Flashback: 1981 Liberty Bowl – – Ohio State 31, Navy 28 – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
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1981 Liberty Bowl
Navy 28
No. 15 Ohio State 31
Dec. 30, 1981, Liberty Bowl Stadium (43,216)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Underdog Navy put up a valiant fight for three quarters before finally falling to the Buckeyes. The win snapped a string of four-consecutive bowl losses for Ohio State, dating back to the 1978 Sugar Bowl.
Art Schlichter, playing in his final game for the Buckeyes, threw his 49th and 50th career touchdown passes.
OSU led early, 10-0, but Navy, led by quarterback Marco Pagnanelli and running back Eddie Meyers, refused to quit and took a 20-17 lead midway through the third quarter.
Ohio State finally opened a 31-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Navy cut the deficit to three with eight seconds left on a TD pass and a two-point conversion. OSU recovered the on-side kick and ran out the clock.
First Quarter
OSU – Atha 35 field goal, 11:45
OSU – Williams 50 pass from Schlichter (Atha kick), 9:57
NAVY – Papajohn 1 pass from Pagnanelli (Fehr kick), 2:01
Second Quarter
NAVY – Fehr 41 field goal, 13:15
OSU – J. Gayle 1 run (Atha kick), 7:15
NAVY – Fehr 23 field goal, 3:42
Third Quarter
NAVY – Olson 20 block punt return (Fehr kick). 11:00
OSU – J. Gayle 2 run (Atha kick), 2:08
Fourth Quarter
OSU – Anderson 9 pass from Schlichter (Atha kick), 12:02
NAVY – Papajohn 1 pass from Pagnanelli
(Papajohn pass from Pagnanelli), 0:08
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing (att.-yds.-TDs) – Navy: Myers 30-117-0, Pagnanelli 13-(-26)-0, Jackson 3-0-0, McCallum 1-0-0, Yelder 1-2-0, Clouse 1-2-0, Team 1-(-25)-0. Ohio State: Spencer 22-96-0, J. Gayle 15-82, Broadnax 4-11-0, Schlichter 6-(-22)-0.
Passing (comp.-att.-int.-yds.-TDs) – Navy: Pagnanelli 14-27-1-201-2, Fehr 1-1-0-39-0, McCallum 0-1-0-0-0.
Ohio State: Schlichter 11-26-1-159-2.
Receiving (no.-yds.-TDs) – Navy: Papajohn 4-41-2, Weller 2-50-0, McCallum 2-45-0, Yelder 3-27-0, Meyers 3-15-0, Caimello 1-39-0, Jackson 1-13-0. Ohio State: Anderson 5-57-1, Williams 2-61-1, Frank 3-36-0, Spencer 1-5-0.
