By Bruce Hooley
FOX Sports Ohio
Friday, December 17th, 2010
As the program ranked sixth in all-time college football victories, there's a lot to be proud of in Ohio State's storied past and almost nothing to be ashamed of.
Almost nothing.
The Sugar Bowl matchup against Arkansas on Jan. 4 in New Orleans thrusts to the forefront a nagging black eye the Buckeyes have never been able to avenge.
In nine previous postseason games against the Southeastern Conference, OSU is winless.
Some of the losses have been close and some have been routs. All have been embarrassing to an increasing degree as the number on the right side of the won-loss ledger grew larger and the number on the left stayed circular.
The frustration against the SEC is relatively new in comparison to the 118-year history of Ohio State football. It dates back 33 seasons and has victimized three of the Buckeyes' four coaches during that span, with Woody Hayes going 0-1, John Cooper 0-5 and Jim Tressel 0-3.
If not for the SEC's dominance, OSU wouldn't be saddled with a sub-.500 bowl record of 19-22 overall.
In ascending order of embarrassment, here's the breakdown of the Buckeyes' SEC woes:
9. 1993 Citrus Bowl
Georgia 21, Ohio State 14
The Keystone Kops nature of OSU's pratfalls against the SEC were on full display when an option handoff to fullback Jeff Cothran bounced off his helmet and set Georgia up for the winning touchdown drive. Otherwise, not much shame in losing to the No. 8 Bulldogs, who featured both Garrison Hearst and Terrell Davis.
8. 1990 Hall of Fame Bowl
Auburn 31, Ohio State 14
It looked good for the Buckeyes early, but a 14-3 lead gave way to 28 unanswered points and a healthy whipping. The SEC's kick-sand-in-the-face factor reared its ugly head when OSU's Zach Dumas broad-sided Auburn's Stacey Danley in the flat. The hit figured to further enliven Ohio State. Instead, it awoke Auburn and the game was a rout thereafter.
7. 1995 Citrus Bowl
Alabama 24, Ohio State 17
The sixth-ranked Crimson Tide couldn't hang onto the football, giving away three fumbles, while also having both a punt and field goal blocked. It was as if 'Bama were testing the elasticity of the SEC's dominance. Finally, tied near the finish, the Tide could not abide OSU trying to cover speedy running back Sherman Williams out of the backfield with sloth-footed defensive end Mike Vrabel. Result? A 50-yard winning touchdown pass and a second loss to the SEC in three years.
6. 2002 Outback Bowl
South Carolina 31, Ohio State 28
Having been thoroughly outplayed by the Gamecocks the year before on the same field, you'd think OSU would have come out breathing fire. You'd think wrong. The Buckeyes, perhaps demoralized by Jim Tressel's decision to put quarterback Steve Bellisari back in the lineup after Craig Krenzel led a victory at Michigan after Bellisari's DUI arrest, fell into a 28-0 hole. South Carolina let OSU draw even, then intercepted Bellisari and coaxed a 42-yard field goal just over the crossbar on the final play.
5. 1996 Citrus Bowl
Tennessee 20, Ohio State 14
The Buckeyes were loaded with an Outland winner (Orlando Pace), Biletnikoff winner (Terry Glenn) and Heisman winner (Eddie George), yet couldn't get untracked in a driving rain. A kill-the-clock handoff at the end of the half went for an 80-yard Jay Graham touchdown for Tennessee. OSU was trying to drive at the end, but on fourth-and-1 revisited its 1993 Citrus Bowl caper and came up short when fullback Matt Calhoun knocked the ball away from quarterback Bob Hoying. OSU complained afterward that the cheatin' Volunteers benefited from wearing cleats that were a fraction of an inch too long. Nope, not making that up. Or this head-scratching fact for the ages: George did not get a single fourth-quarter carry in a one-possession game.
4. 2001 Outback Bowl
South Carolina 24, Ohio State 7
The definition of embarrassment is a butt-kicking that gets your coach fired when his athletic director swore the day before that he was coming back. That's what happened to Cooper after the Gamecocks' Ryan Brewer, a determined-but-limited former Ohio Mr. Football, accounted for 201 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Cooper was probably right not to recruit Brewer. The Buckeyes were definitely wrong not to tackle him. It didn't help the Coopmeister that during bowl week, OSU tackle Tyson Walter filed a lawsuit against center LeCharles Bentley for punching him in the face during winter conditioning. OSU athletic director Andy Geiger was seen walking slowly down Dale Mabry Boulevard afterward, apparently unable to face the coach he knew he would off the next morning.
3. 1978 Sugar Bowl
Alabama 35, Ohio State 6
I'll see your legend in horn-rimmed glasses and raise you a legend in a houndstooth fedora. In the only game between Woody Hayes and Bear Bryant, the Bear's boys did all the growling. Hayes had more fight in him than his team, pausing as he left the field at halftime to punch the goal post. Then, after starting toward the locker room, he returned to give the padded post a couple of more hard body blows. It was the only thing Ohio State hit all day.
2. 2008 BCS championship game
LSU 38, Ohio State 24
The Buckeyes spent the build-up to their trip to New Orleans viewing DVDs made by their coaching staff of all the nasty things national pundits were saying about them after getting waxed in the title game the year before. All that negative talk built some serious positive momentum
