“I never saw a better victory than today.”  That statement by Woody did not come after a Rose Bowl win securing a national title.  He said it after the Buckeyes’ 50-14 rout of TTUN in 1968, years after other squads of his had won national championships.

And, looking at the stakes involved, it probably stands as the second most impressive Ohio State victory I have ever experienced (in this instance, by listening to the game on radio).

i believe it was the first time both teams had perfect records in conference play going into The Game, so a Rose Bowl bid was up for grabs.  The teams were ranked #2 and #4, so a potential national title was still on the line for both squads as well.

One amazing stat: the game was actually tied 14-14 with under a minute to play in the first half before Ohio State blew the game open.

A second amazing stat: even though TTUN knew Ohio State was going to run the ball on virtually every play—the Buckeyes only threw the ball nine times in the entire game—Ohio State still managed to rush for 421 yards.

A third amazing stat: Ohio State actually lost two fumbles in this game and still managed to put 50 points on the board.

I don’t know how many times Woody was carried off the field on the shoulders of his players but I do know it happened at the end of this game; I have a picture of a jubilant Woody riding atop his players in a clipping I’ve saved online. 

And I think the emotions displayed in that photo combined with that remarkable post-game quote tell you everything you need to know about where Woody’s priorities were in terms of which games mattered the most.

PS: I say it was probably the second most impressive game I have experienced only because, from start to finish, I think the Big Ten championship in 2014 was as close to a perfect performance that I could ever expect to see in a game with enormous significance.