1989 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1989 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Buckeyes compiled an 8–4 record, including the 1990 Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa, Florida, where they lost, 31–14, to the Auburn Tigers. Their biggest highlight was their game against Minnesota, in which they trailed 31-0, but came back to stun the Gophers 41-37. This tied the record for the largest comeback win in college football history at the time. It still stands as the biggest comeback win in school history.

1989 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Hall of Fame Bowl, L 14–31 vs. Auburn
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 24
1989 record	8–4 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Cooper (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Jim Colletto (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Young (2nd season)
MVP	Derek Isaman
Captain	5 David Brown Jeff Davidson Zack Dumas Derek Isaman Joe Staysniak
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 86,071)

1989 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Michigan $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Illinois	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Michigan State	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 24 Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 16	1:30 p.m.	Oklahoma State*		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 37–13	88,670
September 23	3:30 p.m.	at No. 12 USC*	No. 25	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	L 3–42	69,876
September 30	1:30 p.m.	Boston College*		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 34–29	88,936
October 7	3:30 p.m.	at No. 18 Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	ABC	L 14–34	69,088
October 14	1:30 p.m.	Indiana		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 35–31	89,750
October 21	1:30 p.m.	Purdue		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 21–3	89,091
October 28	3:30 p.m.	at Minnesota		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ABC	W 41–37	33,945
November 4	2:00 p.m.	at Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL		W 52–27	28,236
November 11	12:30 p.m.	Iowa		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ESPN	W 28–0	89,536
November 18	1:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	No. 22	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 42–22	89,626
November 25	12:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Michigan	No. 20	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (The Game)	ABC	L 18–28	106,137
January 1, 1990	12:00 p.m.	vs. No. 9 Auburn*	No. 21	Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL (Hall of Fame Bowl)	NBC	L 14–31	52,235
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Coaching staff

• John Cooper – Head Coach – 2nd year
• Gary Blackney – Defensive Coordinator (6th year)
• Jim Colletto – Offensive Coordinator (2nd year)
• Ron Hudson – Quarterbacks (2nd year)
• Gene Huey – Offensive Wide Receivers (2nd year)
• Bob Palcic – Offensive Line (4th year)
• Fred Pagac – Defensive Linebackers (8th year)
• Bobby Turner – Running Backs (1st year)
• Bill Young – Defensive Coordinator (2nd year)
• Ron Zook – Defensive Backs (2nd year)

Season summary

Oklahoma State

1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma St 7 6 0 0 13 • Ohio St 6 10 14 7 37 Date: September 16 Location: Ohio Stadium

USC

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio St 3 0 0 0 3 • USC 0 21 14 7 42 Date: September 23 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Boston College

1 2 3 4 Total Boston College 0 7 16 6 29 • Ohio St 10 21 3 0 34 Date: September 30 Location: Ohio Stadium

Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio St 0 7 7 0 14 • Illinois 7 3 14 10 34 Date: October 7 Location: Memorial Stadium

Indiana

1 2 3 4 Total Indiana 0 14 7 10 31 • Ohio St 7 21 7 0 35 Date: October 14 Location: Ohio Stadium

Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total Purdue 0 0 3 0 3 • Ohio St 14 0 7 0 21 Date: October 21 Location: Ohio Stadium

Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 0 8 10 23 41 Minnesota 17 14 0 6 37 Date: October 28 Location: Metrodome • Minneapolis

[1]

Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 7 21 7 17 52 Northwestern 7 0 6 14 27 Date: November 4 Location: Dyche Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:49 Game attendance: 28,238 Game weather: Overcast; 45°F; wind 17 S Referee: John Nealon TV announcers (WOSU-TV): Jack Kramer and Paul Warfield

Scoring summary Q1 9:04 OHST Snow 25 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 7–0 Q1 4:52 NW O'Brien 11 yard run (Adler kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 5:05 OHST S. Graham 20 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 14–7 Q2 2:04 OHST Bryant 63 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 21–7 Q2 0:59 OHST Bryant 46 yard pass from Frey (O'Morrow kick) OHST 28–7 Q3 5:20 OHST Lee 5 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 35–7 Q3 2:46 NW Christian 3 yard run (run failed) OHST 35–13 Q4 14:13 OHST O'Morrow 19 yard field goal OHST 38–13 Q4 10:49 OHST Lee 8 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 45–13 Q4 8:14 NW Buchanan 14 yard pass from O'Brien (pass failed) OHST 45–19 Q4 1:15 OHST Lee 6 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 52–19 Q4 0:00 NW Benson 21 yard pass from Krebs (Krebs run) OHST 52–27

• Dante Lee 24 Rush, 157 Yds
• Scottie Graham 17 Rush, 102 Yds
• Carlos Snow 17 Rush, 100 Yds

Ohio State versus Northwestern on YouTube

[2]

Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa 0 0 0 0 0 • Ohio St 7 7 7 7 28 Date: November 11 Location: Ohio Stadium

Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total Wisconsin 3 10 3 6 22 • Ohio St 7 21 14 0 42 Date: November 18 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:12 Game attendance: 89,626 Game weather: Partly cloudy; 28°F; wind 14–16 SW Referee: Jim Kemmerling

Scoring summary Q1 12:06 WIS Thompson 40 yard field goal WIS 3–0 Q1 5:00 OHST Lee 1 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 7–3 Q2 10:35 WIS Thompson 36 yard field goal OHST 7–6 Q2 8:35 WIS Vincent 71 yard punt return (Thompson kick) WIS 13–7 Q2 6:25 OHST Palmer 9 yard pass from Frey (O'Morrow kick) OHST 14–13 Q2 1:24 OHST Lee 18 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 21–13 Q2 1:07 OHST Brown 43 yard interception return (O'Morrow kick) OHST 28–13 Q3 12:13 OHST Graham 16 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 35–13 Q3 9:34 WIS Thompson 35 yard field goal OHST 35–16 Q3 3:10 OHST Graham 1 yard run (O'Morrow kick) OHST 42–16 Q4 8:26 WIS Hudson 5 yard run (run failed) OHST 42–22

• Graham 23 Rush, 152 Yds

[3]

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio St 0 3 9 6 18 • Michigan 7 7 0 14 28 Date: November 25 Location: Michigan Stadium

Hall of Fame Bowl (vs Auburn)

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio St 7 7 0 0 14 • Auburn 3 7 7 14 31 Date: January 1 Location: Tampa Stadium Game attendance: 52,535 TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui

Draft picks

	Rnd.	Pick #	NFL team	Player	Pos.	College	Conf.	Notes
	5	111	Denver Broncos	Jeff Davidson	G
	7	185	San Diego Chargers	Joe Staysniak	G
	9	243	Washington Redskins	Tim Moxley	G

References

1. http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2009/10/flashback-ohio-state-vs-minnesota-1989.html
2. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2017-Oct-10.
3. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2014-Dec-18.

Win/Loss statistics

• Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players