#10 - 1978 Alabama (11-1) - 6-35 - This game was hyped as a classic matchup Woody vs the Bear but it was never really in doubt. I'm glad they met but it would have been nice to play the SEC Champs with one of Woody's Big Ten champs from the mid 70s. It's a shame to think of all the classic games that we could have had if college football had a playoff. The one thing I do remember from this game was Ohio State had no answer for their passing game and one receiver in particular. The next season I grew to love Ozzie Newsome when he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns and he quickly became my favorite player in the NFL.
#9 - 1987 Indiana (8-4) - 10-31 - The Buckeyes started the season 3-0-1 and it felt like the team was on it's way to another conference championship when the Hoosiers stepped up and put the beatdown on the Buckeyes. This prompted Earle Bruce to call it, "the darkest day for Ohio State football since I've been associated with it". The Hooisers were no joke though as they made a run for the conference title and played in a bowl game. The Buckeyes rebounded but lost 3 close games at the end of the season to end the Earle Bruce era. The 1988 game under John Cooper was even worse (7-41) but by then he had gotten us used to the idea that the team had very little talent. If John Cooper was correct then perhaps it is a testament to Bruce's coaching skill that we didn't have more games like Indiana in the 80s.
#8 - 1997 Florida State (11-1) - 14-31 - The end of the 1997 season was bitter for the Buckeyes because they were unable to stop Michigan's run for the National title like had been done to them in 93, 95, and 96. The Buckeyes gave away the game in Ann Arbor and settled for a Sugar Bowl game vs Florida State. This game was a showcase for depth and talent and the Seminoles had plenty of both. They dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage and the game was never really in doubt.
#7 - 1976 Michigan (10-2) - 0-22 - I was a bit young to watch the games at this point but I remember always hating Rick Leach (Michigan QB in the late 70s) throughout my childhood. Woody put great attention to the Michigan game which normally lead to great results but this game was the first in a string of 3 losses he would suffer to them to end his career.
#6 - 1978 Penn State - 0-19 - In life there are some moments you never forget. The 1978 Penn State game was one of those as it's the first Buckeye game I remember watching with my grandpa. It was so memorable because I'd never heard him cuss so much. The cleaned up version was that he didn't understand why Woody was playing a true freshmen that continued to make mistakes when they had a veteran QB (Rod Gerald) split out at wide receiver. I missed the end of the game because my grandmother turned off the TV at the beginning of the 4th quarter as she thought my grandpa was going to have a stroke if he continued to watch. At school the next week I heard Schlitchter ended with 5 interceptions.
#5 - 1999 Wisconsin (10-2) - 17-42 - I was at this game and despite the Buckeyes being up 17-0 in the first half it was more due to Wisconsin miscues than Buckeye prowess. I especially remember the next series when the Buckeyes had the Badgers at third and short at about midfield. I turned to my buddy and said, "The Buckeyes better stop them here and get them to quit as I don't think this defense can stop that offense." Ron Dayne bust through the middle for a first down and the rest of the game was never in doubt. I've never felt so helpless watching a game.
#4 - 1993 Michigan (8-4) - 0-28 - This game wouldn't rate this high on many people's list but I was positive that the Buckeyes had turned the corner and were going to dominate the Wolverines. I was so confident that I drove 4 hours with a bunch of friends to see the game and was already making plans for the Rose Bowl. It was bitterly cold that day and the Buckeyes never seemed to show up. I've made many trips to Detroit since then but the drive back to Columbus was never so long.
#3 - 1991 Michigan (10-2) - 3-31 - Also known as the Heisman pose game. John Cooper had restocked that talent and expectations were high that we'd see a better result on the field. Unfortunately I was invited to be the best man for a friend of mine from college that day. I watched on a little portable TV for most of the first half as everyone else was scurrying to get ready. The noon kickoff made this possible because the wedding wasn't set to start until 2:00. Desmond's Heisman pose at the end of the first half put them up 28-0 and I turned off my TV in disgust. It was at that point I ran through my wedding checklist in my head and realized the groom never gave me the rings. This caused us to make a 40 minute detour to go back to our hotel to get them and we arrived at the chapel about 20 minutes before the start of the wedding. When the bride later learned about this she gave me grief for failing in my duty as the best man. I told her my mind was preoccupied and anyway it was really her fault for picking a stupid day to hold a wedding. I've always wondered if the game was closer if they would have had to get married without rings.
#2 - 1994 Penn State - 14-63 - After so many seasons of disappointment it seemed like 94 was going to be our year. Unfortunately, the Penn State offense toyed with us all day long and could have put 100 up if JoePa wanted. The scary thing is the Buckeyes had a roster full of players like Eddie George, Raymont Harris, Korey Stringer, and Orlando Pace. It didn't matter on this day though and I will never forget the shell shocked look on Kirk Herbstreit's face as he tried to explain to a national audience what was happening. He tried then stammered and just said ... "I really don't know."
#1 - 2006 Florida (13-1) - 14-41 - Like most Buckeye fans I was looking for a blowout just not this kind of blowout. The Buckeyes were immensely talented that season but were never in the game. I think it was a combination of the long layoff, losing Ted Ginn after the first play, a few questionable decisions by Jim Tressel, and an aggressive Florida team that wanted to shut up the media that didn't give them a chance. I turned the game off at halftime and didn't see the end of the game. I never will.
Honorable mentions
- 1976 UCLA (9-2-1) - 10-23 - The Buckeyes dominated the Bruins earlier in the year 42-20 but had no answers on this day. It was especially heartbreaking as the rumor was that Woody Hayes was going to retire if they won and finished national champions. Instead he hung around for another 3 years and was eventually fired in disgrace.
- 2004 Iowa (10-2) - 7-33 - This team was immensely talented but they were trying to find a new quarterback after Krenzel graduated. Neither Troy Smith or Justin Zwick played well on this day. The most frustrating thing on this day was the defense got torched by Iowa for 450 total yards and 3 touchdown passes. They were much better than that.
- 2008 USC - 3-35 - This game was really never in doubt from the opening which is why I put it in the honorable mention category. The Buckeyes had a good team but USC was just amazingly talented. The fact that they lost to an unranked Oregon State team the next week shows the ups and downs that were always around the Pete Carroll era.
- 1982 Florida State (9-3) - 17-34 - Bobby Bowden had worked for many years to gain respect for his program and this pasting of the Buckeyes helped his cause immensely as the Buckeyes tried to find some consistency in the post Schitcher era. They finished strong and I doubt the game would have ended like this if the two played again in a bowl.
- 2007 LSU - 24-38 - I thought about not putting this on the list at all but the commentators at the time felt it was a blowout. While the Buckeyes probably should have never been invited to this game LSU wasn't that much better than the Buckeyes. A few less stupid mistakes in the first half and a few less panicky decisions by Jim Tressel and I really think we might have won the game.
- 2000 South Carolina (8-4) - 7-24 - I had a bad feeling going into this game. The Buckeyes were much more talented than the Gamecocks but at some point during the season John Cooper lost the team and the result was embarrassing. The team actually started acting like a bunch of punks at some point which caused me to root for the opposition for the only time in my life. The result was the end to John Cooper's career at Ohio State.
- 1986 Washington (8-3-1) - 7-40 - The Buckeyes had lost a close game to Alabama the week before and this game was important to get back on track. The Buckeyes were never in the game from the beginning which was a bad sign for a team that was expected to contend for the Big Ten title. They rebounded from this loss to win 9 straight before losing a Michigan team that Jim Harbaugh guaranteed would win. The Washington game seemed like an anomaly as the Buckeyes dominated the Southwest champion Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. Unfortunately it was just a hint that the talent in the mid 80s at Ohio State wasn't quite what we thought.
Despite the above the Buckeyes historically have played very close to all their opponents and since 1970 they have only lost 25 games by more than 2 touchdowns in those 40 years(out of a total of 467). When it does happen it can be very unsettling and in some ways these losses are tougher to take than a last second loss decided by a field goal. On one hand you could have won the game if the ball bounced a little different -- on the other you are just glad you won't have to see that team ever again.
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