A not-especially memorable 26-24 loss for Ohio State in Columbus, with one exception. I had been babbling about Chris Spielman to a buddy of mine from college, and I had a chance to get this friend up to the game from Athens to see just what the hell I had been talking about. I bet this guy that Spielman, who would be out of his mind for the game, would have 20 tackles or assists. A Pittsburgher who didn’t know college football, he said I was full of crap.

Spielman turned in 29 participations, and I happily took his $20.

The result of this game, besides me having money for a decent weekend, was that Ohio State had to settle with going to the Cotton Bowl, where we beat Texas A&M, and where we broke out the red shoes. It was also where, I think, that Earle broke out the suit and fedora for the first time.

This game also has a pretty big part in shaping the future of Ohio State football in the coming decade: Old 9-and-3 Earle was not only suffering a bad loss or two during the season, but he was having a hard time beating Michigan. So when the Blue got beat in the Rose Bowl, by John Cooper’s Arizona State team, I’m certain there people at Ohio State who noted the “wolverine killer” out in Tempe. Cooper was hired a year later, after Earle was fired the week before the 1987 Michigan game, a huge upset win for us at Ann Arbor.