On this date in Ohio State football: Sept. 30, 1995
![Ohio State 's Eddie George (27) runs for a touchdown against Notre Dame in front of the Irish's Ivory Covington (14) and Kinnon Tatum (2) on Saturday, Oct. 5, 1995. [File photo]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/2019/09/30/NBUX/ghows-OH-fc3ef60a-967d-4748-a8f8-b1d577007755-e3b93ea8.jpeg?width=660&height=602&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Taking a look back at a game Ohio State played on this date:
Ohio State 45, Notre Dame 26
Setup: In 1935, Ohio State suffered one of its most bitter defeats when Notre Dame scored three touchdowns in the final minutes for an 18-13 win. Sixty years later, 17 members of that OSU team were on hand, part of a 500-player strong "human tunnel" to greet the Buckeyes before they took on Notre Dame, coach Lou Holtz and the Irish's Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback Ron Powlus. OSU was 3-0 under coach John Cooper, while Notre Dame had dropped its opener to Northwestern.
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Stars: Powlus' Heisman campaign didn't go poof, exactly — certainly not in Beano Cook's mind — but a new candidate emerged in Ohio State workhorse Eddie George, who piled up 207 yards rushing and two touchdowns. QB Bob Hoying added 272 yards passing and four TDs, two to Terry Glenn. For the Irish, tailback Randy Kinder had 143 yards rushing and three scores, including two to help ND to a 17-7 lead.
Turning point: After Ohio State had taken the lead for good at 21-20 on Hoying's third-quarter TD pass to Ricky Dudley, Powlus drove Notre Dame to the OSU 32-yard line. But his third-down pass to Derrick Mayes was intercepted at the 11 by Shawn Springs. Three plays later, Hoying threw a short pass to Glenn, who wheeled past two defenders and raced for an 82-yard touchdown and a 28-20 lead. The Buckeyes scored 31 points in the second half.
Impact: The win over Notre Dame gave Ohio State three victories over ranked opponents (Boston College, Washington and the Irish), and two more followed in succession -- Penn State and Wisconsin. The Buckeyes were 11-0 and ranked second on Nov. 18. But then they were Biakabutuka-ed at Michigan and decleated, in a way, in a Florida Citrus Bowl loss to Peyton Manning and Tennessee to finish a disappointing 11-2.
Quotable: "We knew if we could get our offense the ball, we were going to win the game or at least be real successful. And that happened." — OSU defensive end Mike Vrabel, on outscoring Notre Dame 31-9 after halftime
rstein@dispatch.com