckeyes never looked back.  Ohio State’s offensive line dictated the tempo of the game, allowing Tim Spencer to power forward for 167 yards, 2 TDs on 21 carries en route to MVP honors.  Jimmy Gayle contributed another 2 touchdowns in his 17 carry, 80 yard performance. With Brigham Young focused on stopping the run up the middle, the passing game opened up when Ohio State wanted it.  Gary Williams had 5 catches for 83 yards in his final game as a Buckeye.  Tomczak, so maligned in the 3 game losing streak, made no mistakes (11/19, 132 yards) and contributed a touchdown on a designed bootleg rollout.  At the end of the game, Lavell Edwards said Ohio State was the most physical team he had seen in his (then) 12 years as a head coach.  Meanwhile, Ohio State’s 345 yard, 47 point assault qualified as the best offensive night in Buckeye bowl history to that point.  Ohio State has had games with more yards since, but the 47 points stands as most in Ohio State bowl history.

The game is below, complete with the 17pt 3rd quarter outburst that made it a rout.  What you don’t see in this clip is just how violent Ohio State’s defense got with Steve Young.  You’ll see the final hit the Buckeyes got on Young, where Garcia Lane and Dave Crecelius high-lowed him.  There were more.  Young got yards on big plays; he finished with 341 yards passing.  However, for most of the game, Ohio State’s secondary were able to take away Brigham Young’s receivers and, then, it was essentially open season for the Buckeye pass rush.  Marcus Marek, the all-time great linebacker for Ohio State, almost made good on his quasi-promise to hold Brigham Young to under 10 points when they were averaging almost 33 a game.  There were big hits here and I may make that another video. Until then, you can see my compilation below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GhWtZ92DyQ

Miscellany

The game was in full blown rout mode early in the 4th quarter, and with Ohio State driving.  During an Ohio State huddle, the camera panned to The Best Damn Band in the Land doing something that… well… can best be described as some variation of an elephant walk to the eye of this observer.

Your guess is as good as mine here...

To be honest, I… I have no idea. I’m only 25 and I don’t know if this was something that was popular in 1982. Whatever it is, I’m oddly okay if The Best Damn Band in the Land wants to bring it back in the near future… just as I’m okay with the possibility of Ohio State bringing back the INSECT ROBOT.

1. Lee Corso’s Hoosiers were first in 1979.
2. Michigan played  UCLA in the Rose Bowl — who beat them in the season in Ann Arbor — and losing to them again.  Burn in hell Michigan.

My friend, college roommate and two-time district qualifier at Reynoldsburg¹ Ben was instrumental in this trip.  I talked with him a bit before this trip, well aware that we’d probably be doing our late evening socializing (read: drinking) at Halftime Tavern.  In the weeks leading up to my flight, he innocently said that Pete Johnson was a regular at that bar and that he orchestrates cook-outs for road games.  Yes, that Pete Johnson.  Yes, 58 career rushing touchdowns Pete Johnson.  Those that follow the blog know my interest in Pete Johnson, beyond the mere fact that he was the fullback for Archie Griffin.  Rather, he was an instrumental element of the Fab Four backfield of the mid-70s.  Comprised of Cornelius Greene, Pete Johnson, Archie Griffin and Brian Baschnagel, the Fab Four backfield was such that an offense built around any one of them would straight up beat you.  Their aggregate product simply meant they would beat you badly.  1975 is a case in point.  It was an offense that led to a second Heisman for Archie, scoring records for Pete Johnson (25 TDs) and could drive you nuts on end-arounds for Baschnagel and scrambles and keepers for Flam.  So, yeah: the prospect of even being in the same bar as one of those guys was enough to get me excited.  In spite of being a meek and uninteresting guy, I tried to tell my friends that I was going to meet him and, at the least, shake his hand and thank him for his contributions (and he contributed a lot) to the lore of Ohio State football.  My friends, who get to see him regularly at Halftime, were kind of amused that I geeked out as much as I did.

My friend Ben gets a lot of credit for this.  Since Ben is much more social than I am and able to accomplish far more in social settings than I can, he whistled over someone in charge at Halftime Tavern, introducing me as his friend and saying that I was dying to meet Pete Johnson.  At the least, he said he’d make it happen and that Pete Johnson was approachable.  I didn’t even need that much.  When we showed up at Halftime Tavern about a half hour before kickoff, we saw Pete Johnson and his friends setting up shop for the cookout.  They were arranging tables, setting up the food for the bar employees and laying out the door prizes on a table for the raffle that I did not anticipate.  Among the door prizes was an autographed picture of a #48.  My friend Ben saw it and shouted over to me “hey, who’s this #48?”.  Who do you think it was; it was the patron saint of this blog and the Buckstache king himself Brian Baschnagel.  As I came up to the table, I was expecting he was referring to Baschnagel and, when I saw that it was indeed an autographed picture of Baschnagel, I very audibly began to give my friend a hard time for not knowing about Brian Dale Baschnagel, the famed wingback of the Fab Four backfield, one of the biggest contributors of that famed 1972 recruiting class and, likely, the greatest football player to come from North Allegheny SHS.  As soon as I said this, Pete Johnson comes up to me and, pleasantly surprised, asks how I know about Brian Baschnagel and how I know that much about him.

Yes, Brian Baschnagel was my icebreaker for talking with Pete Johnson.

You wish you were Brian Baschnagel

I expressed my interest in that backfield to him and, fully aware of who he was, I began asking questions and expressing my interest in the players that he played with.  Lots of names came up and Pete said that he tries to keep in contact with all of them on a regular basis.  I was pleased to hear that most people he’s able to keep in contact with are doing well.  Corny is doing well; Baschnagel is living well in Glenview, Illinois as Pat Forde knows now.  The moment turned a little sour when he mentioned Ken Kuhn, who sadly committed suicide in November 2006.  He seemed to genuinely miss the Kuhndog.  The tone of the conversation turned upward when I asked him about his relationship with Woody Hayes.  There’s not a day goes by, says Pete, where he doesn’t think of Woody Hayes.  I asked him about what we hear of his aggressive coaching demeanor.  Specifically, I brought up the Tom Skladany quote of “You were afraid of him as a freshman, you hated him as a sophomore, liked him as a junior, and loved him as a senior”, as quoted in Woody’s Boys.  For Pete, there was never a doubt.  He loved him from the moment he stepped on campus.

To be sure, there were whimsical stories.  I asked him about Woody summoning Pete Johnson into his office on a Sunday after what I believe was his 5 TD outburst against North Carolina.  It was an occasion where Woody grabbed Pete Johnson by the shirt and advised him that, should he see the reporter who wrote so glowingly about his performance, he should hit him for trying to make him weak.  Pete laughed after recounting that story.  He even reminisced about why Woody Hayes admonished him for having signed with West Virginia.  For Woody, that was like choosing a Ford over a Cadillac.  The one story he mentioned that I did not know involves the 1976 Penn State game.  I’ll try to recount this as accurately as I can remember it, in order to do justice to the story.   As the Buckeyes were getting ready to travel to Happy Valley in 1976 to play the Nittany Lions, there was an inclement weather scare (fog, I think) that posed a risk of getting to State College by air.  When confronted with what to do, Woody mulled his options for a second and then came to a conclusion: “send in the second team first”, since this was an era when first and second teams arrived at road games separately, apparently.  I thought it was humorous.  It got a laugh out of my dad when I told him, since he has business experience in State College.

It wasn’t too long before he had to go attend to other stuff while I had to go call my dad and make him feel jealous that I’ve now met one half of the Fab Four backfield².  Further, it was just about game time and, well, I had to watch.  Periodically, Pete Johnson and his friends would announce some raffle prizes.  I bought tickets from one of Pete’s friends when we came in, especially after seeing an autographed picture of Brian Baschnagel as one of the available prizes.  It’s how I also won an autographed picture of Brian Brown, which was also one of the door prizes.  At half, I was enjoying my beer talking with Ben and Nick about the game to that point when Pete Johnson summoned me to his table.  Yes, Pete Johnson summoned me.

Rock.

We started chatting again, the substance of which mostly involving topics of my curiosity.  I was able to finally find out what brought him north to New York (where he finished HS) from Peachtree County, where he was born.  It was essentially family considerations.  I asked him about the recruiting process, mostly curious to hear from him about how it operated for him and compare it with what I know now.  It was interesting to hear him talk about how early Auburn started recruiting him, how most people confused him for a senior when he was a sophomore, and how all the southern schools followed him to New York.  In hindsight, I should’ve asked him about Bobby Bowden.  Bobby Bowden was head coach at West Virginia and had originally signed Pete Johnson before Johnson eventually headed to Ohio State.  Part of me also wanted to bring up his name.  Pete Johnson wasn’t always Pete Johnson.  He enrolled as Willie James Hammock.  Interesting as I think that discussion would be, at least for my own gnostic endeavors, it seems like the intricacies of identity and self-labeling may have been a bit much for a bar discussion during intermission of an Ohio State-Penn State game.

All the while, his friends that were with him at the table seemed genuinely stunned that I knew so much about him.  That was kinda cool if I was reading their reaction and their comments correctly.

It didn’t take long before the second half of the game started, and I wanted to get back to my table in front of the TV, obsess about every play and Zach Boren blowing up Sean Lee, and bask in the glow of me being in the same bar with Pete Johnson.  I told Pete before I left that I had my eyes on some of his raffle prizes.  The two gems were still remaining: the autographed Brian Baschnagel pic aforementioned, as well as a 16×20 drawing of the Fab Four backfield autographed (not sure if it was a genuine autograph or a facsimile) by Corny, Archie, Pete and Baschnagel.  He assured me that, after the game, if one of my tickets was called, I could just go up and take it.

It was a great second half, as I’m sure you all remember.  Ben and I, as well friends Nick, Chris, Adam, Joe, Dude (hand to God, it’s his name) and others, watched as the Buckeyes eventually turned a tight game into a delightful occasion for chestbumps and high-fives.  Everybody won that night, and it felt great to finally be back among friends… in a safe place, a happy place.  However, to really win that night, I had to get either (or both) the autographed Baschnagel pic or the fab four drawing.  Since the game was over, any ticket number of mine that was called would allow me to go up to the table and snatch one of them.  I just needed one, but it wasn’t forthcoming.  With each ticket being called, some of the better prizes disappeared.  Fortunately, Ben let me know something; most people at the bar had different preferences than me.  Seriously, as the tickets were getting called, people were taking such odd prizes as a Washington Redskins feaux-eyeblack kit over the things that I so greatly coveted³.

While that was undeniably true — and, for me, one of the most unconscionable things I have seen all year, it still remained that prizes were disappearing and it was only a matter of time before someone took one (or both!) of the things that I coveted so badly.  Sure enough, one of the tickets called was one of Pete Johnson’s friends.  She took: the fab four drawing.  Whoever got the next ticket it seemed was poised to take something that I felt was my destiny to have: the autographed 8×10 pic of Brian D. Baschnagel.  The ticket called wasn’t mine.  But it was one of a few that my friend Chris had.  Fortunately, Chris had the heart to select the Baschnagel pic and give it to me to enjoy, as a gift.  No doubt, this was the most charitable act done by anyone this decade⁴.  I emerged a winner this night.  The Buckeyes handled Penn State in Happy Valley.  With the Northwestern upset of Iowa earlier that same day, the Buckeyes were now in the position to clinch the Big Ten’s BCS bid with a victory the next week against Iowa.  Now, I had an autographed picture of Brian Baschnagel… that I got (indirectly) from Pete Johnson.

Rock.

That wasn’t all, though.  My friends and I eventually began to pile out to get a bite to eat after an exhausting day of drinking.  Before I left, I went up to Pete Johnson, shook his hand, thanked him, asked him if I could get a picture taken to show my Facebook friends in Alabama how awesome my life is for having had the honor of meeting Pete Johnson⁵.  Afterwards, I turned around to leave before Pete Johnson summoned me back.  He asked one of his friends to get a spare card of his, a blown up 5×7 Topps card of his playing days with the Bengals.  He asked me what my name was and signed it accordingly and gave it to me.  A memento of my trip to Ohio.  Perfect.  He asked me what I do, certainly in Alabama.  I also told him about my blog and I think one of his friends wrote down the address.  I told him essentially that I worship him, Baschnagel and his other teammates.  I think he told me he’d tell Baschnagel about the weird kid from Alabama who knows so damn much about him and the website he runs.  I’m not sure if he did, but just him telling me that was awesome.

A winnar is me.

It’s a little belated, but I wanted to thank my friends in Ohio for the experience.  Friends and family are the most important things in my life, and it’s really all I’m left with outside of my own cognitive faculties.  It’s just wonderful to know that the common thread underlying all friends and family is The Ohio State University and it’s why my passion for the university and its relevant extensions, no matter how obsessive it is, continues to grow.  So: Ben, Nick, Chris, Adam, Dude, Dave, Joe, Nikki, LT, Tina, Lauren, Brennan, Sprinkle⁶ and anyone else whose name I may have forgotten after a month back in the grind: thank you.  I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.

The remaining thoughts can be wrapped up in Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger form.

Tip of the Hat

• The main library.  This was finally my opportunity to see the finished product and it did not disappoint.  My friend Nick and I took the entire day of Friday just to wander around campus.  Ben tried to join us, but was held up at work.  The library was just stunning.  It was the perfect blend of both the feel of a library and the feel of a museum.  Prospective students were being led around the library to check it out and, well, if I was one of them, I would’ve “committed” on the spot.
• Halftime Tavern. I think Ben is going to send me a curious e-mail for saying this, but I loved the gameday experience of the bar beyond the fact that Pete Johnson was there.  The bartenders were pleasant.  Relevant management types were pleasant and fun to talk to and, well, Pete Johnson is always there.  Yes, the Pete Johnson.  That’s not all they have for local attractions.  They announced they were going to have Dee Miller, Michael Wiley, Craig Krenzel and… umm… someone else I’m forgetting for the Michigan game.  They must have been there, just hanging around being Dee Miller, Michael Wiley and Craig Krenzel (and someone else that I’m forgetting).  If you’re in Columbus, I’d recommend it.  If I lived in Columbus, I’d hang out there to watch every road game.
• Eddie George Bar and Grill.  I never went in while I was a student.  It wasn’t open that long before I graduated.  It’s not a must-have experience, but where else are you going to get wall-to-wall Ohio State stuff, and on the TV as well, during the middle of a day?  Maybe I’m easily amused, but remember where I live.
• Terrelle Pryor.  After a lunch at Eddie George’s Bar and Grill on South Campus Gateway, I was chatting with Nick before he turned up and said “is that Terrelle Pryor?”.  “Where?”, I asked.  “Over there in the suit walking out of Finish Line”.  Yep, ‘sno ’nuff.  It was Terrelle Pryor, at about 2:00pm, on a Friday, the day before a road game, walking out of Finish Line in a suit.  He hopped into his car (it looked to be a Dodge Charger, but I’m not good with cars) and peeled out, but not before I was witness.  Neat.  If I had to guess, he bought those sneakers before immediately racing over to the team jet and flying to State College.  It was the same gray suit he was wearing after the game.
• Zisis Sarikopoulos.  Saw the 7 foot transfer from Alabama-Birmingham wandering around High Street.  He was wearing about 3 hooded sweatshirts and his lettermen in what was like 50 degree weather.  It seemed a bit much, but it was cool to see.
• El Caballo de Sangre.  Nick and I were in between social things before heading over to Ben’s to, well, drink some more.  Before we did that, I stopped by to chat with blog regular El Caballo.  We talked about some anxieties for the game and reminisced about some of the more esoteric elements of early Cooper-era Buckeye football, specifically Robert Smith and Butler By’not’e.  Caballo was fun to talk to and it was a pleasure to meet one of the people I otherwise just interact through with this medium.

Wag of the Finger

• Whoever was responsible for that huge car wreck on I-20/I-59 between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.  I don’t know what tanker had the bright idea to lose control and tip over on the stretch of highway adjacent to Bessemer, but, dude, the ensuing chaos chewed up the next 3 exits of highway.  I lost an hour in the gridlock and almost missed my flight.  Dude, seriously, selfish.
• Sloppy Donkey.  Larry’s you are not and your logo is in incredibly poor taste.  I will see you in hell accordingly.
• People at Halftime Tavern not paying attention to the game. Amateurs.  I expect that nonsense in Alabama, but there’s nothing more important than Ohio State football when it’s on the damn TV in front of you.  Put down the miniature basketball and cornhole and pay attention.
• Man on the flight from Atlanta to Birmingham. He was reading Twilight (Strike 1), on a Kindle (Strike 2) and, after getting the complimentary drink, he promptly spilled it all over me while I was admiring my then unframed autographed Pete Johnson card (Strike 3).  If any had hit the Pete Johnson card, the ensuing homicide would’ve been so fast that the Guinness World Record it would’ve resulted in would’ve given me instant prison cred for the manslaughter I committed.  It didn’t help him that he kept invading my space to make way for his frame.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience, one that makes me wish I lived a little closer to what I consider home.  Parents are going to retire from Los Angeles to Ohio within a few years and I hope to be nearby within the next few years as well.

1. Don’t believe me? Just ask him.  He’ll tell you.
2. Archie and I crossed paths many-a time in the fall of 2005.
3. Use of this verb is intentional. Inside joke.
4. …and that is no lie nor hyperbole.  Ben was right in saying that if any of them had their ticket called, they would’ve gotten it for me.  I have great friends and I’m thankful for Chris giving me the Baschnagel pic.
5. I’m hoping Chris finds this, because he took one of the pics.
6. Absent from the festivities, but there in spirit.

In an earlier post looking back at the 1975 game between these two — the first win for Ohio State in the series, I made reference to just how unfortunately one-sided this series was for Ohio State.  The losses in 1912, 1956, 1963 and 1964 were sufficiently hard to swallow.  Worse yet, they were all at home.  When the Nitts and the Buckeyes renewed the series in 1975, it came with the stipulation that the Buckeyes would pay a visit to Beaver Stadium the year after.  This year, 1976, was a transition for Ohio State.  Woody’s vaunted recruiting class of 1972 had all graduated.  Gone were 3 year starter Cornelius Greene and 4 year starter, 2 time Heisman winner Archie Griffin, dependable mainstay Brian Baschnagel and, most importantly, Brian Baschnagel’s Buckstache.  Their replacements were a couple of players unlikely to resonate among Buckeye fans who followed the team in the years earlier.  Rod Gerald, a sophomore, took over at QB for the senior Corny Greene while Jeff Logan, Griffin’s understudy, had the unenviable task of having to follow one of the greatest to play the game.  Gerald and Logan were the names of interests considering the positions they were filling, but Ohio State’s offensive line was in transition as well.  Only left tackle Chris Ward and right guard Bill Lukens returned from the 1975 team.  All in all, the Buckeyes returned only one other starter from the 1975 team: the rolling boulder of butcher knives himself, Pete Johnson. After a season-opening demolition of Michigan State, a game in which Jeff Logan scored 3 TDs, a very green Ohio State team had to go on the road into a then-record Beaver Stadium crowd of 62,503 to play Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions.

You wish you were Brian Baschnagel

Everyone in the stadium knew what Ohio State was going to want to do.  With a very green team and an inclination to treat the forward pass as high tech sorcery, the Buckeyes were going to feed the ball to the dependable senior fullback and walking nightmare Pete Johnson in hopes of moving the chains.  Everyone in the stadium, including Joe Paterno and staff, were wrong.  Granted, there was nothing going for Ohio State’s offense in the first quarter, and thus few opportunities to feed the big man.  Nevertheless, Johnson didn’t get his first carry until midway through the second quarter.  Instead, Woody Hayes put the ball in the hands of the new faces Gerald and Logan in hopes that they would be baptized by fire.  It took awhile, but an inopportune interception of a John Andress pass for Micky Shuler by Archie’s younger brother, Ray, set up a 9 play, 82 yard touchdown march that occupied all of 3:40 because of a huge gain by Jeff Logan.  It was capped off by a power play on the keeper for Gerald and a 6-0 Ohio State lead.  Penn State tried to respond in the waning moments of the second quarter, but a fumble in Ohio State’s red zone sealed  the 6-0 lead for Ohio State at intermission.  Better yet, the Buckeyes were to begin the second half with the ball, and momentum.

There’s two ways of looking at this game and why Penn State lost.  If you’re a Penn State fan, you undeniably left points on the field.  2 turnovers in Ohio State’s red zone were critical buzzkills for the Beaver Stadium faithful.  John Andress struggled this young season, but was having success throwing the ball against Ohio State’s secondary.  Penn State’s offensive line was admirably holding up Ohio State’s front 5 of Bob Brudzinski, Nick Buonamici, Aaron Brown, Eddie Beamon and Kelton Dansler.  Further, the Buckeyes took awhile to get going on offense and it’s quite conceivable that Penn State could’ve put Ohio State in a 14-0 hole and force the new kids on Ohio State’s offense to play catch-up.  Important as those turnovers were, I feel Penn State lost this game in the 3rd quarter.  Penn State ran 4 plays in the 3rd quarter.  After Ohio State consumed the first 8 minutes and 23 seconds of the third quarter on a drive that ended in a missed FG, Penn State took over at their own 20.  Matt Suhey, freshman fullback for Penn State, got a first down on the first carry.  Penn State punted 3 plays later.  Ohio State ran out the rest of the third quarter, ultimately ending their drive with yet another missed FG a few minutes into the 4th quarter.

This missed FG was critical as Penn State’s return man for the short field goal inadvertently dropped his knee on the 3 yard line trying to return the missed kick.  Penn State went 3 and out, and punted.  Ohio State, for their efforts, had excellent field position.  A couple minutes later, seldom used walk-on honor roll student Bob Hyatt scored the game’s second touchdown on an option left.  Penn State was able to respond by finally finding the end zone to cut the lead to 12-7, but Penn State had the misfortune of having to kick back to the ball control offense from hell.  Jeff Logan absolutely dashed Penn State’s run defense this game.  He didn’t have the 3 TD effort he had against Sparty the week earlier, but the 25 carry 160 yard performance was the game’s best.  Jeff Logan moving the chains with relative ease allowed Pete Johnson to pick up the 3rd and 1s in the second half.  Rod Gerald’s legerdemain with the ball helped as well.  Penn State kicked off after their TD drive with 6 minutes left and all of their timeouts.  By time they got the ball back, they had no timeouts and only 1 minute and 40 seconds left to work with.  John Andress threw an interception to end the game.

The game is below, if you’re interested.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD-e0a84qMs

Miscellany

• This was in the heyday of the tear-aways.  The reason Bob Hyatt scored the TD was because starter Jim Harrell was having to get his tear-away replaced.
• On that note: no tear-away can contain Jeff Logan.  Just watch, you’ll see.  You’ll see.
• Woody Hayes imposed a week-long ban on himself talking to the press before this game.  He naturally lifted it to gloat a bit.
• In doing so, Woody did not mince words when expressing his remorse for losing Matt Suhey to Penn State.  Suhey was the object of a recruiting battle between Joe Paterno and Woody Hayes.  Hayes explicitly told Suhey that he wanted him to be the post-Pete Johnson fullback.  He would’ve been a good one.
• Joe Paterno is legendary for the second (maybe third? Hell if I know) generation Nittany Lions he has.  Presently, three Nittany Lions that played in this game have sons (that I could identify) that will play against Ohio State on Saturday.  Micky Shuler, TE in the 1976 game, has a son who is also a tight end.  Matt Suhey’s son, Joe, also plays for the Nitts right now.  Rich Mauti, a split end in this game, has two sons on the Penn State roster at the moment.
• Rather than shake hands with Paterno, Woody ran right for an Ohio State fan (family member?) at the tunnel and immediately left for the locker room.  I’m a bit busy, so I didn’t watch Joe Paterno’s interview after the game.  I think Paterno may have been asked a question about it.
• Penn State’s snap count on offense was — and I’m not making this up — “Ready, set, GO!”

1. I ain’t playing with ya, Ben.  You’re on notice.
2. I thought about uploading the San Jose State game from 2002.

Ohio State’s offense started this game slowly, punting on their first two possessions. They got their breakthrough when a botched snap stymied Purdue’s field goal attempt on their second drive of the game.  Ohio State took over and promptly drove half the field en route to a QB draw and TD for Rex Kern.  They responded on their next drive with a field goal and a 9-0 lead.  Afterwards, the flood gates broke for Purdue’s defense and offense.  Mike Phipps threw an interception to Tim Anderson that was returned to the Purdue 5 before the ball was walked back because of Jack Tatum’s block in the back.  No matter, Ohio State marched down the field and took it in for six and a 15-0 lead².  Mike Phipps threw another INT on Purdue’s next drive, this time to Mike Sensibaugh.  After the runback put the ball within the Purdue’s 5, a Kern dive led Ohio State to a 22-0 lead.  Purdue punted on their next possession and, a few plays into the Ohio State drive, Rex Kern threw the rare forward pass for a 39 yard bomb to Jan White and score.  Purdue did return the ensuing kickoff for a TD to cut the lead to 28-7, and Rex Kern followed that with the dumbest possible interception to give Purdue the ball in scoring position.  Fortunately, Mike Phipps found the waiting arms of Mike Sensibaugh, again, for his third interception of the game³.  A Kern kneel brought the Buckeyes into intermission not having punted since their second possession of the first quarter.  They had just bombarded the #10 team in the country, led by the conference’s most prolific quarterback (and eventual Big Ten MVP and Heisman runner-up), and were not going to let up when they came back from halftime.

Purdue started the second half with the ball, but quickly punted.  Leo Hayden’s 59 yard scamper set up his eventual goal line score, giving Ohio State a 35-7 lead,  Purdue set up to punt on their next possession.  Larry Zelina took it to the house, putting the margin at 42-7 with 10 minutes and 58 seconds left in the third quarter.  This was essentially the backbreaker for Purdue.  Ohio State, who last punted on their second drive of the game, would not punt again until the end of the third quarter.  Meanwhile, Mike Phipps — the all-everything quarterback of the offensive juggernaut Purdue Boilermakers — was finding the turf and Ohio State defenders as much as he was finding his receiving options.  Jim Stillwagon was unblockable; Mike Sensibaugh, Tree Provost and Tim Anderson were everywhere where they were not welcome; Larry Zelina was a first down every time he touched the ball, Jim Otis knocked two Purdue defenders out on a goal-line score and Jack Tatum was clotheslining people.  Even Woody Hayes, who usually had his starters play close to the length of the game, started to substitute liberally in the third quarter.  The backup QB — Ron Maciejowski — played almost the entire 4th quarter.  Purdue’s mighty offense would only get on the scoreboard with a garbage time TD for Mike Phipps with under 2 minutes left to play in the game.  When the final gun sounded, Ohio State had routed the #10 Boilermakers in a performance that the New York Times described as frightening.

The quality of this game isn’t very good.  It is, after all, a radio feed spliced in with coaches footage.  Nevertheless, this game is one of my favorites in my possession.  As you watch this, I think you see the death of one era and the beginning of another.  If you’re watching this game and see that it’s Purdue during the “Big 2 Little 8″ era and think that we had just routed a conference patsy, you’d be mistaken.  Purdue was damn good this year.  Their only loss this season came to freshman coach Bo Schembechler’s Wolverines.  They averaged 35 points a game.  If you factor out the Michigan and Ohio State losses, that number goes into the high 40s.  They beat Jim Plunkett’s Stanford Cardinal in a thriller and housed Notre Dame whose only other loss would be to the hands of the national champion Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl.  Mike Phipps was a Heisman runner-up for a reason.  This was the height of Purdue’s “Quarterback U” era, where the Boilermakers were led by Bob Griese, Mike Phipps and, our ol’ buddy, Gary Danielson in succession.  They were one of the best teams of the Big Ten in the late 60s and Ohio State beat the hell out of them this game.  Afterwards, Purdue’s legendary coach Jack Mollenkopf stepped down, and was replaced Bob DeMoss.  DeMoss won 13 games in 3 years and was replaced by Alex Agasse, who won 18 games in 4 years.  Buckeye and Wolverines fans know about the “Big 2 Little 8″ era of Big Ten football, where the 10 Year War decided the conference’s fate.  Basically, Purdue was the last domino to fall.  Michigan State, Purdue (and to some degree: Indiana) all had some success in the mid to late 1960s, but the Spartans and Hoosiers were middle of the pack at best by the end of the decade.  Purdue held on to success later than the rest.  After this game, Mollenkopf’s Boilers had their swan song against the Hoosiers (a 44-21 win), but this game against the Buckeyes may have been the death nail.

Game is below, if you’re interested.  And, no, we’re not going to talk about the Ohio State game that came after this one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=01msx4zW7uY

1. ‘amemba him, Browns fans?
2. Ohio State missed 3 point afters this game.
3. He apparently finished with 5, but I could only locate 4.

This was the early 1970s and, for Big Ten football historians, it was just about the height of the “Big 2, Little 8″ era of the conference.  Only Ohio State and Michigan represented the conference in Pasadena for the entire decade.  Further, it was also a period when neither Ohio State nor Michigan had much success in Pasadena when they got there.  Ohio State had only one Rose Bowl win in 6 tries; Michigan never won.  The nadir of this Rose Bowl futility came in 1972, when the #3-ranked Buckeyes upset an undefeated Michigan team 14-11¹ to earn the right to the Rose Bowl, only to be demolished in the second half by Sam “Bam” Cunningham and the Trojans in a second-half rout.  With it, the Trojans used the shellacking of #3-ranked Big Ten champions to secure their own no. 1 ranking and win the national title.

A year later, fate had conspired the two national powers back to Pasadena for round 2 to culminate the 1973 season.  USC didn’t seem to be in a position to repeat as national champion.  Ranked #7 in the AP, they suffered an important loss to Notre Dame² who was in a position for a national championship, pending the outcome of the Sugar Bowl with Alabama³.  However, they had swept through the Pac 8 to earn the right to defend their Rose Bowl crown.  Ohio State, on the other hand, was in a position to claim a national championship… that is: was.  The #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes were only able to draw Michigan, 10-10, in Ann Arbor and fell from their top spot as a result.  That draw actually forced a vote among the conference’s athletic directors on who would represent the conference in the Rose Bowl⁴.  There was no national title talk for the previously #1 ranked Buckeyes because, unlike Notre Dame and Alabama, it wasn’t clear they were even going to a bowl game.  John Hicks, the All-American tackle for Ohio State, recounted that Woody just kind of assumed that the conference’s ADs would vote in Michigan.  In all his paranoia (and for that we love him), Woody worked under the assumption that the conference brass always favored Michigan and would cut them a break wherever possible.  Indeed, there was good reason to believe that was what would happen.  Ohio State had just gone to the Rose Bowl before, and they were actually slighted once in a similar situation where Michigan State got the nod from the conference’s ADs in 1955 over Ohio State because Ohio State had already been to the Rose Bowl.  Further, Michigan was the lesser-ranked team who didn’t lose to the top-ranked Buckeyes (even though they didn’t win).  However, the Big Ten opted to send Ohio State out to Pasadena again in a move for which Bo Schembechler was always bitter⁵.  Now ranked #3, the Buckeyes ostensibly didn’t seem to have a chance at a national championship if they won this game.  Instead, they had a chance at redemption.

If Ohio State was going to slow down a defending national title team that had the likes of Pat Haden, Lynn Swann and Anthony Davis on offense, they were going to rely on their defense heavily this game.  Simply put, the 1973 defense were world-beaters and, certainly, tops in the country.  The starting XI on defense is a veritable who’s who of some of the best ever at their respective positions.  The linebacker corp consisted of Randy Gradishar, Rick Middleton and Vic Koegel.  Van De Cree and Pete Cusick were in the front four, and were joined by Arnie Jones and Jim Cope.  Neal Colzie, probably the best Ohio State CB of the decade, led the back four unit consisting of Steve Luke, Tim Fox and Rick Parsons.  With their powers combined, they were… well… immovable.  The Buckeyes had conceded only 43 points the entire year before meeting USC in the Rose Bowl.  23 of those 43 points came in the final two games against Iowa (a 55-13 victory) and Michigan (10-10 tie).  They pitched 4 shutouts in the season, including 3 straight against Nerdwestern, Illinois and Michigan State.  Texas Christian and Washington State managed to at least get a field goal in their respective 37-3 and 27-3 losses.  Hell, Minnesota and Indiana even managed a touchdown in their games against Ohio State, to bring their respective 56-7 and 37-7 losses to some kind of respectability.  In short, these guys were good… damn good.

The 1974 Rose Bowl began much like the 1973 Rose Bowl before it did.  Both teams seemed to be evenly matched in the first half.  Whereas the defenses held in the first half in the 1973 Rose Bowl, this game featured fireworks from the respective of offenses.  Specifically, it was Cornelius  Greene, “Flam” to his friends, who vexed the Trojans defense with the high-tech sorcery of the day (in the Midwest, at least) known as the “forward pass”.  USC was keenly aware of the fullback tandem of Bruce Elia and true freshman Pete Johnson and, obviously, were aware of Archie Griffin.  The dazzling sophomore, who finished 6th in the Heisman ballot⁶, was 3rd in the nation in rushing an average of 142.8 yards a game.  Further, Corny Greene was obviously billed as a runner, but was thought to be limited in the passing game.  In the first half, Greene passed liberally to march Ohio State down the field.  His favorite target was tight end Fred Pagac (yes, that Fred Pagac), who finished the game with 4 catches for 89 yards in his final outing as a player for the Scarlet and Gray.  Greene also found other targets downfield, such as Dave Hazel and true sophomore Brian Baschnagel, the patron saint of this blog.

You wish you were Brian Baschnagel

Greene finished 6/8 passing with 129 yards and one INT, which came on Ohio State’s first drive of the game.

For as well as Ohio State was moving the ball on the Trojan defense this game, the Trojan offense was up to the task.  This was the John McKay era, so your standard student body lefts and rights and halfback passes were working.  The Trojan attack behind Anthony Davis scored more points on Ohio State’s defense by intermission (14pts) than any other of Ohio State’s opponents had been able to do in a full game.  By this stage, the Buckeyes were about where they were by this time in the 1973 Rose Bowl when the flood gates opened on them in the second half.  To make matters worse? USC scored early into the third quarter to take a 21-14 lead.  Worse yet, they did so after capitalizing on the most inopportune of fumbles for Archie Griffin.  As they did the year earlier with Sam “Bam” Cunningham, the Trojan offense marched out of intermission to take an early second half lead.  This, is where all hell would break loose.

…but this time, USC was going to receive the onslaught.

Randy Gradishar recounted to WBNS-AM about 30 years later that Davis’ TD is when the light came on.

Coach Hayes had a few choice words for us after SC made it 21-14. Then he challenged the offense to go back in and get the touchdown back, which they did.

Pete Johnson breaks free in the 3rd quarter. God have mercy.

The Trojans had managed to block the extra point, and thus held the lead.  Fortunately, their offense stalled deep in their own territory, forcing a punt to the ever-exciting Neal Colzie (RIP).  Colzie nearly took it 65 yards to the house, but was stopped at around the 8.  No matter, Corny Greene soon took it in on the QB follow for a lead Ohio State would not relinquish.  He followed the TD with some dance moves that underscored why he was known as “Flam”(boyant) among his friends on the team.

While the defense had finally clamped USC’s offense⁷, the Buckeyes were still up 6 entering the 4th quarter.  The Buckeyes, however, had the ball.  After finding Brian Baschnagel, patron saint of this blog⁸, 25 yards down field to move the chains into USC territory, Greene handed off to Bruce Elia, the other fullback on the roster, for another TD and a two score lead.  Rather than settle for just a 12pt lead, Woody opted to go for 2 with Corny Greene and Brian Baschnagel on the wingback option.  Greene kept it, converted for 2, and, yep, he danced just a little.  I would too.

The game was essentially in hand for the Buckeyes, especially since the defense had turned into the unstoppable force and the immovable object.  However, Archie Griffin, who had just under 100 yards entering the 4th quarter, still had not gotten into the scoring act.  With about 5 minutes left, though, he peeled off what may have amounted to a pre-Heisman Heisman run.  He was clearly not suffering from a lack of Heisman exposure… he finished 6th as a sophomore, but this run was so gorgeous and broke so many ankles on the Trojan defense that you think it invariably had to set him up for his successful Heisman campaign of 1974 and, later, 1975.  If you’re one of those video-gaming types, you may have seen this run.  It was featured in the NCAA Football 2006 game from EA Sports.  Griffin finished his second Rose Bowl with a 149 yards and a TD on 22 carries.  No run was more beautiful than the 47 yard scamper that served as his Rose Bowl moment.

When the final gun sounded, the Buckeyes had successfully redeemed themselves from the 42-17 laugher against the Trojans in the previous year.  Woody even went so far as to call it his greatest victory yet.  In spite of having better teams in terms of wins and losses, he said he had never had a team perform as well in the Rose Bowl as the Buckeyes did that day.

Fast forward 35 years, and the Buckeyes find themselves in a spiritually similar situation again with the mighty Trojans.  Do we follow the lead of Corny Greene and company this Saturday and redeem ourselves?

I guess we’ll see.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny9fyl4bVWg

1. Michigan looked to be the better team top to bottom, but Ohio State willed themselves to victory at home.
2. They also drew Oklahoma, 7-7.
3. Coincidentally, Alabama and Notre Dame shared a national title this season in spite of Notre Dame beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.  This is one of those “12 national titles” that Alabama claims.  General policy: whatever Alabama fans say, the opposite is true.
4. Remember, back in the ol’ days, you went to Pasadena or you went home.
5. The likely explanation for the vote is that Dennis Franklin, Michigan’s starting QB, was injured in the game and the conference wanted to put out its best possible team.
6. Archie was being generous.
7. Van De Cree alone was a beast.
8. Hyperbole aside, he was doing a fantastic job of lead-blocking for Archie or Corny Greene.  Steve Myers, center, also deserves praise too.  He was constantly in the second level.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had an idea to upload a new Drive-Thru compilation relevant for every opponent on Ohio State’s schedule.  I did something similar last year, but was only able to find games for Purdue, Penn State, Illinois, Michigan and, my hated enemies, the Nerds¹.  I guess this one counts for USC and this for Wisconsin², though.  This season, I have a game lined up for all opponents, sans New Mexico State³.  This week, I start the festivities off with the last meeting between the Buckeyes and the Middies: the 1981 Liberty Bowl.

1981 was a screwy year in general for the Big Ten.  From the Buckeyes’ perspective, Minnesota’s surprise upset over Iowa in Iowa City on October 24, 1981, put the Buckeyes into a first place tie with the Hawkeyes.  The eventual 6-5 Gophers weren’t done punking Big Ten heavyweights either.  Their upset of Ohio State at Memorial Stadium two weeks later pushed the Buckeyes from tied on top to 3rd behind the Hawkeyes and Wolvereenies.  The Buckeyes won out, even beating Michigan in Ann Arbor.  By virtue of Iowa losing to Illinois later in the season as well, the Buckeyes were actually able to secure a share of the conference crown.  However, the 9-3 Hawkeyes got the nod for Pasadena⁴ while the 9-3 Buckeyes got the nod for… Memphis.  Ouch.  Widely pegged as responsible for this precipitous fall during Schlichter’s senior season is the defense.  They gave up 24 points to a mediocre Wisconsin team, got blitzed for 36 points by the Seminoles and conceded 27 and 33 points to Illinois and Purdue respectively, even in victorious efforts.  The 35 conceded to ostensibly a bad Minnesota team seemed to be the worst of it and, if you watch the Big Ten Network and have seen the game, is credited as knocking Ohio State out of the Rose Bowl picture.  I can’t imagine 1981 being anything other than an unqualified disappointment for Ohio State.  The best quarterback in the program’s history (certainly to that point) returned for his senior season with important weapons in John Frank, Gary Williams and Tim Spencer, but ended up playing its postseason game in Memphis.  Ouch.

The Buckeyes drew the Navy Midshipmen, a 14 point underdog in this game.  Accordingly, since the Midshipmen were thought to be a bit of a pushover for the Buckeyes, and since this was Art Schlichter’s last go-around in a Buckeye uniform, the game plan seemed to call for an aerial assault.  If it was supposed to be an easy send-off for Schlichter, his performance this game didn’t suggest it.  The first play of the game was a hail mary to split end Gary Williams, one of the better split ends in the country, but fell innocently to the ground.  All game, Schlichter seemed to be forcing throws to players that just weren’t open. Later, when the Buckeyes found themselves in a dog fight with a 14 point underdog, the Buckeyes readjusted to give Jimmy Gayle and Tim Spencer touches, using players like John Frank or Cedric Anderson as safety valves.  All in all, it was a disappointing finale for Schlichter⁵.  He finished the game 11/26 for 159 yards, 2 TDs and an interception and was clearly outplayed by his counterpart for the Middies.  Marco Pagnanelli, who had only one passing TD all season finished the game 14/27 for 201 yards, 2 TDs and an interception (a costly one at that too).

To be fair to Schlichter this game, drawing attention to a meager total yard output this game ignores the fact that the Buckeyes started several drives this game in Navy territory.  Why? Special teams.  The punt was clearly the most exciting play of this game.  Special teams coach and graduate assistant Fred Pagac dialed up some terror for Navy’s punting unit.  They brought the house after the Middies went four and out on their first drive.  They blocked it, setting up a Bob Atha field goal and an early 3-0 lead.  Navy fumbled on their next possession, but were in a punting formation on their 3rd drive of the game.  Ohio State’s 10 man rush again stuffed Navy’s punter, but luck was on the Middies’ side as Ohio State was flagged for being offsides.  The 5 yards given to Navy was enough for a first down.  4 plays later, the Middies were again setting up for a punt.  George Welsh, who had one foot out the door to take the Virginia coaching job, caught the Buckeyes off guard.  The Buckeyes showed 10, brought 7, but were hit over the top on the fake punt pass playcall for 39 yards and a big first down.  Navy later found the end zone to cut the margin to 10-7.

If you thought you’d seen everything from the punt teams in the first half, the second half did not disappoint.  Deciding that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, Navy brought on a 10 man rush after Ohio State’s first drive of the second half ended with a 3 and out.  Not only did Navy stuff Bob Atha’s punt, but took it to the house for a 20-17 lead.  The 14 point underdog suddenly had a second half lead.  Under duress of Ohio State returning the favor on Navy’s next punting opportunity, Navy kicker Steve Fehr shanked the punt.  Ohio State set up shop on Navy’s 37 and found the end zone shortly thereafter.  On Navy’s next punting opportunity, the long snapper sailed the ball over Steve Fehr’s head, which was ultimately recovered by the Buckeyes⁶.

I think the only things you didn’t see from the punting units were A) a good punt and B) a punt return for a TD.  There’s not a lot of opportunities for those when the punter, especially Navy’s, is being sieged worse than the Byzantines.

While special teams was clearly the story of the day, the defensive line deserves praise for terrorizing Navy’s offensive line.  Nick Miller, middle guard, especially should be mentioned for abusing the interior of Navy’s line all game.  He had a few sacks, knockdowns, and even forced the fumble on Navy’s second possession en route to taking home defensive MVP honors for the Buckeyes.

Navy was a 14 point underdog this game and clearly put forward their best effort for outgoing coach George Welsh, but the 31-28 final score is a little misleading.  After Navy’s shanked punt, the Buckeyes quickly recaptured the lead in the 3rd quarter.  A few possessions later in the 4th quarter, Pagnanelli’s interception set up the Buckeyes in prime field position, ultimately resulting in a 31-20 4th quarter lead for Ohio State.  This essentially held throughout the remainder of the game, though the Middies had a slim chance of hope.  With about 2 minutes left in the game, the Middies took over in the shadow of their own goal line and proceeded to drive the length of the field.  A Napoleon McCallum 3rd and 19 scramble set up the Mids at the Buckeye one yard line with about 50 seconds left to play.  However, the Buckeye defense was up to the task the next 3 plays.  Pagnanelli was turned back on a QB sneak on first down.  A handoff resulted in no gain and Navy having to burn their final timeout with 30 seconds left to stop the clock.  On 3rd down, Napoleon McCallum was given the ball on a pitch, trying to extend the play until a crease appeared, and ultimately threw the ball into the end zone right as he was about to be tackled.  It was not a designed option pass, but clearly a shrewd move by McCallum that, by sheer luck, was not intentional grounding or an ineligible man downfield penalty.  However, it wasn’t immediately clear to  the Buckeye defense… and the timekeepers… that the play was ruled an incomplete pass.  The clock continued to run while Navy huddled for their next playcall until the clock reached zero and the Buckeyes celebrated.  The refs corrected it and put 12 seconds back on the clock for a 4th down play, but the Buckeyes seemed to have checked out.  Pagnanelli found his favorite target, Greg Papajohn, on 4th down for a touchdown and again on the 2 point try.  Eight seconds remained, and Navy had a preposterously slim chance of hope to pull off the upset.  However, the hands team prevailed and the Buckeyes took home the 1981 Liberty Bowl trophy.

In an earlier post, I mention that my old man has a connection to this season.  Already having moved to Los Angeles, he managed to trek up north to Palo Alto to watch the fabled Schlichter-Elway showdown.  He brought home a game program that had the coaching staff bios there.  A few of you may remember that not everyone was happy after this Liberty Bowl.  Specifically, Earle Bruce was not pleased with the direction of the defense and, in particular, the secondary that was routinely burned in opportune times by a very meek Navy receiver corp.  The day after the Buckeyes took home the victory, Earle Bruce fired the defensive coordinator (Dennis Fryzel), defensive line coach (Steve Szabo) and secondary coach in what became known locally as the New Year’s Eve Massacre.  The secondary coach deserves a mention.  It was Nick Saban.  Yep, Nick Saban was fired from Ohio State for poor performance.  As far as I know, it was the only time he was fired from a job.  He eventually got a job with Navy for the next year before establishing himself at Michigan State.

Miscellany

• Michigan actually played both Ohio State and Navy this season and, as such, Bo Schembechler actually gave a pregame message to start the telecast.  For what it’s worth, Michigan played UCLA the next day in the Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston.  I miss that bowl.
• Jeff Logan was a sideline reporter this game.
• Woody Hayes was a guest in the booth right as Navy took the lead after the blocked punt.  Afterwards, he left his post and was on the sideline for the remainder of the game.
• Opera singer Marguerite Piazza sang the national anthem.
• post-Schlichter QB Mike Tomczak was on the hands team in the final seconds.
• I swear it looked like John Frank was smiling all game.  He even gave a wink to the camera during his player introduction.
• Ohio State was the first Big Ten team to play in the Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl and the Cotton Bowl.  It narrowly missed out on being the first Big Ten team to play in the Liberty Bowl as well.  That honor went to Purdue the year earlier.
• You can see more pictures and a better write-up here.

Without any further stalling, you can watch the game below.  You can watch it on YouTube in a higher quality.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Kg2KGy8b4

1. Okay, fine, YOU try to come up with a reason to hate Northwestern.
2. I tried.
3. However, by New Mexico State’s WAC affiliation, I may sub in the 2002 San Jose State game for them.
4. It was the first time someone other than Michigan and Ohio State from the Big Ten played in the Rose Bowl since Indiana in the 1967 season.
5. As we know, it didn’t get much better for Schlichter in the years to come.
6. Navy’s defense held and Bob Atha eventually missed a FG