Ohio State On This Date: An Improbable Comeback Against LSU and Iowa Gets Spanked

For only the third time, Ohio State will face a Big Ten opponent on Sept. 24. Prior to today, the Iowa Hawkeyes were the only team from the conference to play the Buckeyes on this date.

67 years ago, Nebraska (which was not a Big Ten member at the time) and the scarlet and gray played each other for the first time in football. Woody Hayes and his fifth team took care of Bill Glassford's Huskers, 28-20, in Ohio Stadium.

Howard “Hopalong” Cassady finished the day against Nebraska with 170 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The three scores edged Cassady ahead of Chic Harley on Ohio State's career touchdown list.

Ohio State has played 12 total games on Sept. 24, with 11 of those contests being played in Columbus. The only away game was an upset loss to Iowa. Since the loss to the Hawkeyes in 1983, the scarlet and gray have won their last four games played on this date, most recently defeating Colorado 37-17 in 2011.

Games to remember

Ohio State shocks LSU in the Shoe

When Mike Archer's seventh-ranked Tigers came to Columbus in 1988 many expected LSU to leave with the first win of the series. The two heavyweights put on a great show in 1987 that ended in a 13-13 tie. 

The Tigers appeared on their way to the victory with a 33-20 lead and only 4:29 to play. Many Buckeye faithful left the stadium and turned off their televisions. Those that gave up on the team soon regretted their decision. 

The Buckeyes used a 10-play, 59-yard drive to cut the deficit to 33-27. Carlos Snow scored the touchdown on a 5-yard run in which he barely crossed the goal line.

On the ensuing drive, Ohio State's defense put the clamps on LSU and forced a three-and-out. The Tigers lined up to kick it away on their own 18, but officials whistled them for a delay of game penalty. With the ball on the 13, Archer decided to have his punter run out of the back of the end zone for a safety; Ohio State blocked a punt earlier in the game, so the LSU staff felt safer taking the safety.

Bobby Olive received the free kick on his own 32. He ran up the middle, then broke free to the left for a 30-yard return before he was forced out of bounds,

Trailing 33-29 with 1:24 remaining, the Buckeyes had the ball on LSU's 38-yard line. Greg Frey threw two completions to move his team to the 20. On 3rd-and-7, with 38 seconds on the clock, Frey found Olive a yard deep in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

Ohio State scored 16 points in the final four minutes of the game to the delight of the second largest crowd to that point in Ohio Stadium history – or at least those fans that stayed until the final whistle.

"That game was huge,” Frey told Eleven Warriors in an interview this summer. “Obviously for Coach Cooper, but it was big for me because it really validated, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ I was under the gun and I brought these guys back against a really good team. It was a big confidence boost for me.”

Uwe von Schamann's kick caps Oklahoma's comeback

On Sept. 24, 1977, No. 4 Ohio State hosted Barry Switzer and No. 3 Oklahoma in the inaugural matchup between the two powerhouse programs.

The Sooners overcame six turnovers, scored on 4th-and-1 and recovered an onside kick to set up a potential game-winning drive with just over a minute to play. 

Facing another 4th-and-1, this time on the Buckeyes' 23-yard line with six seconds on the clock, Switzer sent Uwe von Schamann onto the field. The kicker from West Germany coolly lined up and booted the game-winning field goal.

“Football games are 60 minutes, aren't they?” Switzer said after the game. “This game had more tension, more drama, than any game I have been associated with. That last field goal was one of the greatest plays I have ever seen in intercollegiate football ... but we were still lucky.”

Revenge is a dish best served in the rain

On Sept. 24, 2005, payback sat on the minds of the Buckeyes due to the 33-7 loss they suffered in Iowa City a year earlier. On this 68-degree day with scattered rain, No. 8 Ohio State put it to the Hawkeyes in the Shoe.

The OSU defense held Iowa to minus-nine yards rushing in the game. After three quarters, Kirk Ferentz's team only had 70 yards of offense. The Hawkeyes averaged 428 yards per game entering the game, but finished with only 137. Antonio Pittman rushed for 171 yards while Troy Smith threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 127 yards and two more touchdowns in Ohio State’s 33-6 victory.

“We'll be able to go to the film and find a lot that wasn't perfect, but I thought we played the best we've played thus far,” Jim Tressel said after the game. “That's what you hope to do each week, get a little bit better.”

Stat Superlatives

Five Fun Facts

1. This will be the first time Ohio State plays a night game on Sept. 24.
2. Quarterback Rod Gerald and running back Jeff Logan both ran for over 100 yards in a win over Michigan State in 1976.
3. Nebraska was a member of the Big Seven Conference when playing the Buckeyes for the first time in 1955.
4. Wisconsin will be the first unranked conference opponent for Ohio State on Sept. 24.
5. The Buckeyes have never lost to an unranked opponent on this date.