A Look at Ohio State in Big Games Since 1969

Thump · Oct 14, 2024

More eVIdEnTS!

BuckBackHome · Oct 14, 2024

Upvote!!!

woofermazing · Oct 15, 2024

Not sure I'd count a 4 loss Notre Dame as top 5, but asterisking the Michigan games is certainly legitimate.

Buckeyeskickbuttocks · Oct 15, 2024

woofermazing said:
Not sure I'd count a 4 loss Notre Dame as top 5, but asterisking the Michigan games is certainly legitimate.

At the time. You can't expect LJB to go back and examine the final resumes of every team going back to the 70s

Buckeyeskickbuttocks · Oct 15, 2024

@DaddyBigBucks maybe. But not LJB.

ScriptOhio · Jul 14, 2025

ScriptOhio · Jul 15, 2025

ScriptOhio · Wednesday at 1:33 PM

ScriptOhio · Thursday at 8:44 AM

ScriptOhio · Saturday at 9:01 AM

1. Jan. 3, 2003 (National Championship Game): Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT)

As great as Ohio State’s last two national title runs were, the Buckeyes’ first national championship game win of the 21st century reigns supreme as Ohio State’s greatest victory of the last 25 years.

Going into the 2003 BCS National Championship Game, Miami had established itself as the powerhouse team in college football. “The U” had won 34 straight games dating back to 2000 and was chasing its second consecutive national title. Ohio State entered the national championship game as an 11.5-point underdog, the largest underdog Ohio State has been in any game since the turn of the century.

Much like the Alabama game 12 years later, the favorite looked like the better team early on. The Hurricanes’ vaunted defense forced punts or turnovers on Ohio State’s first five possessions, including a fake field goal attempt by the Buckeyes. Miami took a first-quarter lead on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Ken Dorsey to Roscoe Parrish.

The first turning point of the game came when Mike Doss intercepted Dorsey and returned the ball to the 17-yard line. Ohio State took advantage of the short field and tied the game on a Craig Krenzel touchdown run. Ohio State’s defense gave the Buckeyes the ball in the red zone again when Kenny Peterson hit Dorsey to force a fumble that Darrion Scott recovered. The Buckeyes capitalized on prime field position again, taking the lead on a Maurice Clarett touchdown run.

Krenzel briefly threw away a chance to take a two-score lead when Sean Taylor picked him off in the end zone, but Clarett made an all-time hustle play by stripping the ball out of Taylor’s hands to give the Buckeyes the ball back at the 28-yard line. Ohio State took a 10-point lead on a 44-yard field goal by Mike Nugent.

Miami made it a three-point game later in the third quarter on a Willis McGahee touchdown run. The Hurricanes’ next drive stalled after McGahee suffered a severe knee injury, and Todd Sievers missed a potential game-tying field goal wide right. Following a 42-yard miss by Nugent, Miami squandered another scoring opportunity when Dustin Fox forced a Parrish fumble that Will Allen recovered. But Miami’s defense forced a Buckeye punt, which Roscoe Parrish returned 50 yards to set up a game-tying 40-yard field goal for Sievers at the end of regulation, sending the national championship game to overtime for the first time ever.

The Hurricanes started the first overtime with the ball and took the lead on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Dorsey to Kellen Winslow II. Miami’s defense subsequently sacked Krenzel to bring up a 4th-and-14, but just like they did at Purdue, Krenzel and Jenkins saved the season again with a 17-yard connection for a first down.

After forcing another fourth down on Ohio State’s subsequent set of downs, Miami initially appeared to win the game when Krenzel’s pass to Chris Gamble went off of Gamble’s hands in the end zone. In one of the most debated calls in college football history, however, Miami’s Glenn Sharpe was called for pass interference. Ohio State received a new set of downs and took advantage, with Krenzel running for a 1-yard touchdown to tie the game.

Having cheated death twice in the first overtime, Ohio State needed only five plays to take the lead in the second overtime, pulling ahead 31-24 on a 5-yard touchdown run by Clarett. Miami converted a pair of first downs on its ensuing possession, including a 4th-and-3 completion from Dorsey to Winslow. Following a pair of penalties against the Buckeyes, Miami had four downs to gain just two yards for a game-tying touchdown.

But after Jarrett Payton gained just one yard on 1st-and-goal, Dorsey’s second-down pass attempt fell incomplete and Quadtrine Hill was stuffed for no gain on 3rd-and-goal. On 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Cie Grant burst through the line to hit Dorsey and force an incomplete pass, securing Ohio State’s first national title in 34 years.

Ohio State became the first-ever 14-0 team in college football history, and it did so by beating a team that hadn’t lost in more than two years. It remains one of the biggest upsets ever in the national championship game, and it firmly reestablished Ohio State as one of college football’s elite programs, a status it’s maintained ever since.

Doing all of that in a down-to-the-wire thriller with an unforgettable ending made the Buckeyes’ 2002 win over Miami the clear choice for Ohio State’s best game of the quarter-century.

A Look at Ohio State in Big Games Since 1969

1. Jan. 3, 2003 (National Championship Game): Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT)​

1. Jan. 3, 2003 (National Championship Game): Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT)