Ohio State Chosen to Play in 2004 MasterCard Alamo Bowl – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 23, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State has accepted an invitation to be the Big Ten representative in the 2004 MasterCard Alamo Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. (EST) in San Antonio’s 65,000-seat Alamodome.
“We look forward to welcoming Ohio State to San Antonio for the 2004 MasterCard Alamo Bowl,” said Jack Rogers, MasterCard Alamo Bowl chairman. “After their impressive win against Michigan which gave them four victories in their last five games, we anticipate that the Riverwalk will be a sea of scarlet with the legions of Buckeye fans.”
Ohio State (7-4 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten), who upset No. 7 Michigan 37-21 in Columbus Nov. 20, will be making its first bowl trip to San Antonio. The trip to San Antonio will be Ohio State’s 36th bowl trip and fifth consecutive, including the 2002 National Championship.
During Head Coach Jim Tressel’s four year tenure at Ohio State, he has led the Buckeyes to a 39-11 record (including a 15-5 record against Top 25 teams and 6-1 against Top 10 teams) and four bowl appearances: 2002 Outback Bowl, 2003 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, 2004 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and 2004 MasterCard Alamo Bowl.
“I have heard so many great things about the MasterCard Alamo Bowl and its surrounding activities,” said Tressel. “Our players are honored to be invited and we look forward to a great week in San Antonio and facing the challenge of our Big 12 opponent.”
“The Ohio State University and its players and coaches are excited to accept the invitation to participate in the MasterCard Alamo Bowl.” Ohio State Athletics Director Andy Geiger said. “San Antonio is a beautiful city and has been a tremendous host for the NCAA Final Fours so I’m confident our fans will come down to enjoy all that the city and bowl has to offer.”
Bowl applications will be sent to Ohio State season ticket holders Wednesday, Nov. 25 and must be returned by Monday, Dec. 6. Ohio State has 10,800 tickets. If tickets remain after the Dec. 6 deadline, remaining tickets will go on sale to the public. Ohio State has reserved 1,500 student tickets.
This year’s game will be the 12th installment 2004 MasterCard Alamo Bowl. Since 1995, the game has matched the Big Ten and the Big 12 Conferences. Since Texas could still receive an at-large BCS berth, the MasterCard Alamo Bowl’s Big 12 team announcement is not anticipated until Dec. 4.
Additional Comments from coach Jim Tressel:
Acceptance of bowl bid
“On behalf of all of us here at The Ohio State University, we are excited to be heading to the Alamo Bowl and one of the great cities in country. Our kids are looking forward to it. One of our captains, Dustin Fox, filled us in yesterday that his brother played in the 1999 Alamo Bowl with Penn State and it was one of the best bowl experiences Penn State ever had. Our guys are looking forward to the same.”
On finishing the season strong
“We are excited and we did have a great weekend last weekend. We just can’t wait to get to San Antonio. We have a lot of great friends down there and a lot of great Ohio State alums and look forward to getting down there and filling up the Alamodome. I know it will be nice and loud in there and that will be exciting for the players and both teams.”
On heading into the bowl game with momentum
“I think our guys have made progress through the course of the year. We have had our ups and downs. We had a lot of new guys in the lineup and a lot of young guys stepping up and gaining new experiences. We always shoot for our best performance in our last regular season game. We came up with that on all sides of the ball last weekend. Now, our next goal will be to put forth our finest performance of 2004 at the Alamo Bowl.”
On the new bowl experience
“We spent the past two seasons in Phoenix, Ariz. It has been a wonderful opportunity for our guys. But you know, even last year, they were talking about the bowls and excited about having a new opportunity and a new experience. A lot of our guys have not been to the San Antonio area. They’ll be amazed when they see it. They’ll enjoy the Riverwalk, the Alamo and the Alamodome. We hope the Spurs are in town, so we can catch them play.”
On playing in the Alamo Bowl
“It is exciting, especially because it is the Alamo Bowl. It will be a new experience for us. We get to play a Big 12 team. That is a national presence of its own. This is a culmination of a lot of hard work from our coaches and players. Our fans contributed. I know our fans are looking forward to getting down to San Antonio and experiencing the city for the first time. We are very fortunate. We have a lot to be thankful for and we are going to have nice Thanksgiving.”
