John Cooper's first season ended with a disappointing 4–6–1 record. The team showed flashes, but could not sustain success consistently.
Entering the 1989 season – Ohio State's 100th – Cooper made improving the defense a point of emphasis. The unit gave up a program-high 283 points the year prior. The team had to win at least six games to avoid consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1923 and 1924.
| The 1989 Buckeyes | |
|---|---|
| Record | 8–4 |
| B1G Record | 6–2, 3rd |
| Coach | John Cooper (2nd year, 12–10–1) |
| CaptainS |
David Brown, Jeff Davidson, Zack Dumas, Derek Isaman, Joe Staysniak |
Games of Note
September 16th • Oklahoma State • Ohio Stadium
The inaugural game between Oklahoma State and Ohio State featured Greg Frey against the Cowboys' Mike Gundy. A tight first 30 minutes between the two OSU's had the Buckeyes ahead 16-13 at halftime.
A momentum shift came just before the end of the second quarter. Oklahoma State kicked a field goal to take a 13-9 lead with 32 seconds remaining. Scottie Graham returned the kickoff 34 yards to the Ohio State 41-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Frey rolled right and found Bobby Olive at the Cowboys' 30, who scampered down to the 2-yard line before running out of bounds. Carlos Snow scored on the next snap and the Buckeyes went 59 yards in 20 seconds to take a three-point lead.
During the break, Ohio State's defense made some adjustments and limited Oklahoma State to 90 yards of total offense and zero points the rest of the game. Gundy had 51 passing yards in the first half but only recorded four on four completions in the second half before he was pulled in the fourth quarter. Gerald Hudson represented a bright spot for the Cowboys as he led all rushers with 140 yards and averaged 4.8 yards per carry.
Frey threw two touchdown strikes and Scottie Graham had a 1-yard touchdown run as the Buckeyes won 37-13. Frey finished with three touchdown passes and a career-high 285 yards. In the fourth quarter, Kirk Herbstreit saw his first collegiate action and completed a pair of passes for 17 yards.
On the defensive side, Vinnie Clark and Brent Johnson each had an interception. Steve Tovar was on of three Buckeyes with nine tackles.
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEP. 16 | OKLAHOMA STATE | OHIO STADIUM | W, 37–13 |
| SEP. 23 | NO. 12 USC | MEMORIAL COLISEUM | L, 3–42 |
| SEP. 30 | BOSTON COLLEGE | OHIO STADIUM | W, 34–29 |
| OCT. 7 | NO. 18 ILLINOIS | MEMORIAL COLISEUM | L, 14–34 |
| OCT. 14 | INDIANA | OHIO STADIUM | W, 35–31 |
| OCT. 21 | PURDUE | OHIO STADIUM | W, 21–3 |
| OCT. 28 | MINNESOTA | METRODOME | W, 41–37 |
| NOV. 4 | NORTHWESTERN | DYCHE STADIUM | W, 52–27 |
| NOV. 11 | IOWA | OHIO STADIUM | W, 28–0 |
| NOV. 18 | WISCONSIN | OHIO STADIUM | W, 42–22 |
| NOV. 25 | NO. 3 MICHIGAN | MICHIGAN STADIUM | L, 18–28 |
| JAN. 1 | NO. 9 AUBURN | HALL OF FAME BOWL | L, 14–31 |
| 8–4, 339–297 |
September 23rd • #23 USC • LA Memorial Coliseum
The Buckeyes looked strong in the first quarter against USC. They gained 118 yards and led 3-0 after the first 15 minutes but from there, the Trojans took over. USC scored the game's final 42 points and embarrassed Cooper's 25th-ranked team 42-3.
Todd Marinovich had a big game. He connected with John Jackson for a USC record 87-yard touchdown pass. The redshirt freshman ended his day with four touchdowns and 246 yards passing. The Trojans outgained Ohio State 491-223 in total yards.
Snow led the Buckeyes with 83 rushing yards and Frey threw for 135 yards and an interception.
The loss wasn't only on the scoreboard and stat sheet, tight end Jeff Ellis was lost for the season with a knee injury.
October 30th • Boston College • Ohio Stadium
On the first play from scrimmage against Boston College, Frey threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Graham. Zack Dumas had a team-high five tackles and snagged an interception.
The Buckeyes scored the game's first 24 points and led 31-7 at halftime.
The Eagles dominated the second half and held Ohio State to a field goal. Down 34-29 with 50 seconds on the clock, Boston College faced 4th-and-1 at the Buckeyes' 4-yard line. The 88,936 souls in the stadium watched anxiously as Mark Kamphaus handed the ball to Ed Toner. The fullback ran over right guard but Derek Isaman and Mike Showalter smacked him down for a loss of one.
Frey downed two snaps and the Buckeyes escaped with the victory in the first game between the programs.
Ohio State racked up 602 yards of offense – eighth most in program history to that point – but its defense made the game's biggest play. Alonzo Spellman saw the field for the first time in his career and recorded three unassisted tackles.
"The game, as far as we were concerned got completely out of control in the first half," Boston College coach Jack Bicknell said after the game. "It was so physical up front, and Ohio State was really putting it to us."
After the game, Cooper shared these prophetic words: "Obviously we've got a lot of work that needs to be done. We've got a lot of improvement that needs to be made between now and the time we play Illinois next week."
That didn't happen — Illinois smoked the Buckeyes 34-14 in Champaign.
| OPPONENT | STREAK | RECORD |
|---|---|---|
| OKLAHOMA STATE | W1 | 1–0 |
| USC | L4 | 9–10–1 |
| BOSTON COLLEGE | W1 | 1–0 |
| ILLINOIS | L2 | 51–23–4 |
| INDIANA | W1 | 51–12–4 |
| PURDUE | W1 | 26–10–2 |
| MINNESOTA | W8 | 27–6 |
| NORTHWESTERN | W14 | 45–13–1 |
| IOWA | W1 | 33–12–3 |
| WISCONSIN | W2 | 43–12–4 |
| MICHIGAN | L2 | 33–48–5 |
| AUBURN | L1 | 0–1–1 |
October 14th • Indiana • Ohio Stadium
Late in the second quarter against Indiana, Ohio State led 28-7 after Frey threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jim Palmer. The Hoosiers gained a little momentum when they scored with only 19 seconds left in the half.
Scottie Graham extended the Buckeyes lead to 35-14 with a 1-yard touchdown run five minutes into the third quarter, Ohio State's final score on this 75-degree sunny afternoon. Anthony Thompson erupted for 177 yards and three touchdowns as the Hoosiers closed the gap to 35-29 after a successful 2-point conversion.
On the ensuing drive, the Buckeyes were not able to get a first down and had 4th-and-1 on the Hoosiers' 28. Instead of risking a blocked punt, Cooper told Frey to take the snap and run out of the back of the end zone. Ohio State 35, Indiana 31.
Jeff Bohlman punted the free kick from the 20, but Indiana's return team did not catch it. The ball bounced around and Vinnie Clark swooped in and grabbed it at the Indiana 16. The Hoosiers' players forgot that the ball was live.
Ohio State ran the ball three consecutive times and forced Indiana to use all of its timeouts. On 4th-and-1 from the Hoosiers' 7-yard line with 35 seconds on the clock, Cooper decided to go for the first down instead of kick the field goal. Jaymes Bryant tried to go wide right but fell short of the marker.
Indiana had 30 seconds to go 92 yards for the win. On the third play, Pat Thomas intercepted Dave Schnell to end the game.
The Buckeyes' offense was powered by the running of Snow and Scottie Graham. The two backs combined for 260 yards and three touchdowns. Frey completed 5-of- 6 passes, but only gained 37 yards. However, he made the most of his work as he threw for two touchdowns.
When asked about the free kick, Cooper said: "We work on that every week in practice. We worked on it Friday in practice, what we call kicking off after a safety."
October 28th • Minnesota • Metrodome
Minnesota led 31-0 in the second quarter in what looked like could be the largest Gophers victory ever over Ohio State. Just before the half, Snow ran in from a yard out and Frey's 2-point conversion pass to Jeff Graham made the score 31-8.
The Buckeyes' defense held Minnesota to six points in the final 30 minutes as the offense turned to Frey and Snow to make a massive comeback. Snow amassed 278 all-purpose yards and scored three times. Frey passed for 362 yards, threw three touchdowns and ran for another score as Ohio State cut the deficit to 37-34 with 3:04 left in the game.
The Gophers had the ball with a three-point lead, but could not get a first down. On a critical 3rd-and-5, Tovar dropped Steve Rhem for a 1-yard loss and forced the home team to punt.
With the ball on his own 27, Frey had 1:52 and no timeouts to put his team in a position to tie or win the game. On first down he connected with Snow for a gain of 18. He then threw to Brian Stablein for 19 yards to the Minnesota 36. Frey dropped back again but took a 13-yard loss on a sack. Palmer then stepped up and grabbed a 34-yard reception to put the ball on the Gophers' 15. Frey capped an unbelievable drive when found Jeff Graham for a 15-yard touchdown to give Ohio State the 41-37 victory.
The 31-point comeback victory was the largest in program history. In fact, Maryland was the only other school in college football history to win a game when they trailed Miami, FL 31-0 in 1984.
The game-winning drive:
November 19th • Michigan • Michigan Stadium
Drama surrounded the 85th edition of The Game, one Ohio State never led. Cool 46-degree weather and gusty winds greeted the Buckeyes when they arrived in Ann Arbor to compete against Bo Schembechler for the final time.
No. 3 Michigan had a 14-3 lead early as Ohio State squandered scoring chances after two Wolverine turnovers. Despite the poor play, the Buckeyes only trailed 14-12 after Scottie Graham ran in from three yards out. Cooper decided to go for two, but the attempt failed.
After a Michigan score, Ohio State answered when Graham crossed the goal line for the second time. The fullback finished with a game-high 152 yards on the ground. Ohio State blocked the extra point, so the score remained 21-18.
The Buckeyes' defense stopped Michigan on the ensuing possession to give the offense the ball with 3:42 remaining. Before the drive, Cooper told his team this: "I told our offense on the sideline, you've got them right where you want them. Go score and win the ballgame."
Frey tried, but on 2nd-and-12 Michigan's Todd Plate intercepted him. Jarrod Bunch converted the turnover with a 23-yard run two minutes later and Ohio State lost 28-18.
Schembechler ended his career with an 11–9–1 record against the Buckeyes.
January 1st • Auburn • Hall of Fame Bowl
The 1990 Hall of Fame Bowl matchup marked the second meeting between Ohio State and Auburn all-time. The first game came in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1917 and ended in a scoreless tie. This was also the first time the Buckeyes played in the Hall of Fame Bowl.
A quick description of the game played in Tampa from the 2015 Ohio State Team Guide:
Auburn rode the hot arm of Reggie Slack, who accounted for all four Tiger touchdowns, in a 31-14 win over OSU.
Ohio State took an early 14-3 but the momentum changed just before the half when Slack hit Greg Taylor with an 11-yard scoring pass with 11 seconds left to play.
Auburn scored on its first possession after the half as Slack and Taylor teamed up again from 4 yards out.
Two fourth quarter TDs by the Tigers put the game out of reach. Slack, who completed his last 11 passes and was a near unanimous MVP choice, ran 5 yards for the first and also flipped a 2-yard toss to Herbert Casey.
OSU flanker Jeff Graham was an early star for Ohio State, setting up the Buckeyes’ second TD with a 68-yard catch-and-run. Graham finished with five receptions for 103 yards, but didn’t play the second half because of a pulled groin muscle.
A momentum shift came in the form of Zack Dumas, when he leveled Stacy Danley on a 3rd-and-4 pass.
Ohio State led 14-3 at that point, but allowed 28 straight points and the Tigers won 31-14.
1989 Recap
- Ohio State defeated Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State 37-13 in the first game between the schools.
- No. 12 USC beat the Buckeyes for the fourth straight time. Todd Maranivich set a USC record with an 87-yard touchdown pass to John Jackson.
- The Buckeyes played Boston College for the first time and held on to win 34–29.
- Carlos Snow and Scottie Graham combined for 260 yards and three touchdowns in the 35-31 win over Indiana.
- Ohio State tied a college football record when it rallied from a 31-point deficit to beat Minnesota 41-37 in Minneapolis.
- The Buckeyes beat Northwestern for the 14th straight time with a 52-27 victory.
- Bo Schembechler won his final game against Ohio State 28-18. The Wolverines took a 48–33–5 lead in the series.
- Ohio State led Auburn 14-3 in the first half, but after a massive Zack Dumas hit, the Tigers scored 28 straight to win.
- Ohio State started the season unranked, climbed to No. 20, but finished the season ranked 24th.
- Nobody was named All-American.
- Jeff Davidson, Joe Staysniak and Tim Moxley were selected in the NFL Draft.
In 1989, John Cooper and Ohio State doubled their win count from the 1988 season. However, the Buckeyes lost another game to Michigan, had a poor performance in the Hall of Fame Bowl and allowed a program-record 297 points.
Carlos Snow, Greg Frey and Jeff Graham served as the offense's stars. Snow led the team in rushing yards (990) and points (80). Frey finished the season with 144 completions for 2,132 yards and 13 touchdowns. Graham led the team with 32 receptions for 608 yards. Linebacker Derek Isaman recorded a team-high 88 tackles.
