Friday Flashback: 1974 – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
1974
10-2 overall
7-1 T-1st Big Ten
On June 5, Coach Hayes suffers a heart attack, but pledges to return by OSU’s opener Sept. 14. The fiery coach, who by this point had become larger-than-life in Columbus, did return and led OSU to its third-consecutive Big Ten championship and yet another Rose Bowl. Archie Griffin won the Heisman Trophy, becoming the fifth non-senior to win the award.
1975 Rose Bowl
No. 3 Ohio State 17
No. 5 Southern California 18
Jan. 1, 1975, Rose Bowl, 106,721
PASADENA, Calif. – Flanker Shelton Diggs made a diving catch of a Pat Haden pass for a two-point conversion with slightly more than two minutes left in the game to bring the Trojans from behind and spoil Ohio State’s national championship hopes. It ended a wild final stanza in which 25 of the game’s 35 points were scored.
The third period was one of missed opportunities for the Buckeyes, who twice had the ball inside the USC 10 but failed to score.
Ohio State had staked itself to a 17-10 lead by scoring on its first two possessions of the fourth period, however. Cornelius Greene engineered an 82-yard drive, covering the final 3 yards himself for the first score. Following a USC fumble at its own 30, Tom Klaban kicked a field goal when the Buckeyes stalled out at the 15.
Haden, starting at the USC 17, took the Trojans 83 yards to the eventual winning touchdown and conversion. The game ended on OSU’s ensuing drive when Tom Skladany’s 62-yard field goal try fell short.
