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| Eddie George is hoisted up in the air by his teammates after he scored what would be the game-winning touchdown. |
On October 29, 1994, the #21 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to State College, Pennsylvania to take on the #1 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions.
The game would be a nightmare for the Buckeyes as they were destroyed by the Nittany Lions 63-14 as the Buckeyes gave up 33 1st downs and 572 yards of total offense while gaining only 214 yards of total offense and picking up only 12 1st downs.
Almost one year later on October 7, 1995 the Buckeyes would travel to "Happy Valley" looking to avenge their humilating loss from the year before.
Ohio State came into the game ranked #5 with a 4-0 record as they had knocked off Notre Dame the week before by the score of 45-26.
The Buckeyes were coached by John Cooper who was in his eighth season at Columbus and had the best offense he ever had at Ohio State, which had averaged just over 46 points per game in the first four game.
The offense was lead by senior quarterback Bobby Hoying, wide receiver Terry Glenn, and running back Eddie George, who had rushed for over 200 yards in two of the Buckeyes' first four games of the season.
It was ironic since the year before it was the Nittany Lions who had the high-powered offense with quarterback Kerry Collins, running back Ki-Jana Carter, and wide receiver Bobby Engram which averaged 47 points per game during a 12-0 season which ended with a 38-20 over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
However, Collins and Carter were in the NFL now, with their replacements being junior Wally Richardson at quarterback and true freshman Curtis Enis at running back, though Engram had returned for his senior season.
The Nittany Lions entered the game ranked #12 but were coming off a 17-9 loss to Wisconsin the week before.
If the Nittany Lions were to defeat the Buckeyes, they were going to need their offense back on track and their defense to slow down the high flying Ohio State offensive attack.
After both teams traded punts on their opening possessions, the Nittany Lions put together a 10-play, 60-yard drive, running the ball on eight of those plays but with the two biggest plays coming through the air as Richardson hit Engram for 22 yards on 3rd & 6 from the Penn State 44-yard-line, then found Scott for 20 yards on 3rd & 9 from the Ohio State 33-yard-line.
The drive ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Jon Witman to give Penn State a 7-0 lead with 6:03 left in the first quarter.
The Nittany Lions would get another excellent scoring opportunity when George fumbled the football after catching a screen pass which was recovered by Penn State cornerback Mark Tate at the Buckeyes' 33-yard-line.
Penn State would convert the fumble into points as Brett Conway would kick a 40-yard field goal to increase the Nittany Lions' lead to 10-0 with 1:16 left in the first quarter.
Following the field goal, the Ohio State offense finally got on track as they took over at their 20-yard-line and would drive 80 yards in nine plays with the Hoying-to-Glenn connection leading the Buckeyes down the field.
First, Hoying hit Glenn for 13 yards on the final play of the first quarter, then connected with him again for 33 yards on 2nd & 12 from the Ohio State 44-yard-line, and then ending the drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass to bring the Buckeyes to within a field goal at 10-7 with 12:14 left in the second quarter.
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| Ohio State wide receiver Terry Glenn caught nine passes for 175 yards and scored two touchdowns. |
Penn State would get the ball back at its 25-yard-line and seemed in prime position to increase their lead when Enis ran for 36 yards to the Ohio State 39-yard-line on the first play of the drive.
But an intentional grounding call on Richardson stalled the drive, forcing the Nittany Lions to punt which was downed at the Buckeyes' two-yard-line, meaning Ohio State would have to drive 98 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
The Buckeyes would get out of the hole when Hoying hit Glenn again, this time for 13 yards on 3rd & 6 to give Ohio State a 1st down at their 19-yard-line, which was followed by a 25-yard pass to tight end Ricky Dudley to give Ohio State another 1st down at their 44-yard-line.
Five plays later, the Buckeyes were in the end zone as Hoying found Dudley for a 25-yard touchdown to give Ohio State a 14-10 lead midway through the second quarter.
Both teams would have one more possession before the halftime break, but neither could mount a scoring threat as both teams ended up punting at the end of each possession, keeping it a 14-10 game in favor of Ohio State after 30 minutes of play
The Buckeyes would take the ball to start the second half and drive 80 yards in eight plays, culminating with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Hoying to Glenn, to increase the Ohio State lead to 21-10 just three minutes into the second half.
The Nittany Lions would respond with a long drive which took 7/12 minutes off the clock and traveled 86 yards in 15 plays, with all but one of those plays coming on the ground as Enis carried the ball six times for 31 yards while Witman carried the ball five times for 22 yards, including the one-yard touchdown to bring Penn State to back within one score.
After the touchdown, Paterno decided to go for two to make it a three-point game which he got as Richardson found Joe Jurevicius for the two-point conversion to make it 21-18 with 4:24 left in the third quarter.
The Buckeyes would punt on their next possession giving the ball back to the Nittany Lions who took over at their 16-yard-line with 74 seconds left in the third quarter.
This time, the Lions would drive down the field on the arm of Richardson who first hit Mike Archie for 12 yards on 3rd & 5 to give Penn State a 1st down at their 33-yard-line as the fourth quarter began.
After two runs by Enis collected 20 yards, Richardson would find Engram for 20 yards and a 1st down at the Ohio State 27-yard-line, then hit Engram again 27 yards on 3rd & 11 to set up 1st & goal from the one-yard-line where Witman punched it in for his third touchdown of the game to give Penn State a 25-21 lead with 12:23 left in the game.
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| Penn State running back Jon Witman dives for one of his three touchdowns in the game. |
The Buckeyes would begin its next possession at their 20-yard-line where they drove to the Penn State 47-yard-line as Hoying completed three passes in a row for 33 yards.
But a quarterback sack lead to a 3rd & 15 where Hoying was picked off by Penn State cornerback Brian Miller whose 13-yard return set the Nittany Lions up at their 34-yard-line.
However, Penn State would go three-and-out, punting the ball back to the Buckeyes who took over at their 38-yard-line as Hoying connected with Glenn for 18 yards to begin the drive and put Ohio State in Penn State territory.
Three straight runs by George gained 14 yards to give Ohio State another 1st down as Hoying's next two passes fell incomplete, which was followed by a nine-yard pass to Dudley to set up 4th & 1 at the Penn State 21-yard-line.
With a potential field goal only cutting the lead to one point, Cooper decided to go for the 1st down, but the Buckeyes would be denied as Hoying's pass for Glenn fell incomplete, giving the ball back to Penn State at their 21-yard-line with exactly five minutes to go in the game.
The Nittany Lions would go three-and-out for the second possession in a row, punting the ball away to the Buckeyes who took over at their 42-yard-line with 3:10 remaining in the game.
After two straight incomplete passes to start the drive, Hoying found Buster Tillman for 13 yards and a 1st down at the Penn State 45-yard-line.
On the very next play, Hoying connected with Dudley for 32 yards and another 1st down at the Nittany Lions' 13-yard-line.
That is when George took over as he got the ball on 1st down and ran for seven yards, then took a handoff from Hoying and ran around the left side for the six-yard touchdown to give Ohio State a 28-25 lead with 1:42 to go in the game.
Penn State would get the ball at their 19-yard-line with a chance to drive for the winning score and least a field goal that would end the game in a tie(Overtime would not come to FBS football until the following season).
The drive began with Richardson finding Freddie Scott for 18 runs, then hitting Witman for 12 yards to give Penn State a 1st down at their 49-yard-line.
Richardson's next pass would fall incomplete, which was followed by a three-yard run by Enis and then a quarterback sack by Ohio State nose guard Luke Fickell to drop Richardson for a 12-yard-loss and set up 4th & 19 from from the Nittany Lions' 40-yard-line.
Richardson's 4th down pass for Engram fell incomplete, forcing a turnover on downs and giving the ball back to Ohio State, who took two knees to run out the clock and come out of Happy Valley with a 28-25 win.
The Nittany Lions would lose only one more game during the rest of the 1995 season as they finished with a 10-3 record and top-15 ranking in both polls after they demolished Auburn 43-14 in the Outback Bowl to end the season.
As for the Buckeyes, they would win their next six games, including a 41-3 rout of Illinois which saw George ran for 314 yards on 36 carries, before their dream season was shattered when they were upset by #18 Michigan 31-23 in the final game of the regular season that not only ended their national championship hopes, but kept them out of the Rose Bowl as the loss allowed Northwestern to win the Big 10 and go to the Rose Bowl.
The Buckeyes would lose to Tennessee 20-14 in the Citrus Bowl to finish the season with a 11-2 record and top-10 ranking in both polls as George, Glenn, and Dudley would all be selected in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft, while Hoying would go in the third round.
George finished the season with a then Ohio State record 1,924 rushing yards and scored 24 touchdowns to become the fifth Heisman Trophy winner in Buckeyes history.
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| Ohio State quarterback Bobby Hoying completed 24 of 35 passes for 354 yards and threw three touchdowns. |
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