The last 25 years of Ohio State football have gifted Buckeye fans a plethora of memorable plays.
From 2000 through 2024, the Buckeyes won three national championships, 11 Big Ten Championships and posted a 17-7 record against Michigan, counting their vacated win in 2010. They hold a 263-53 record in that time, a gaudy winning percentage of .832. That much program success will generate
Ohio State’s Top 25 Games of the Quarter-Century
After we counted down the top 25 games of the last quarter-century of Ohio State football last week, this week it's time to count down the top 25 plays of the last 25 years. Any list like this is going to feature a lot of subjectivity when compiling, but we did our best to rank each moment based on its importance, quality in a vacuum, the stage it occurred on and how impactful it was to winning that game.
The strength of spots 21 through 25 should indicate just how many great plays there are to choose from in Ohio State's lore from 2000 through 2024. In part one of this five-part series, the bottom five spots on our rankings feature two of the most memorable catches from Buckeyes this century and two game-winning plays in massive Penn State games.
25. Nov. 12, 2022: Marvin Harrison Jr.'s acrobatic sideline snag
Ohio State was favored to defeat Indiana by 40 points in 2022, and the undefeated Buckeyes had a commanding 28-7 lead over the Hoosiers in the final minutes of the first half. Facing 3rd-and-10 from the Indiana 38-yard line, C.J. Stroud looked to his right and threw a high pass toward the sideline.
The pass was so high and right, FOX broadcaster Gus Johnson initially called the attempt incomplete. But the officials correctly ruled it a successful catch, with replay revealing the full brilliance of Harrison's snag.
When Harrison first caught the ball, it appeared he'd need to get his left foot down in bounds to make the pass complete. As his momentum and Indiana defensive back Josh Sanguinetti carried Harrison out of bounds, the receiver's left leg and foot hovered over the sideline. At that moment, Harrison was able to contort his right side and drop his right foot just inside the white stripe.
Eleven Warriors' own Garrick Hodge captured a memorable photo of Harrison's catch, which is featured as the header for this story, cropped to fit the front-page frame. Here it is in its full beauty:
Ohio State won the game, 56-14, and Harrison had seven catches for 135 yards and a 58-yard touchdown.
24. Oct. 26, 2002: Chris Gamble puts the pick-six in PSU
The 2002 cardiac kids were at it again when the No. 4 Buckeyes played No. 18 Penn State in Ohio Stadium for the ninth game of the season. The Nittany Lions received the second-half kickoff with a 7-3 lead thanks to a sluggish day from the Ohio State offense.
On the third play of the drive, Penn State quarterback Zack Mills rolled to his left and threw an intermediate strike down the Ohio State sideline. Two-way player extraordinaire Chris Gamble was waiting in zone coverage and snagged the football out of the air near Penn State's 40-yard line.
Gamble raced down the sideline, then put on the brakes near the 13 as Mills fell to his knees, crossed up by Gamble alongside one of his offensive linemen. The DB zigged to his left for a few steps, then zagged back to the right as he raced past a wave of Nittany Lions for the touchdown.
Gamble's heroics proved the game-winning score for Ohio State, its only touchdown in the 13-7 victory. It was the second interception of his Buckeye career.
23. Sept. 17, 2016: Noah Brown makes around-the-back catch
In a highly anticipated matchup, No. 3 Ohio State traveled to Norman to face No. 14 Oklahoma in the third game of the 2016 season. Amid a record-tying performance, Buckeye wide receiver Noah Brown made an iconic catch against Oklahoma cornerback Michiah Quick.
Brown tied an Ohio State record with four touchdown catches in the 45-24 primetime victory, but it was his third score that everybody remembers. The Buckeyes were leading 28-17 in the waning moments of the first half when J.T. Barrett took a 2nd-and-10 snap from the right hash of the Sooners' 21-yard line with 13 seconds remaining before halftime.
Following a play-action fake, Barrett threw across the field for the left corner of the end zone. The ball was a little underthrown, and as Brown leaped in the air, Quick ran straight into his chest with both arms reaching up. As the New Jersey native was being blanketed, he reached his right arm around Quick and pinned the ball against Quick’s back with his right hand.
Both players tumbled out of bounds, with Brown then securing the ball with both hands for a touchdown to put Ohio State up 35-17 at the break. Four of Brown's seven career touchdown receptions came from this game.
22. Oct. 28, 2017: J.T. Barrett caps perfect fourth quarter vs. Penn State
This play put a stamp on the signature performance of J.T. Barrett’s career and Ohio State’s most memorable Penn State win ever.
The No. 6 Buckeyes trailed by 18 points not once, but twice against the No. 2 Nittany Lions – first 21-3, then 28-10. Ohio State entered the fourth quarter down 35-20 before the second-largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history at 109,302 fans.
Through a biting cold, Barrett went a perfect 13-for-13 passing in the fourth, capping his day with a then-school-record 16 consecutive completions. He finished 33-of-39 passing for 328 yards and four touchdowns with 95 rushing yards. A 38-yard strike to Johnnie Dixon cut the deficit to 35-27, then a 10-yard scoring snag from Dixon made it 38-33.
A Penn State 3-and-out gave Ohio State the ball back at its own 42-yard line with three minutes to play. Barrett strung together completions of 20, six and 14 yards to move the Buckeyes 16 yards from paydirt.
Play action froze Penn State’s linebackers just enough. Tight end Marcus Baugh slid behind them on a seam, and Barrett laced through a perfect pass to a deafening roar from the Shoe. Baugh snared it to give Ohio State its first lead of the ballgame with 1:48 remaining.
Ohio State’s defense held the following drive for a 39-38 victory.
21. Jan. 1, 2021: Justin Fields uncorks bomb to Chris Olave vs. Clemson
When Clemson linebacker James Skalski drew a targeting flag for planting his helmet crown-first into Justin Fields’ rib cage, fear shuddered through Buckeye Nation that their quarterback had been knocked out of the game.
Fields reentered two plays later, but in visible pain. Every step came with a grimace as he battled a hip injury. There were flashbacks to the previous year’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Clemson, a snake-bitten game that saw multiple controversial calls go against Ohio State in a 29-23 loss.
But Fields rolled out and hit Chris Olave on a comeback route to push the Buckeyes’ lead to two scores. He could barely hobble off the field afterward.
As great as their first score was, Fields and Olave connected for one even better after the Tigers cut a then-21-point lead to 35-21 in the third quarter. Anyone who knows anything about quarterback mechanics will tell you how much the core and hips are involved in launching a ball downfield. Even so, Fields took the top off Clemson’s defense with a pass that traveled 63 yards in the air to hit Olave in stride beyond two defenders on a post route. The receiver secured a clean grab atop his shoulder and strode into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown to put Ohio State back up three scores with less than 21 minutes of game time remaining.
The Buckeyes led by three scores the rest of the way to deliver a vengeful victory over the Tigers and advance to the 2021 College Football Playoff national championship game, where they fell to Alabama.
