Buckeyes Look to Rebound from Stunning Loss to Michigan State – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/12/1998 12:00:00 AM | Football
November 12, 1998
Once again a school from Michigan was the downfall of Ohio State’s national championship hopes. Nobody expected it would be Michigan State, though, that cost them the chance.
You can’t blame Buckeyes coach John Cooper for not getting much sleep last weekend. His Buckeyes suffered a devastating 28-24 upset to the Spartans that knocked them from the ranks of the undefeated.
“When you lose, obviously you can’t sleep,” Cooper said Monday at his weekly press luncheon. “You can’t sleep and you want to get over, look at the film, see what happened and do everything you can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Cooper’s record at Ohio State is an impressive 94-33-4. But going back to 1993, he has played Michigan with his team undefeated, ranked in the top five and heavily favored three times and lost each meeting.
This time it was the State school that beat the Buckeyes (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten), who travel to Iowa on Saturday.
Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in last week’s Bowl Championship Series standings, putting them in the hunt for the national title game on Jan. 4, 1999. The hunt suffered a suffered a huge setback when the underdog Spartans scored the last 19 points of the game for the upset.
The Buckeyes slipped to No. 7 in the Associated Press poll and eighth in the Bowl Championship standings.
“Our goal initially was to win the national championship,” Cooper said Monday. “If we can’t reach that goal, then what’s the next best thing? If you can’t play in the Fiesta Bowl, then what?”
The next best thing could be a trip to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl.
“In years past, that was the pinnacle. That was the highest you could go,” Cooper said of the annual battle between the Pac-10 and Big Ten champs. “I hope we haven’t reached the point where winning a major bowl game and winning nine, 10 or 11 games isn’t a successful season.”
Ohio State will need a bit of help to reach Pasadena as they trail undefeated Wisconsin in the Big Ten. Iowa (3-6, 2-4), which is having one of its poorer seasons, will have its hands full with an angry Ohio State team. The Hawkeyes were routed 36-14 by Purdue last weekend.
“It’s the worst season I’ve ever had because they’re good kids,” said coach Hayden Fry.
Things won’t get any easier this week for an Iowa defense that gave up 541 yards to Purdue.
