Ohio State came into the Big House ranked as the number 9 team in the country. They had lost two tough games to Texas and Penn State. This was one of the best teams in the country but hadn’t quite been able to close the deal in close games.
That changed against TTUN. Ohio State was down 21-12 with under 7 minutes left in this game. The Buckeyes hadn’t scored a touchdown since the first quarter of the game. Then Troy Smith took over this game and led the Buckeyes to an epic comeback.
A 26-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Santonio Holmes brought the score to 21-19 and gave the Buckeyes a chance. The Buckeyes got the ball back with one last chance to lead a game-winning drive, and Smith delivered in a big way.
He led the Buckeyes 88 yards in 12 plays in just 3:54. The key play on that drive was a first-down conversion to Anthony Gonzalez where he jumped up and caught the ball over a TTUN defender. The drive ended with an Antonio Pittman touchdown run to give the Buckeyes the lead for good.
It ended up being a 25-21 win in a game that would launch Smith’s Heisman candidacy for the following season. It was one of the best games for Smith as well, as he went 27-37 for 300 yards and a touchdown in this game.
The next game on our list happened just a couple of years ago and put a screeching halt to TTUN’s “revenge tour”.