Ohio State’s Top 25 Plays of the Quarter-Century: Honorable Mentions and Dissenting Opinions

That's the difficulty of picking 25 top plays from a program that's amassed a 273-52 (.840) record with three national championships and a bunch more major bowl wins, Big Ten titles and victories over Michigan since the century flipped. Even compiling a list of honorable mentions left out a lot of fantastic and important plays.

Be sure to check out the full five-part series of top 25 plays if you haven't already. A quick rundown of the rankings, with the opponent and season attached:

25. Marvin Harrison Jr.'s acrobatic snag (Indiana, 2022)
24. Chris Gamble's pick-six (Penn State, 2002)
23. Noah Brown around-the-back (Oklahoma, 2016)
22. J.T. Barrett to Marcus Baugh to complete 18-point comeback (Penn State, 2017)
21. Justin Fields delivers bomb to Chris Olave through injury (Clemson, 2020)
20. Braxton Miller hits the B button (Virginia Tech, 2015)
19. Ted Ginn Jr. embarrasses Michigan's punt team (Michigan, 2004)
18. Steve Miller's College Football Playoff thick-six (Alabama, 2014)
17. Jaxon Smith-Njigba stamps record-breaking performance (Utah, 2021)
16. Ryan Shazier forces a Montee Ball fumble at the goal line (Wisconsin, 2012)
15. Antonio Pittman leaves Michigan in the dust (Michigan, 2006)
14. Ohio State clinches its first national championship in 32 years (Miami, 2002)
13. TreVeyon Henderson shocks Texas before halftime (Texas, 2024)
12. Tyvis Powell rescues Buckeyes in The Game (Michigan, 2013)
11. Michael Jenkins converts do-or-die 4th-and-14 (Miami, 2002)
10. Braxton Miller's prayer answered by Devin Smith (Wisconsin, 2011)
9. Joey Bosa's walk-off sack (Penn State, 2014)
8. Anthony Gonzalez makes "The Catch" (Michigan, 2005)
7. Evan Spencer, Michael Thomas pull off perfect trick play (Alabama, 2014)
6. 3rd-and-Jeremiah (Notre Dame, 2024)
5. The Brooklyn Dagger (Michigan, 2016)
4. Maurice Clarett strips Sean Taylor (Miami, 2002)
3. The Lone Star Heist (Texas, 2024)
2. Eighty-Five Yards Through the Heart of the South (Alabama, 2014)
1. Holy Buckeye (Purdue, 2002)

Alongside our honorable mentions, we'll also be showing some dissenting opinions to the final rankings from our Eleven Warriors staff Slack group. Feel free to offer your own counterarguments or overlooked plays in the comments – a ranking like this is always going to feature a lot of subjectivity, and we welcome any and all conversation.

Here are our 15 honorable mentions in chronological order:

Nov. 23, 2002: Will Allen Seals Michigan Win, Title-Game Berth

Ohio State's 2002 national championship season featured the most plays in our top 25, with five in total (No. 1, 4, 11, 14 and 24 on the rankings). This was the top-ranked play to miss the list, a wonderful game-sealing interception in The Game from defensive back Will Allen. The throw was predictable enough to sit on, which is probably what knocked it a notch below the others, but still a memorable moment for those who lived through that season.

Nov. 20, 2004: Troy Smith and Anthony Gonzalez open The Game with 68-yard touchdown pass

This 68-yard bomb to Anthony Gonzalez set the tone for an underdog Ohio State at home in a key rebound rivalry win after the Buckeyes fell to the Wolverines in 2003. It's also an aggressive deep strike in the Tresselball era, which is always fun. Ted Ginn Jr.'s 82-yard punt return touchdown from this same game checked in at No. 19 in the final rankings.

Smith and Gonzalez connected for the No. 8 play in the final list, known by some simply as "The Catch," against Michigan in 2005. Eleven Warriors researcher Matt Gutridge, who did an incredible job co-writing and compiling this series with me, had this 2004 touchdown strike ranked No. 19 on his list.

Jan. 2, 2006: Ted Ginn Jr.'s Fiesta Bowl end-around touchdown

Speaking of Ginn, this was a tough one to leave off the top 25, an electric 68-yard touchdown run during an electric 240-yard-from-scrimmage, two-touchdown performance from him. He pushed Ohio State out to a decisive lead early in a 34-20 win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. Eleven Warriors associate producer George Eisner pitched this as a top-25 candidate, along with another honorable mention to be included later, and I can absolutely see his reasoning.

George felt 3rd-and-Jeremiah, which ranked No. 6, should be moved down a few spots because others below it had bigger direct impacts on their games (see Braxton Miller's prayer to Devin Smith or Joey Bosa's walk-off sack) and because it was a non-scoring play on offense.

It's all in how you judge plays, and that's the wonderful (but challenging!) part of compiling this list, as George pointed out here. There are lots of well-reasoned and subjective opinions to be had.

Sept. 1, 2012: Devin Smith's one-handed catch against Miami (OH)

Here is said one-handed catch. You'll hear no argument from me if you consider this a top-25 play of the last 25 years.

Oct. 20, 2012: Kenny Guiton ties it up against Purdue

Ohio State's undefeated 2012 season was hanging by a strand of twine when the Buckeyes got the ball back at their own 39-yard line with 47 seconds left. Miller had been knocked out of the game with an injury, leaving backup quarterback Kenny Guiton to try and lead his team downfield. What ensued was a seven-play, 61-yard scoring drive in just 44 seconds, concluded by a touchdown catch from Chris Fields, then an excellent play call to convert the game-tying two-point conversion. OSU won 29-22 in overtime.

Oct. 27, 2012: Braxton Miller's juke, jive and dive

This was another play that cracked Matt's top 25. Miller's game-winning bomb to Smith against Wisconsin and his spin-move touchdown against Virginia Tech were No. 10 and 20 on the final list, but this was one of the quarter-century's best offensive goal-line plays and Miller's personal favorite play of his career.

I see you @1Tyvis .trying to finish the story

Nice hit

pic.twitter.com/mfAeDWIqN6

— BRAXTON MILLER (@BraxtonMiller5) July 20, 2025

Oct. 19, 2013: El Guapo goes Superman

Sometimes people forget just how special Carlos Hyde was due to Ezekiel Elliott being next in line at running back for Ohio State in 2014 and 2015. An overpowering runner with great feet for his size, Hyde ran for 1,521 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2013 despite missing three games while under suspension. This highlight tops the rest from his decorated career.

Nov. 8, 2014: Michael Thomas takes a slant route 79 yards to the house

It's possible to point to this play as the one that flipped the 2014 season. No. 14 Ohio State went on the road to No. 8 Michigan State as underdogs, having lost to unranked Virginia Tech earlier in the year and requiring double-overtime to best another unranked team in Penn State. Including this 79-yard catch-and-dash from J.T. Barrett to Michael Thomas, the Buckeyes outscored the Spartans 35-16 to close a 49-37 victory and stay in the hunt for the first-ever College Football Playoff.

Nov. 15, 2014: J.T. Barrett rumbles 86 yards for a touchdown

It's been 10 years now, and this still stands as the longest quarterback run in Ohio State history. It's tied for the fourth-longest run from any Buckeye ever, regardless of position. Our film guru Kyle Jones wanted to see more of Barrett in the top 25, including this jaunt. Barrett's lone play in the final rankings was his game-winning touchdown pass to complete OSU's 18-point comeback against Penn State in 2017, which landed at No. 22.

Oct. 28, 2017: Sam Hubbard tackles the entire Penn State backfield

Barrett almost missed the rankings entirely due to this play, which was hotly debated as the best from Ohio State's 2017 Penn State comeback. Eleven Warriors deputy editor Dan Hope made a strong push after nominating it for the top 25, but our company poll was divided.

I broke the tie and opted for Barrett and tight end Marcus Baugh's game-winner, mainly due to Barrett's iconic 13-for-13 fourth-quarter passing performance. Denzel Ward's blocked punt is another play we considered from this contest.

Sept. 29, 2018: Binjimen Victor weaves through Penn State's defense

Speaking of comeback victories over Penn State, No. 4 Ohio State trailed by 12 points in Happy Valley against the No. 9 Nittany Lions in 2018 before this incredible throw with an even better catch-and-run cut the deficit to 26-21. A K.J. Hill screen pass touchdown put the Buckeyes up 27-26 with 2:03 to play. Eleven Warriors executive editor Ramzy Nasrallah and I went back and forth over whether Chase Young's game-clinching 4th-and-5 tackle for loss should have made the top 25.

Ramzy also pitched the Buckeyes' goal-line stand in the 2015 CFP national championship game against Oregon, but we decided to stick to individual plays and not series of them.

I'll never understand why James Franklin didn't put the ball in the hands of quarterback Trace McSorley, who rushed for 175 yards and threw for 270 more against Ohio State that night, on 4th-and-5 and instead called a handoff. Also, apologies because there didn't end up being room for one of Jeremiah Smith's tone-setting Rose Bowl catches or Emeka Egbuka's impressive snag from that game in these honorable mentions. As Ramzy pointed out, it's hard to isolate any one play from that CFP blowout win over Oregon or the 2014 Big Ten championship demolition of Wisconsin.

Nov. 24, 2018: Chris Olave's blocked punt for a touchdown in The Game

Of all the ass-kickings Urban Meyer handed Michigan, this was the most cathartic. Ohio State entered as an underdog after a shocking loss at Purdue and way-too-close scrapes with Nebraska and Maryland, who were all unranked in 2018. The Wolverines hung around thanks to some self-inflicted Buckeye wounds in the first half, but this punt block and score by Sevyn Banks launched a second-half takeover in a 62-39 victory. Being my first Michigan game as a reporter, it was personally difficult to leave this off the top 25.

Nov. 30, 2019: Justin Fields returns from injury, delivers strike to Garrett Wilson

Justin Fields got banged up on a hit earlier this drive and had to leave the game for a career backup in Chris Chugunov. After Chugs led Ohio State to Michigan's 30-yard line, Fields reentered the contest and immediately threw a dart on the run to freshman wide receiver Garrett Wilson in the back of the end zone. It made the scoreline 42-16 in an eventual 56-27 win over the Wolverines.

Oct. 24, 2020: Jaxon Smith-Njigba somehow gets a foot down

Jaxon Smith-Njigba made one of the best catches this quarter-century by a Buckeye in the fourth quarter of a blowout win over Nebraska. Still no idea how he stuck that foot back in bounds. JSN checked in at No. 17 in the top 25 for his go-ahead over-the-shoulder catch against Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl during a record-breaking 347-yard receiving performance.

Oct. 26, 2024: Davison Igbinosun steals an end zone interception

One of the most incredible plays from Ohio State's 2024 national championship run that barely missed the cut for the top 25. Davison Igbinosun stole points directly from Penn State right before halftime by somehow stealing the football from Harrison Wallace III and keeping a foot in-bounds. It was such an unbelievable pick that neither of FOX broadcasters Gus Johnson or Joel Klatt saw it at first.

Deciding the Top Three

I ranked Maurice Clarett's strip of Sean Taylor in the 2003 BCS national championship game as my No. 1 play when first compiling this list, but I was also four years old and have no recollections of the 2002 natty season. The consensus (though not unanimous) decision by those on the Eleven Warriors staff who lived through that year was that Holy Buckeye was the top play of the run.

That left a clear top three for our final list, taking the best play from each national championship season: The Lone Star Heist, Holy Buckeye and 85 Yards Through the Heart of the South. Matt and I's first combined list ranked the Lone Star Heist No. 1, but we put it to a vote against Holy Buckeye, a vote I abstained from due to my stated lack of living memories. Holy Buckeye was the unanimous choice.

Dan and Ramzy both laid out the reasoning pretty well.

Then it came time to decide which play should be No. 2 between The Lone Star Heist and 85 Yards Through the Heart of the South. While Dan and I both sided with Jack Sawyer's scoop-and-score, the consensus came for Ezekiel Elliott's game-sealing run against the gold standard of football.

Ramzy, as he does, summed it up cleverly:

For those who wish to commemorate and flex some of the greatest moments of this list, a reminder that we have T-shirts in the Eleven Warriors Dry Goods Store honoring the Brooklyn Dagger, the Lone Star Heist, 85 Yards Through the Heart of the South and Holy Buckeye.

Thank you all for your readership! Onto the next quarter-century.