100 Teams in 100 Days: Wins Over Michigan and Oklahoma State Highlight Ohio State's 2004 Season

Ohio State's record over the two previous seasons stood at 25–2 but 2004 served as a year of transition. The school's 115th team needed to replace 13 starters — six on offense and seven on defense. Gone were Michael Jenkins, Will Allen, B.J. Sander and Will Smith, all key players over the past two years. But replacing Craig Krenzel at quarterback proved more challenging than expected. 

Games of Note

September 11th • Marshall • Ohio Stadium
No. 9 Ohio State opened its season with a 27-6 victory against Cincinnati before it hosted the dangerous Thundering Herd of Marshall. 

On a perfect 77-degree sunny day in Columbus, the Buckeyes were in for anything but a comfortable afternoon. Two fumbles, two interceptions and six penalties by Ohio State kept Bob Pruett's team in the game. 

The game's first score came on Santonio Holmes' 80-yard touchdown catch from Justin Zwick. The Thundering Herd answered with a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. With 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Holmes struck again, this time on a 47-yard scoring reception.

Marshall tied the game at the 5:36 mark of the second quarter with a defensive score. Lydell Ross fumbled as he ran over right guard at Ohio State's 26. Jonath Goddard forced and recovered it at the 27, then rumbled into the end zone to tie the game. The Buckeyes immediately countered with an 8-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Roy Hall's 20-yard touchdown.

Neither team scored in the third quarter and the game remained tied with only 25 seconds remaining in the game. Ohio State started its last drive from its own 45 and gained 23 yards in four plays. The Buckeyes were flagged for an illegal shift when Zwick spiked the ball. That infraction bumped the ball back five yards and Nugent had to make a 55-yard field goal to win the game in regulation. The star kicker slid it just inside the left upright for a new career long and to win the game.

"It went out and faded back in (inside the upright), and I don't know if it was at that last second, because I told it to," Nugent said. "I was screaming at it and it just went in at the last second."

"That was a long kick," Pruett said. "I guess that is the reason he is an All-American."

Zwick finished the game 18-of-30 for 324 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Holmes came down with 224 receiving yards, 10 catches and two touchdowns.

October 2nd • Northwestern • Ryan Field
No. 6 Ohio State never led in regulation against the home Wildcats. Throughout the first three quarters, the Buckeyes overcame deficits of three and seven points to tie the game. 

Northwestern scored with 14:45 left to play in the fourth and led 27-17. Ohio State clawed back with a Nugent field goal and Holmes' 21-yard touchdown catch with a 1:54 remaining to send the game to overtime.

Randy Walker's Wildcats won the toss and elected to defend first during the first overtime. Antonio Pittman rushed for three yards on first down, but on second and third down, Zwick could not connect with Holmes. Tressel sent out the always reliable Nugent to make a 40-yard field goal. The senior kicker's try went wide right and Northwestern only needed a field goal to win.

Ohio State stopped Noah Herron for a 1-yard gain on first down. Quarterback Brett Basanez then ran for 21 yards and the Wildcats were on the 3-yard line. Two Herron runs later and Northwestern celebrated a 33-27 victory. 

Ohio State's 24-game winning streak over the Wildcats ended as Northwestern picked up its first victory in the series since 1971.

Holmes caught 10 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown and also scored on a 63-yard punt return. A.J. Hawk recorded a game-high 14 tackles in the loss.

October 16th • Iowa • Kinnick Stadium 
On this date, Kirk Ferentz picked up his first – and only – victory over Ohio State. The unranked Hawkeyes embarrassed the 25th-ranked Buckeyes 33-7. Tressel's team entered on a two-game losing streak following losses to Northwestern and No. 15 Wisconsin.

This contest marked the low point in Tressel's first four seasons. Ohio State did nothing right and lost for the first time in Iowa City since 1983. The Buckeyes started 0–3 in Big Ten play for the first time since 1988.

"We got our (tails) kicked," Tressel said. "We're not protecting it as well as we should and we're not knocking 'em off the ball."

Iowa led 10-0 at the break, but Drew Tate came out in the second half and threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another in the rout. The Hawkeyes' defense held the Buckeyes to just 27 yards rushing on 29 attempts.

Ohio State's only score of the game came with 2:19 left. Troy Smith connected with Rory Nicol on a 23-yard touchdown pass. Smith entered the game early in the second half after Zwick lost a fumble and injured his shoulder during the scramble for the ball. 

"He got banged up in the shoulder a little bit and we thought he'd have trouble throwing the ball," Tressel said. "At the same time, we decided we needed to do something a little different."

Smith stayed at the quarterback for the remainder of the regular season, as something a little different turned out to be something a little better.

November 20th • #7 Michigan • Ohio Stadium
The week before taking on the Wolverines, Purdue upset Ohio State 24-17 in West Lafayette. Owning a 6–4 record and having to face No. 7 Michigan had many Buckeye fans concerned.

To the surprise of many, Ohio State dominated the 101st edition of The Game. On the fifth snap from scrimmage, Smith threw deep to a streaking Anthony Gonzalez who went untouched for a 68-yard touchdown. Ohio State led 7-0 not even 75 seconds into the contest.

Michigan scored the next 14 points, but Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. became too much for the Wolverines' defense to handle. 

From USA TODAY:

Smith accounted for 386 yards and three touchdowns and the true freshman Ginn scored on an 82-yard punt return as Ohio State prevented the seventh-ranked Wolverines from clinching a Rose Bowl berth on its turf with a 37-21 victory over its Big Ten Conference archrival.

[...]

Ohio State held a 20-14 advantage early in the third quarter when Ginn, who was heavily recruited by Michigan, received a punt at the 18. He started to his right but noticed a mass of defenders and cut to his left, then used his track speed to break free down the left sideline, stunning the Wolverines.

"I had to try to make something real quick and I was just trying to find a hole to get vertical, as my coach told me to," Ginn said. "Once you see the touchdown, there's no point in making a move, you just use your speed and get to the end zone.

Ginn's punt return changed the dynamic of the game and Michigan did not threaten the rest of the afternoon. The series following Ginn's great return, Adam Finley pinned Ohio State at its own 3-yard line with a great punt. Smith engineered a 10-play, 97-yard drive that ate up just over six minutes and ended with Holmes scoring on a 12-yard slant. The Buckeyes now led 34-14 and never looked back.

Smith finished with 241 passing yards and 145 rushing yards. He needed two more rushing yards to break Cornelius Green's quarterback rushing record set against Wisconsin in 1974.

Chad Henne became the first freshman quarterback to start a game for Michigan in Ohio Stadium. The freshman completed 27-of-54 passes for 328 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Freshman Mike Hart rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries in the duo's first loss to the Buckeyes.  

December 29th • Oklahoma State • Alamo Bowl
No. 24 Ohio State entered the Alamo Bowl without starting quarterback Troy Smith, who sat out due to suspension. The team faced Oklahoma State in San Antonio with the Zwick back as the starter. There was a concern for this game as the Buckeyes were 4–1 with Smith as the starter, and that included a 37-21 thrashing of Michigan. With Zwick, Ohio State was 3–3. What the fans didn't know was Tressel was ready to unleash the Shot Ginn formation on Les Miles' Oklahoma State Cowboys.

A recap of the 2004 Alamo Bowl from the 2015 Ohio State Team Guide:

Justin Zwick threw for one touchdown, Lydell Ross and Ted Ginn Jr. each ran
for another and Mike Nugent kicked four field goals to lead Ohio State to a 33-7 Alamo Bowl victory over Oklahoma State at the Alamodome.

Zwick, completed 17-of-27 passes for 189 yards. Ross carried the ball 12
times for 99 yards and a score, while Branden Joe rushed for 57 yards and
Ginn added 40 yards.

Ginn made his first appearance at quarterback. His 5-yard run up the middle gave Ohio State a 30-0 lead. The OSU freshman was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player of the game.

Nugent, the 2004 Lou Groza Award winner, connected from 37, 35, 41 and 36 yards to set the school’s bowl record with four field goals, his 20th school record.

Ohio State limited Oklahoma State to 286 total yards. Donte Whitner led the Buckeyes with eight tackles.Simon Fraser was named the Most Valuable Defensive Player.

"I'm happy for the team and excited for the future," Tressel said. "There's no secret, our guys work hard. We just put our shovel in the ground and keep digging."

The guys that did the work in San Antonio were Ross who gained 99 rushing yards and averaged 8.2 yards per carry, Ginn who played at both receiver and quarterback in the shot Ginn formation, and Nugent made all four of his field goals. Donte Whitner recorded eight tackles and Ashton Youboty broke up three passes.

2004 Recap

• Mark Dantonio returned to the Ohio Stadium sidelines, except this time he was on the visitor's side. Lydell Ross had 142 rushing yards in the Buckeyes' 27-6 victory against Cincinnati.
• Mike Nugent made a career long 55-yard field goal as time expired to give Ohio State a 24-21 win over Marshall.
• In a 22-14 victory over NC State, Nugent tied a program record with five field goals and the defense forced the Wolfpack into five turnovers.
• Northwestern never trailed and defeated No. 7 Ohio State 33-27 in overtime.
• The Buckeyes only rushed for 99 yards in a 24-13 loss to No. 15 Wisconsin.
• Iowa defeated 25th-ranked Ohio State 33-7 in a game which the team's lone score came with 2:19 on the clock. This was the Hawkeyes' first win against Ohio State in Iowa City since 1983. 
• Troy Smith completed 12-of-24 passes for 161 yards and threw two touchdowns to beat Indiana 30-7 in his first career start.
• Ted Ginn Jr. had a 67-yard punt return touchdown and Tyler Everett had a 24-yard pick-six in the 21-10 win over Penn State.
• Ted Ginn Jr. scored a rushing, receiving and punt return touchdown as Ohio State defeated Michigan State 32-19. 
• Kyle Orton came off the bench and completed six straight passes, including the winning touchdown, in Purdue's 24-17 win over the Buckeyes. Smith threw three interceptions in his first loss as a starter.
• Troy Smith passed for 241 yards and rushed for 145 as Ohio State defeated Michigan 37-21.
• Jim Tressel improved to 3–1 in bowl games as the Buckeyes head coach after beating Oklahoma State 33-7 in the Alamo Bowl. 
• A.J. Hawk and Mike Nugent earned All-American honors.
• Mike Nugent and Dustin Fox were selected in the NFL Draft. 
• Ohio State started the season ranked No. 9, fell out of the rankings but finished ranked 19th.

The 2004 team could not overcome losing 14 NFL Draft picks. It lost three straight games but defeated Michigan and Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl. On paper, the 8–4 record did not look impressive, but it was apparent Tressel had Ohio State on the right track for success in 2005. 

In two out of his first four seasons, Tressel ended the year with victories over Michigan and the bowl opponent. John Cooper accomplished that feat once during his 13-year tenure. The 2004 senior class was the second class – in addition to the 1982 group – to finish its career with winning records against Michigan and bowl opponents.

Mike Nugent ended his Ohio State career as the school's leader in field goals made in a career (72), season (25) and game (5). He also finished as the leader in field goal percentage for a career (.818) and season (.893). In all, Nugent finished with his name at the top of 16 out of 20 Ohio State field goal records.