Ohio State On This Date: Ohio State Survives Against Cincinnati in 2002 and Woody Hayes Takes a Shot to the Head

Ohio State's first game on Sept. 21 was a 51-10 victory over Oregon State in 1974. It seems strange that the Buckeyes' first game on this date was so late, but prior to 1973, the program had never played a game before Sept. 21 – with the exception of the 1894 season.

On this date 28 years ago, Ohio State earned one of its most dominant wins ever against a power-conference school with a 72-0 pasting of the Pitt Panthers. Some say Mark May's heart shrunk that day. That win came after a 70-7 win over Rice in Ohio State’s season opener, and the 142 total points scored are the most for any Ohio State team in the first two games of a season.

The fourth game of Ohio State's 2002 season had the Buckeyes traveling to Paul Brown Stadium to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats. Jim Tressel's team was without freshman sensation Maurice Clarett as he was recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. Without Clarett, the offense leaned on Lydell Ross, and the sophomore from Tampa, Florida, came through by rushing for 130 yards. 

With 3:39 left to play, Cincinnati trailed 23-19 and had the ball on its own 20-yard line. Quarterback Gino Guidugli took his team 65 yards in eight plays and the Bearcats had 1st-and-10 at Ohio State's 15-yard line. With the game on the line, Guidugli threw a perfect pass to the right corner of the endzone, but Jon Olinger couldn't bring it down. 

Guidugli again targeted Olinger on second down, but the two again failed to connect. Guidugli put the ball in the air again on third down, this time targeting George Murray in the left corner, but Murray could not haul in the fade as he dove for the potential game-winner. 

Facing 4th-and-10, Guildugli went for broke for the fourth consecutive time. Matt Wilhelm tipped the ball and Will Allen came down with the interception to secure the win as the Buckeyes ran out the final 26 seconds.  

A play that sometimes gets overlooked in this game is Darrius Scott's strip sack. The play occurred with the Buckeyes trailing 19-17 near the mid-point of the fourth quarter. Scott dispossessed Guidugli from the ball and David Thompson recovered, giving Ohio State possession at Cincinnati's 47-yard line with close to eight minutes remaining. Nine plays later, Krenzel ran the ball in from six yards out for what turned out to be the game-winning score.   

"Linebacker tipped it, but you know how coaches are. I thought their guy might catch it," Tressel said. "We're glad Allen was there." The coach added, "Turnovers are everything. Scott's play sent electricity to our sideline and our fans." 

Games to Remember

Folsom Field First

On this date in 1985, Ohio State played on Folsom Field for the first time. Earle Bruce's seventh team was coming off a 10-7 victory over Pitt in the season opener in which the offense only gained 38 rushing yards. Part of the rushing woes were contributed to the absence of stud running back Keith Byars due to injury. Another wrinkle in the preparation for the game against Colorado was Bruce missing many of the week's practices due to his father's death. The Buckeyes' head coach admitted, "I haven't been thinking too much of this game."

Against the Buffaloes, however, the line's play noticeably improved. The offense gained 162 rushing yards and junior John Wooldridge racked up 119 yards by himself to go with a touchdown. However, early in the game, Wooldridge was slipping and the team appeared to be heading to another subpar rushing performance.

According to Wooldridge, Byars – watching from the press box – phoned to the sideline with some advice. 

"He noticed I was cutting off my wrong foot, my inside foot. He called me in the second quarter. He told me, 'Relax. Let things happen.' So, I adjusted to what Keith told me," Wooldridge said after the game.

Jim Karsatos completed 18-of-26 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns through the air. However, the Ohio State defense stole the show.

Two interceptions and two fumble recoveries led to four different scores for Ohio State. Greg Rogan and William White each came down with a pick, while Sonny Gordon and Byron Lee recovered the fumbles. The Buckeyes held Bill McCartney's wishbone offense to 251 total yards and 13 points. After Colorado scored the game's first touchdown, Ohio State put up 36 straight points in the victory.

Archie Griffin and Nine Other Buckeyes Run Over Oregon State

Ohio State's first game played on Sept. 21 was in 1974 as the Buckeyes faced Oregon State for the first time on a perfect football day. Ten different Buckeyes combined to run for 386 yards in the season-opening 51-10 victory.

Archie Griffin accounted for 134 yards and a touchdown, breaking the century mark for the 13th consecutive time even though he only played until halfway through the third quarter.

Another Griffin put his name in the books. Freshman Ray Griffin – Archie's younger brother – saw playing time for the first time in his career and rushed for 37 yards and two scores. 

The play of the contest came on the second-half kickoff. Lenny Willis, a junior college transfer, raced 97 yards through a large hole created by Ohio State's wedge. He used his 9.3-second 100-yard dash speed to outrace the Beavers' players for a kick return touchdown.

Woody Hayes might have been seeing stars throughout the game. Oregon State's John Cantlon (6-1, 220) dropped the Ohio State general during a play that extended to the sideline.

"He really hit me," Hayes recalled. "He didn't hurt me though, because he hit me in the head." 

Stat Superlatives

Five Fun Facts

1. David Boston returned the punt for the game's final score. Ohio State only had eight men on the field and Pittsburgh still couldn't stop Boston.
2. Against WSU in 1991, Jason Simmons became the first Buckeye to record four sacks in a game. 
3. Ohio State has always been ranked when playing on Sept. 21.
4. The Buckeyes have scored exactly 76 points three times in school history, including its two most recent games on Sept. 21.
5. This is the second time Ohio State has played a game on Sept. 21 following a bye week. The first time this occurred was in 1996 when John Cooper's Buckeyes pasted Pittsburgh, 72-0.