This came up in the countdown thread and i thought I'd post a quickie but a goodie about it. The 8 years between 1968 and 1975 were probably the single best era in OSU history and for those who don't know why I'll give a quick recap and compare it to current times.
The super sophs could very well have gone 30-0 with 3 straight NC's.
1968 10-0 B10 and National Champs. Outscored opponents 323 to 150.
1969 9-1 last game of the season was played for a NC but lost to tsun in the single worst loss in tOSU history imo. Outscored opponents 383-93 that year and never had a close game untill The Game. We beat a huge underdog tsun team and we are B2B NC's. The team could not go to a second consecutive RB at the time.
1970 9-1 B10 champ and some say NC although we lost to Stanford in RB. 4th quarter collapse vs another underdog team costs us NC, I personally never could count this as one. You can't lose the last game and still be NC imo.
Quick reload year
1971 6-4 Super Sophs were gone and AG was a year away. Still took a blind ref to let tsun win The Game. Fuck Darden.
Archie G era
1972 9-2 B10 co champ beat tsun. The MSU loss was a TO fest that we gave to them but the USC loss was an ass beating from a clearly better team.
1973 10-0-1 We were #1 untill the tie vs tsun, the went to Pasadena and rolled USC 42-21. A very convincing argument can be made that this was our best team ever. Outscored opponents 413-64 including 4 shutouts and a 5 game stretch of surrendering a total of 7 points! Fucking Domers were voted #1 because of the tie. Remember that BS anytime you start to feel pity for their second tier asses in the current era.
1974 10-2 B10 co champs. The big upset in east lansing that will never be forgotten. The RB loss to USC was a battle of 2 pretty even teams so you can't say it was a missed NC opportunity year.
1975 11-1 B10 champs. Loss to a UCLA team we pounded in the Rose Bowl earlier that same year costs us a NC. Complete fucking head scratcher.
Overall 8 year record:
74-11-1 .860 win %
6 B10 Championships
5-2-1 vs tsun
6 Rose Bowl appearances
Played for 4 NC's
1 National Championship(some contend 2)
2 Heisman's
Our current 6 year run under JT by comparison:
62-14 .814 win % (can't catch up)
3 B10 titles (can't catch up)
2 NC games (mathmatically able to match but probably unlikely)
5-1 vs tsun (advantage current era)
1 NC (current era could hopefully win this category)
1 Heisman (Wells for Heisman in '08 anyone?)
So the current era can't match up in terms of win % or B10 titles, has to win 1 of the next 2 to claim an edge in The Game, probably wont match in total NC opportunities but hopefully will exceed NC's won. The second Heisman has a fairly reasonable shot as well.
Just another reminder of how you must take advantage of those NC games when you have them in hand and how truely fortunate we are to be living out this current era under JT.
The super sophs could very well have gone 30-0 with 3 straight NC's.
1968 10-0 B10 and National Champs. Outscored opponents 323 to 150.
1969 9-1 last game of the season was played for a NC but lost to tsun in the single worst loss in tOSU history imo. Outscored opponents 383-93 that year and never had a close game untill The Game. We beat a huge underdog tsun team and we are B2B NC's. The team could not go to a second consecutive RB at the time.
1970 9-1 B10 champ and some say NC although we lost to Stanford in RB. 4th quarter collapse vs another underdog team costs us NC, I personally never could count this as one. You can't lose the last game and still be NC imo.
Quick reload year
1971 6-4 Super Sophs were gone and AG was a year away. Still took a blind ref to let tsun win The Game. Fuck Darden.
Archie G era
1972 9-2 B10 co champ beat tsun. The MSU loss was a TO fest that we gave to them but the USC loss was an ass beating from a clearly better team.
1973 10-0-1 We were #1 untill the tie vs tsun, the went to Pasadena and rolled USC 42-21. A very convincing argument can be made that this was our best team ever. Outscored opponents 413-64 including 4 shutouts and a 5 game stretch of surrendering a total of 7 points! Fucking Domers were voted #1 because of the tie. Remember that BS anytime you start to feel pity for their second tier asses in the current era.
1974 10-2 B10 co champs. The big upset in east lansing that will never be forgotten. The RB loss to USC was a battle of 2 pretty even teams so you can't say it was a missed NC opportunity year.
1975 11-1 B10 champs. Loss to a UCLA team we pounded in the Rose Bowl earlier that same year costs us a NC. Complete fucking head scratcher.
Overall 8 year record:
74-11-1 .860 win %
6 B10 Championships
5-2-1 vs tsun
6 Rose Bowl appearances
Played for 4 NC's
1 National Championship(some contend 2)
2 Heisman's
Our current 6 year run under JT by comparison:
62-14 .814 win % (can't catch up)
3 B10 titles (can't catch up)
2 NC games (mathmatically able to match but probably unlikely)
5-1 vs tsun (advantage current era)
1 NC (current era could hopefully win this category)
1 Heisman (Wells for Heisman in '08 anyone?)
So the current era can't match up in terms of win % or B10 titles, has to win 1 of the next 2 to claim an edge in The Game, probably wont match in total NC opportunities but hopefully will exceed NC's won. The second Heisman has a fairly reasonable shot as well.
Just another reminder of how you must take advantage of those NC games when you have them in hand and how truely fortunate we are to be living out this current era under JT.
