For those of us who are old enough to remember reading "Peanuts" cartoons in the Sunday funnies section of the newspaper, the gag about Charlie Brown trying to kick the football while Lucy holds it is as familiar as the arrival of fall in Columbus. Of course, no matter how much Charlie Brown convinces himself that this time, he's going to kick that thing to kingdom come, the result is predictable. If you have ever felt that kind of frustration, then you know what it was like to be an Ohio State fan when your favorite team lined up to play Illinois in the late 80's and early 90's.
A Quiet Storm settles on Champaign-Urbana(photo courtesy of www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com)
Most OSU fans from that period can readily recite Coach John H. Cooper's record against Michigan, but they might have forgotten the difficulties he had with the Illini in his early years. Coach Cooper lost his first 5 games against Illinois, and 6 out of the first 7. Of course, after that the Buckeyes took out several pounds of flesh from the Illini during a 4-game winning streak from 1995-1998, a span in which they outscored Illinois 171-9. But during that initial 5-game losing streak, Illinois annually played the role of Lucy to OSU's Charlie Brown.
Ohio State had reason to be optimistic going into the 1993 season, despite losing some key players. Star running back Robert Smith and starting safety Roger Harper left early to jump to the NFL, and QB Kirk Herbstreit and WR Brian Stablein had used up their eligibility. But Raymont Harris was a talented and experienced RB and the coaches had high hopes that former St. Henry high school phenom Bobby Hoying would seize the QB job and excel at the position. There was also huge untapped potential with young receivers Chris Sanders, Buster Tillman, and Terry Glenn. Former starting WR Joey Galloway returned after losing most of the 1992 season to a leg injury, and he appeared to be even faster than before. The defense was anchored by DE Jason Simmons and LB's Lorenzo Styles and Craig Powell.
OSU approached their road game against the Illini with considerable confidence. Surely this would be the year they broke the losing streak. They had already laid a 63-28 road whipping on the Pitt Panthers and had vanquished the visiting Washington Huskies 21-12 in a nationally televised night game. They also spanked Rice 34-7 and crushed Northwestern 51-3. The team was 4-0 and on a roll. Harris had gotten off to a great start running the football, and Galloway was making big plays and scoring touchdowns left and right. Hoying was effective as the starting QB, and he was supplemented by senior transfer Bret Powers in a sort of QB platoon. On the other hand, Illinois was struggling to find an offensive identity with new QB starter Johnny Johnson and appeared more vulnerable than they had been for years.
OSU got off to a quick start as Johnson fumbled the ball away on Illinois' very first offensive play. Three plays later, Hoying hit Galloway on a 14-yard slant for a quick touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Later, the defense forced the Illini to punt deep in their own territory. Coach Cooper smelled blood and he sent kick-blocking specialist Tito Paul on an aggressive rush for the block. As the punter saw Paul approaching him, he rushed to try to get the punt off. But as he reached the ball out it slipped from his hand and Paul slammed into him, knocking the ball into the end zone. Reserve WR Terry Glenn recovered it for his first collegiate touchdown (but not his last, see below). Tim Williams added a field goal for Ohio State and the Buckeyes led 17-3 at the half.
Unfortunately for OSU fans, the offense did very little other than take advantage of Illinois turnovers. But Illinois hardly fared better. At their home field in Memorial Stadium, the wind is often fierce and unpredictable. On this day, it was such a factor that the two teams eschewed the passing game for the most part when moving against it. OSU's offense struggled going against the wind in the 3rd quarter and frequently gave the Illini excellent field position. On one such occasion Illinois got the ball in Ohio State territory but had to settle for a field goal. On the ensuing kick-off, Glenn fumbled the ball away to the Illini, but the defense held and forced another field goal.
In the 4th quarter, OSU had the wind at their backs, but still Coach Cooper did not trust his young QB to make first downs through the air. So they ran the ball repeatedly and were forced into 3-and-outs on almost every drive. But they finally broke through to kick a field goal and go up 20-12. Illinois mounted one more threat, and even appeared to score a touchdown on a 33-yard pass from Johnson to TE Ken Dilger. But they were called for Ineligible Man Downfield on the play, and OSU dodged the bullet a few plays later when safety Tim Patillo sealed the game with an interception.
After the game, Cooper repeated again and again that "a win is a win", and after 5 years of futility against the Illini most OSU fans were willing to settle for that. But there was an uneasy feeling about shutting down the offense for almost the entire second half, and it seemed as if the lack of aggressiveness on offense had affected the team as a whole. Still, they had forged a tough victory on the road in the Big Ten, which is something to be cherished in any season even if the opposition is not exactly formidable.
Ohio State would finish the season 10-1-1, defeating BYU in a tougher-than-it-should-have-been Holiday Bowl game 28-21. OSU led 21-7 early in the 2nd quarter but the offense seemed to mostly shut down after that and they were once again forced to hold on for dear life as BYU got closer and closer before failing to crack the end zone on multiple tries at the end. Coach Cooper had "guaranteed" victory prior to the game, and so the win was a vindication of sorts. However, that victory only partially relieved the sting from a 28-0 beating the team had received at the hands of a mediocre Michigan team in the season finale. OSU looked as if they had "mailed it in", despite entering the game undefeated (having tied Wisconsin in Madison) and ranked in the top 5. Now that we are in the Tressel era, the idea of Ohio State not showing up against the boys in blue is unthinkable, but such strange events were commonplace in the Cooper era.
Raymont Harris rushed for 235 yards against BYU, the 5th highest single-game total in school history. For the season, he finished with 1344 yards on 273 carries, putting him in the top ten all-time in career rushing yards at OSU. Harris was voted team MVP, and OSU linemen Dan Wilkinson and Korey Stringer were selected as All-Americans. Galloway would play one more (scandal-tainted) season at OSU before beginning his long and successful career in the NFL. Hoying would have an excellent career as a Buckeye, ultimately finishing 2nd all-time in career passing yards. Terry Glenn got his big opportunity in 1995, and made the most of it by hauling in 64 passes for 1411 yards and a school-record 17 TD's, winning the Fred Biletnikoff award in the process. As for Cooper, the 1993 season was a turning point for the better as OSU mostly dominated the Big Ten (if not their arch-rival) for the rest of the 90's.
Comments
Great read - but I have one question that does not relate to this article. How in the hell can the Bucks drop two spaces in the AP in a blowout win????
Because a team that beat us at home lost to one of the worst BCS teams in the last few years, and OU ran up the score on Tulsa. I do think that Va Tech being ranked ahead of us is ridiculous.
But the ranking doesn't really matter. I don't think a 10-2 OSU team makes a BCS bowl this year, so we have to win the Big 10 to go to the Rose Bowl. Our BCS rank is just for show this year.
But W Va @ 10??? Oh well, we knew we had to win them all anyways. In addition, as you said, we know now that Rose Bowl is our best and only option.
Any post that mentions Tito Paul is a HOF post. :)
Obligatory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
I was at the home game in 1995 when Eddie lit up Illinois for 314 yds rushing and who knows how many more receiving ( I remember him catching a TD pass).... prob had 400 yds total offense in that game. It was the single best performance I have ever seen by a Buckeye.. ( Troy Smith vs Michigan in 2005 is close). Every time we play Illinois, I am reminded of that game and how damn cold it was that day and no once cared.... the crowd kept chanting E D D I E...... E D D I E.......
Va. Tech should be ranked ahead of the Bucks. They have beaten a Top 25 team and their only loss is to a top 5 team. The fact OSU blew out Toldedo has very little pull. The Bucks still are overrated IMHO after a poor showing against Navy and the inability to capitalize on a USC team that is clearly down.
It will be hard to judge how good the Bucks are until they get into to Big Ten schedule and we can see how TP deals with strong defensive units on a week in week out basis. Throwing two interceptions against that Toledo D is unacceptable.
Some interesting things of note out of the athletic department today:
1) Bryant won Jim Parker linemen of the week (huh?).
2) Miller or Adams are listed as the starter at LT.
3) T-Wash and Flash are no longer in the two deep.
PBB: I was at that game, too. Yes, Eddie's performance was electrifying, and he did it against a good ILL defense, which made the game a blast to watch.
As for the cold, though . . . ugh, yeah, I did feel it. It was one of those 3:30 t.v. games - dark after halftime. I think it was in November, but it was really nice that day during tailgate - like 60 degrees and sunny. Because of that, my dumb ass went into the Shoe wearing just jeans and a thin sweatshirt. Ten minutes into the game, the temp dropped to like 40 degrees and it rained throughout, which soaked me right to my bones. Fortunately, a twelve pack and Eddie's brilliance helped numb the cold.
Still, that game showed that sometimes the COLDEST days are not the -12 degree days, when you know to bundle up, but the rainy 40 degree days.
Lends a little credence to what you were saying about T-Wash and Flash being potential transfer possibilities. Still think Flash will get a chance next year with Ray gone, but the window could be closing on T-Wash.
I know, I know, but I have to agree that Browning played pretty well in the game. He probably was the best OLman in the game, even if it's the last time he'll win the award this year. Let's give the kid some credit - he's improved and is holding his own this year. After all that was said last year, I find myself kind of rooting for him.
If anything (surprisingly), Brewster has probably struggled the most this year, but I'm sure he'll get it together.
I think T-Wash will be burried now that Duran is stepping up.
Like I said in an earlier post, T-Wash wouldn't be a huge loss if he transferred. But, after watching Flash take the first kickoff from the 5 and take it to the 36, it makes one think, "How/Why the hell are we not getting him more involved?"
Because he was a RB in highschool and can't catch. TP tossed him an easy pass during the UT game and Flash promptly dropped it. It's tough to get 4 WRs on the field, especially with two promising tight ends, and Posey, Sanz, and Carter easily have the first 3 slots locked down. Thomas is not making the most of the reps he gets.
We should rename the Bam Childress award for TWash.
at least Bam had a cool name, T-Wash gettin NO love!
Good point. In no way am I advocating that Flash should take reps away from Posey, Sanz, or Carter. In a perfect world, though, we'd have a Percy Harvin type packge for Flash.
he is, and shall remain, the standard by which all other gunners shall be measured.
And since it's also a great hit, lets give Dumas some love, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
My hard-on for Bam never went away. I should call a doctor.
Southbaybuckeye -- Hang on now, I already gave T-Wash a cool nickname. Mr. April.
I was there, too. I was 13 and went up there with my dad, uncle and cousin and sat in the south stands...first time ever seeing the Buckeyes. We actually left in the 3rd quarter because my frail frame just couldn't take the cold anymore. I remember feeling like my feet were going to fall off. It was so damned windy that the long banners they tried to spread out during the half-time band show were blowing all over the place. Awesome, though...and we eventually got those tickets signed by Eddie. Great memory.
i had never seen that before. I involuntarily Oh'd out Loud at work.
Completely off-topic, but props to Rittenberg for growing a pair and telling it like it is in the face of ESECPN.
The day started out kinda warm and then a cold front came thru after half-time and it got colder as it got darker and it prob was below 30 degrees with a heavy wind when the game was over.... I had cold weather gear with me including warm weather boots... and my toes were still frozen..... still an awesome experience.
One more thing: I'm going to be in Joplin, Missouri this Saturday. I could be wrong, but I doubt ABC will be airing the game there. If that's the case, is my safest bet the radio feed from 1460 (because I don't want to mess with ESPN Gamecast or 360)?
i doubt it, they're not supposed to be broadcasting the games online, so usually it's blacked out or something else will be playing. Every so often you can find one or two of the radio stations playing it, but you just gotta go through the website of each radio affiliate and see if you can find it.
You're right: you have to buy a season pass or you can buy single games. For $4.95 though to listen to Keels, I could do a lot worse.
I know the fan experience at the 'Shoe is sometimes a point of contention. A good friend of mine who's been to some games at the 'Shoe with me went to a PSU game this past weekend. He's from Boston and went to Villanova, so he has no real rooting interest in either team. He had a few interesting observations (interesting to me at least because I've never been) about Happy Valley as it relates to the 'Shoe. According to him, the Penn Staters were very laid back on gameday whereas we Buckeyes are ready to go to war. He liked the city atmosphere of the 'Bus compared to being in the middle of nowhere in Happy Valley. He said that 105,000+ feels like 200,000 at OSU, whereas at PSU 110,000 (or whatever they have) feels like 70,000. PSU's massive student section was filled by the third quarter, and finally, Skull Session blows away any pregame tradition that PSU has to offer. Nothing groundreaking here; I just thought it was an interesting perspective from a third party.
but they all wear white and it's sooooooo cool!
I remember those late 80s-early 90s games. My most vivid memories involved going fishing with my dad and listening to a UI-OSU game on the car radio with rapt attention (and discouragement) as UI dismantled the OSU offense.
Of course, now I'm a grad student at UI, but still an OSU fan.