The #4 Buckeyes are now 5-1 after their close loss at Oregon. Let's take a look back and see what happened to previous Buckeye teams that began the season 5-1, going back to 1971.
1971: The #6 ranked Buckeyes lost game 2 to visiting #10 Colorado 20-14 in a season that Woody's boys struggled to a 6-4 record. They also lost to #3 TCUN 10-7 and finished the season unranked.
1977: The #4 ranked Buckeyes lost a heart breaker on a last second field goal to #3 Oklahoma 29-28 in one of the most exciting games ever to be played in the Horseshoe. They finished the season 9-3 and ranked #11 with losses to #5 TCUN 14-6 and a 35-6 butt whooping at the hands of Bear Bryant's #3 Alabama squad.
1980: The #2 Buckeyes unveiled the shotgun formation against #11 UCLA in game 4 of the 1980 season, then promptly lost 17-0. Shotgun shelved! This was the first year of Ole 9-3 Earle's string of 6 straight 9-3 seasons as the Buckeyes finished the year ranked #15. Along the way the beat #20 Arizona State 38-21 and lost to #10 TCUN 9-3 and #10 Penn St. (pre-B1G days) 31-19 in the fiesta Bowl.
1984: The 1984 Buckeyes finished 9-3 and ranked #13 after the then #2 ranked Ohio State went to unranked Purdue in game 5 and lost 28-23, in a game where Mike Tomczak threw a ball out of bounds to stop the clock on 4th down, thinking it was only third on the last, possibly game winning, drive. So, stop picking on Will Howard. These things happen. Games of note that season were a 45-26 win against #14 Iowa, a 21-6 victory against unranked TCUN, and a 20-17 loss against #18 Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl.
1985: Another 9-3 record for Earle led to a #14 final ranking in 1985. The #5 Buckeyes lost game 4 at unranked Illinois, 31-28, but later that season pulled one of the greatest upsets in Ohio Stadium, beating #1 Iowa, 22-13, in a driving rainstorm. Unfortunately, they lost to #6 TCUN, 27-17, before beating #9 BYU in the Citrus Bowl, 10-7.
1991: John Cooper's 5th team finished the season 8-4 and unranked after losing game 5 at #20 Illinois, 10-7. They also lost to #4 TCUN 31-3 and #16 Syracuse in the Hall of Fame Bowl. They did not beat a ranked team that year.
1997: The #7 Buckeyes lost game 6 at Happy Valley to #2 Penn St, 31-27, on their way to a 10-3 season and a #12 final ranking. Along the way, they beat #11 Iowa (23-7) and @ #21 Michigan St (37-13), but unfortunately lost to eventual 1/2 national champion TCUN, 20-14, and #4 Florida St, 31-14, in the Sugar Bowl.
2000: Coop's last team lost game 6 at home against an unranked Minnesota team coached by Glenn Mason, 29-17, on the way to another 8-4 record and unranked finish. They did go into Madison and beat #24 Wisconsin, but lost to #16 Purdue (31-27), #19 TCUN (38-26), and unranked S. Carolina (24-7) in the Outback Bowl.
2003: Coming off a national championship season, the expectations were high. But in game 6, the Buckeyes travels to Madison, and lost to the #23 ranked Badgers, 17-10. But, the season wasn't all bad, as the Bucks beat #17 Washington (28-9), #24 NC St (44-38) in three overtimes, #9 Iowa (19-10), #11 Purdue (16-13), and #8 Kansas St (35-28) in the Fiesta Bowl. Sadly, Jim Tressel lost his only game against TCUN, 35-21. The Buckeyes ended the season 11-2 and ranked #4.
2008: The Buckeyes ended 2008 at 10-3 and ranked #9 after losing game 3 in Los Angeles to #1 Southern Cal, 35-3, in a brutal loss. But they did rebound to beat #18 Wisconsin in Madison (20-17), #20 Michigan St in East Lansing (45-7) and unranked TCUN (42-7). They lost 13-6 at home against #3 Penn St, and in a strange twist, the #10 ranked Buckeyes lost to #3 Texas in a nail biter (24-21) and actually moved up one spot in the final poll.
2009: The Buckeyes again lose to #3 Southern Cal, this time at home in game 2 (19-15). The only other loss was a 26-18 shocker at unranked Purdue. On the upside, The Buckeyes beat #11 Penn St in Happy Valley (24-7), #15 Iowa (27-24), unranked TCUN in Ann Arbor (21-10), and Chip Kelly's #7 Oregon (26-17) in the Rose Bowl, to finish 11-2 and ranked #5.
2014: Insert picture of Urban hoisting the national championship trophy here.
(If you don't know what happened this season, please remove yourself from this site)
2017: The Buckeyes lost to #5 Oklahoma (31-16) in the Shoe as Baker Mayfield planted the OU flag on the Block O, angering all Buckeye fans. But the team finished 12-2 and ranked #5 by beating #2 Penn State (39-38) in an amazing comeback in Ohio Stadium, #13 Michigan St (48-3), at unranked TCUN (31-20), #3 Wisconsin (27-21) in the B1G Championship Game, and #8 Southern Cal in the Cotton Bowl. The other loss, that kept OSU out of the playoffs, was a 55-24 embarrassment @ unranked Iowa. In spite of that, the Buckeyes finished the season at 12-2 and ranked #5.
2021: It's those Ducks again. Game 2, #12 Oregon 35-28 over the Buckeyes. Just like this recent game, the defense could not stop Oregon's offense. It was very familiar. But CJ Stroud has his breakout game on the way to being a two time Heisman Trophy finalist. The Buckeyes did go on to beat #20 Penn St (33-24), #7 Michigan St (56-7), and #10 Utah (48-45) in the Rose Bowl. They lost to #6 TCUN 42-27 in Ann Arbor, thanks to the help of Connor Stalions. Ryan Day's team finished 11-2 and ranked #6.
How will the Buckeyes finish this season? Only time will tell.
