Hi Kevin. Congrats.
#10 Ohio State will be playing #3 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl on January 5th and will be going to a bowl that they are very familiar with. Of the Buckeyes 39 bowl appearances (in which the Bucks have a 18-21 record, hmmm....), the Buckeyes have played in 5 Fiesta Bowls and played the 2006 national championship in Glendale, AZ, where the Fiesta Bowl is played. Of those 6 games, the Buckeyes are 4-2, with losses to Penn State (1980) and Florida (2006 BCS) and wins over Pittsburgh (1984), Miami (2002 BCS title game), Kansas State (2003) and Notre Dame (2005).
In this post, I will recap the 2004 Fiesta Bowl, which saw the #Buckeyes take on #8 Kansas State Wildcats.
What Happened in the Regular Season for Kansas State
Coming off of a very impressive 11-2 season in 2002, the Wildcats had high hopes for 2003. The Wildcats had a great year offensively, averaging 36.6 points per game and only giving up 16.6 ppg. The Wildcats advanced to the Big 12 championship game with a 6-2 conference record, losing in close games to #13 Texas and Oklahoma State. Remarkably, both of these games came at the beginning of their conference schedule. The Wildcats racked off 6 straight wins after these losses to advance to the Big 12 championship game where they would face top-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma. Kansas State went into kansas City and blasted the top-ranked Sooners 35-7.
What Happened in the Regular Season for Ohio State:
Ohio State came off the high of their 2002 national championship with high expectations, but a diminshed talent pool, with the loss of Maurice Clarett to stupidity (remember, he tried to go to the NFL but ended up doing nothing after going into his first camp 40 pounds overweight!). Ohio State lost a heartbreaking 17-10 loss to Wisconsin in Madison and also lost a 35-21 game to Michigan (revenge for Lloyd Carr and John Navarre) and finishing 10-2 in the regular season and just out of the Rose Bowl mix or National Championship mix.
The Game Itself
Kansas State won the coin toss and defered until the second half. Ohio State and Kansas State both stalled on their first possessions, but Kansas State was forced to punt from their own 7 yard line and had it blocked and returned for a touchdown. Ohio State went up 7-0 and gained the momentum. Craig Krenzel added 2 touchdown passes to Santionio Holmes and Michael Jenkins to make it 21-0 and the game, just in the second quarter, seemed out of reach for Kansas State. The third touchdown was especially demoralizing since it was set up by a Ell Roberson interception on KSU's own ten yard line. Darren Sproles, Kansas State's star running back (who tore up the Sooners) ran for a 6 yard score to make it 21-7 at half, and making the game within reach for the Wildcats.
In the second half, Ell Roberson scampered 14 yards for a score to close the gap to 21-14, but Ohio State answered later in the third quarter with Craig Krenzel's second stirke to Michael Jenkins, making it 28-14. With only 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Craig Krenzel found Santionio Holmes again for a 31 yard TD pass, seemingly ending the game at 35-14. Kansas State showed their toughness and scored twice in the fourth quarter on an Ayo Saba 2 yard touchdown and another Ell Roberson score, but it was too little too late, and the Buckeyes recovered an onside kick to seal the deal, winning over a very good Kansas State team 35-28.
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