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Top 10 Ohio State Football Games in My Lifetime

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OhioAgainstTheWorld34's picture
July 15, 2017 at 1:06pm
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I was born in 1990, so that does limit this list to the last 26 years of football and of the early years I don't recall many games.  However I will always vividly remember my dad and I making the drive up to Bloomington from Elizabehtown, KY for my first game when I was 3. I can vaguely recall the heart breaking Tim Biakabutuka game.  But we won't dwell on those ones that hurt, because I still have trouble sleeping with the thoughts of 2015 Michigan State haunting me.  I would be willing to get insight and perspective from everyone's point of view and possibly how those Rose Bowls and games of the Woody era stacked up against the more recent bouts.  This is the list I compiled:

10.) 2002 Texas Tech at Ohio State.  This one made the list because I was at the game sitting in the newly renovated Horseshoe watching a true freshmen running back run wild.  Oh and the foreshadowing of what the season was going to hold for us.

9.) 2005 Ohio State at Michigan.  I don't think I will ever grow tired of watching those final couple drives as Troy Smith cemented his lore in Ohio State football.  That game essential catapulted him to the Heisman Trophy the following year.  Those last 7 minutes of game time in this one and the destruction of Notre Dame in Fiesta Bowl that followed.

8.) 1997 Rose Bowl Ohio State vs. Arizona State.  I use to pretend to be David Boston in the back yard because of this game.  Joe Germaine became a legend and this is probably one of the brightest spots of the Cooper Era that I grew up in.  I remember my dad telling me how much he looked forward to watching the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.  I also recall making our annual trip to Indiana and being on his shoulders as we stormed the field to clinch a spot in this game.  I got to give Michael Wiley a high five and slap Andy Katzenmoyer's shoulder pads.

7.) 2002 Ohio State vs. Michigan.  Maybe I should have held off on this one and rated it a little higher. But this game probably shaved 10 years off my life.  I felt joy when Will Allen went to the turf with the ball on the final play, but along with that it was such a sense of relief. The nervous energy I watched this game with was crazy.  Maybe you guys can relate, maybe it was because we were #2 and undefeated and that wasn't something I was use to as a young Buckeye fan.  I was on the verge of throwing up the entire game. 

6.) 2016 Ohio State vs. Michigan.  Midway through the 4th quarter I thought we were dead.  We had made some big plays and crawled back to give us some hope, but it just felt like we weren't going to be able to get over the hump.   When we got it to OT and Curtis Samuel broke free up the left side of the field to glide into the endzone, I was acting like one of those maniacs you see on YouTube reacting uncontrollably to the pure joy that I felt rush through my body. Yes. The spot was good!

5.) 2006 Ohio State vs. Michigan. As the game that lead up to this one I think had the post season that followed these two games been a little more desirable they would have been a little higher on the list, that being said this battle was one for the ages and to win a 1 vs. 2 battle in The Game... Well yeah I won't say anything else.

4.) 2001 Ohio State at Michigan. This one maybe a little higher than most might think, but when I reflect back watching Craig Krenzel and Jonathan Wells lead the Buckeyes to a win... That snowballed the era of dominance we are in.  And seeing the clip of Tressel address the basketball crowd 314 days earlier just made it that much more enjoyable.

3.) 2014 Big Ten Championship Game Ohio State vs. Wisconsin.  I skipped a mandatory work Christmas function to make the last minute drive and arrive just as we were scoring our first of many touchdowns that night.  I received a call from my brother that he has won VIP tickets from the Big Ten Network two hours before kickoff... It is a 2 hour and 15 minute drive to Indy.  So I grabbed my wife and before dinner was even served we were on our way ditching the Christmas function to take in one of the most dominating and unexpected trashing I have ever seen.  I still watch the broadcast from time to time.

2.) 2003 Fiesta Bowl (BCS National Championship) Ohio State vs. Miami (FL).  I was just 12 years old, but when Cie Grant threw Ken Dorsey to the ground and that ball landed in front of Donnie Nickey I ran over to the front door, flung the thing open, and shouted YESSS at the top my lungs.  I remember mom looking at her friend that was over and apologizing because we were probably going to have to have the cops called on us, and dad who is a pastor looked at her and replied, "I don't even care. Get fireworks." It was amazing.

1.) 2015 Sugar Bowl Ohio State vs. Alabama.  The fact that I have lived in Kentucky my whole life and have been the victim of people ringing my doorbell at 1 am after the 2006 Florida loss and leaving signs proclaiming the SEC's greatness because after all when you are a UK fan you can cheer for them in basketball and then rock the Alabama or at that time Florida gear because you were entitled those championships in football. So yeah I had a lot of built up frustration going into this one.  I fully was bracing for the worst, but when Zeke ripped through the heart of the south 85 yards and the clock finally hit zeros I lost my mind.

Honorable Mentions: 1995 Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, 1996 Ohio State vs. Pittsburgh, 1996 Ohio State at Notre Dame, 1999 Sugar Bowl Ohio State vs. Texas A&M, 2002 Ohio State at Purdue, 2006 Fiesta Bowl Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, 2006 Ohio State at Texas, 2006 Ohio State at Iowa, 2007 Ohio State at Michigan, 2008 Ohio State at Wisconsin, 2009 Ohio State vs. Iowa OT, 2010 Rose Bowl Ohio State vs. Oregon, 2011 Sugar Bowl Ohio State vs. Arkansas (It still happened.), 2011 Ohio State vs. Wisconsin, 2012 Ohio State vs. Purdue OT, 2012 Ohio State at Wisconsin OT, 2012 Ohio State vs. Michigan, 2013 Ohio State at Michigan, 2014 Ohio State at Michigan State, 2014 Ohio State vs. Michigan, 2015 Ohio State at Michigan, 2016 Fiesta Bowl Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, 2016 Ohio State at Oklahoma.

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