Every now and then, we will look back to great moments in Ohio State history and recap what happened. Today we will be looking back to the 1974 Rose Bowl game aganist USC and a little bit of the Michigan game before that USC game.
Ohio State - 42 USC - 21
Looking for revenge as well as redemption, the 1974 Buckeye squad was a good one. The 60th Rose Bowl then, the Buckeyes would be facing the USC Trojans. The Buckeyes won in a dominant way, with the running attack in Archie Griffin, but also with the precision passing of Cornelius Greene. Greene would end up being the MVP of the Rose Bowl that year, much like Terrelle Pryor was this year. He finished only 6 of 8 passing for 129 yards though. Griffin, a sophomore then, had his 11th straight 100 yard rushing game on the season. He ended up with 149 yards on 22 carries. Hayes said that the week before they had been working on passing the ball more because USC knew what was coming in Griffin. The Buckeye's defense was key, although allowing over 200 yards passing, they shut down the running game, including Anthony Davis, USC's leading rusher. The game was tied at 14 at the end of the first half, but the Buckeyes exploded in the second half scoring 28 unanswered points.
Archie Griffin had the Buckeye's last play, a beautfiul 47 yard run late in the fourth quarter. This was a big win, not only for the Buckeyes, but for the Big Ten, as they had lost 4 straight in the Rose Bowl prior to Ohio State winning it. The Buckeyes coach said he thought they deserved the title of number one, on the fact they were undefeated, with a tie. That tie, though, came to Michigan. A 10-10 tie that will go down in College Football history as one of the greatest, and most controversial. To start, Ohio State ripped down the "Support Michigan" banner. Then, fierce play that resulted in a tie led most to believe that Michigan, not Ohio State, would be headed to the Rose Bowl. The band had started playing "California Dreamin", and most Buckeyes thought since they were the ones who got "upset" they woulnd't be going. The next day, however, the Big Ten wanted so badly to win the Rose Bowl, they deceided to give themselves a fighting chance. So they sent Ohio State.
How can you not love this??
- Bo Schembechler said the desicion was tragic.
- Most Buckeye fans didn't think so.
- Ohio State's Archie Griffin would go onto to win the Heisman trophy as a junior, and a senior. The only two-timer ever.
