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Ohio State Football: A historical look at OSU against UCLA

By Eric Boggs

Jonathan Wells #28, Running Back for the Ohio State Buckeyes runs the play against Linebacker Robert Thomas of the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Bruins during their NCAA Pac 10 college football game on 22 September 2001 at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, United States. The UCLA Bruins won the game 13 - 6. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
Jonathan Wells #28, Running Back for the Ohio State Buckeyes runs the play against Linebacker Robert Thomas of the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Bruins during their NCAA Pac 10 college football game on 22 September 2001 at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, United States. The UCLA Bruins won the game 13 - 6. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images) /
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The Big 10 announced every school’s league opponent for the 2024 and 2025 seasons earlier this week. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the announcement due to the league’s two newest teams: USC and UCLA. The Ohio State football team is scheduled to travel to The Rose Bowl to play UCLA in 2024 and host USC in 2025.

When Ohio State travels to UCLA in 2024, it will be the 10th time the Buckeyes and Bruins have squared off. The overall series is currently tied at 4-4-1. If both schools retain their head coaches heading into the 2024 season, no doubt the headlines will be about Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who Day considers to be his mentor.

Day was the starting quarterback at the University of New Hampshire in 2001 while Kelly was the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats. After his playing career, Day accepted a coaching position with his alma mater as the tight ends coach while Kelly was still there as offensive coordinator. Day and Kelly crossed paths again 15 seasons later when Day accepted the position of quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, who were being coached by Kelly at the time.

After a poor season in 2015, Kelly was let go and then picked up by the San Francisco 49ers. Kelly then hired Day once again under the same role as quarterbacks coach. Day would leave for the Ohio State football program a season later and the two haven’t crossed paths since; until next season when the teacher and the student will match wits against one another for the first time.

Speaking of firsts, the first time Ohio State and UCLA went head-to-head Woody Hayes was victorious by a score of 13-to-3 in 1961 in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes returned the favor and went west in 1962 losing to the Bruins by a score of 7-to-9.

The Buckeyes didn’t play again until 1975 when Archie Griffin and the Buckeyes ran all over the Bruins on their home field by a score of 41-to-20. Ohio State was undefeated during the regular season and went back to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl for a chance to win the National Championship.

A rematch with UCLA was awaiting them and this time the Bruins were victorious 10-to-23 ruining Ohio State’s chances of winning a National Championship. Nine months later, the two schools squared off for a third time in 13 months, fittingly playing to a 10-10 tie in Columbus.

Earle Bruce and the Buckeyes played UCLA in a home-and-home series in 1979 and 1980. Ohio State was victorious on the road in 1979 by a score of 17-13 but then lost at home in 1980 by a score of 17-0

. The two schools didn’t play again until 1999 when a John Cooper-led Ohio State football team squad dominated the Bruins in Columbus 42-to-20. Two seasons later in Jim Tressel’s first year, Ohio State traveled to Pasadena, California, and lost 13-6.

Given the back-and-forth series these two schools have had thus far, it will be important that Ohio State establishes its dominance over the Bruins early now that UCLA is calling the Big 10 home. It would be nice to see the Buckeyes win the first several contests against UCLA so they can begin to separate themselves in the overall series.

Next. Ohio State Football: Urban Meyer all-time team. dark

UCLA has an overall record of 47-43-3 against fellow Big 10 schools. The only conference schools to have a winning record over the Bruins is Minnesota (2-to-1), Nebraska (7-to-6), and TTUN (8-to-3).

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