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
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
APNo. 24
Record8–4 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJim Colletto (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorBill Young (2nd season)
MVPDerek Isaman
Captain
5
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 86,071)
Seasons
← 1988
1990 →
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

edit
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 161:30 p.m.Oklahoma State*W 37–1388,670
September 233:30 p.m.at No. 12 USC*No. 25ABCL 3–4269,876
September 301:30 p.m.Boston College*
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 34–2988,936
October 73:30 p.m.at No. 18 IllinoisABCL 14–3469,088
October 141:30 p.m.Indiana
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 35–3189,750
October 211:30 p.m.Purdue
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 21–389,091
October 283:30 p.m.at MinnesotaABCW 41–3733,945
November 42:00 p.m.at NorthwesternW 52–2728,236
November 1112:30 p.m.Iowa
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ESPNW 28–089,536
November 181:30 p.m.WisconsinNo. 22
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 42–2289,626
November 2512:00 p.m.at No. 3 MichiganNo. 20ABCL 18–28106,137
January 1, 199012:00 p.m.vs. No. 9 Auburn*No. 21NBCL 14–3152,235[1]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

edit
1989 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
OL Dan Beatty
WR Greg Beatty
WR David Menges
RB James Bryant
OL Karl Coles
OL Jeff Davidson
WR Allen DeGraffenreid
WR Bernard Edwards
TE Jeff Ellis
QB Greg Frey
WR Jeff Graham
RB Scottie Graham
RB Tyrone Harrison
QB Kirk Herbstreit
WR Rich Huffman
RB Dante Lee
OL Tim Moxley
WR Bobby Olive
TE Jim Palmer
RB Carlos Snow
WR Brian Stablein
OL Joe Staysniak
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB David Brown
DB Vinnie Clark
DB Bryan Cook
DB Zack Dumas
DL Rich Frimel
LB Judah Herman
LB Derek Isaman
DB Foster Paulk
DB Mark Pelini
DL Mike Showalter
DL Alonzo Spellman
DL Pat Thomas
LB Steve Tovar
LB Sreckin Zizakovic
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P Jeff Bohlman
K Pat O'Morrow
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Game summaries

edit

Oklahoma State

edit
Oklahoma State Cowboys (0–1) at Ohio State Buckeyes (0–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Oklahoma St 7 6 0013
Ohio St 6 10 14737

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: September 16
  • Game time: 1:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Overcast, 66 °F (19 °C)
  • Game attendance: 88,670
  • Referee: John Nealon
Game information

At USC

edit
#25 Ohio State Buckeyes (1–0) at #12 USC Trojans (1–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 3 0 003
USC 0 21 14742

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

  • Date: September 23
  • Game time: 12:30 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: Sunny, 74 °F (23 °C)
  • Game attendance: 69,876
  • Referee: Pat Flood
Game information

Boston College

edit
Boston College Eagles (0–3) at Ohio State Buckeyes (1–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Boston College 0 7 16629
Ohio St 10 21 3034

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: September 30
  • Game time: 1:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Sunny, 70 °F (21 °C)
  • Game attendance: 88,936
  • Referee: Jerry Hendrickson
Game information

At Illinois

edit
Ohio State Buckeyes (2–1) at #18 Illinois Fighting Illini (2–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 0 7 7014
Illinois 7 3 141034

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

  • Date: October 7
  • Game time: 2:30 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: Sunny, 54 °F (12 °C)
  • Game attendance: 69,088
  • Referee: Gil Marchman
  • TV: ABC
Game information

Indiana

edit
Indiana Hoosiers (3–1) at Ohio State Buckeyes (2–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Indiana 0 14 71031
Ohio St 7 21 7035

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: October 14
  • Game time: 1:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Sunny, 75 °F (24 °C)
  • Game attendance: 89,750
  • Referee: John Nealon
Game information

Purdue

edit
Purdue Boilermakers (1–4) at Ohio State Buckeyes (3–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Purdue 0 0 303
Ohio St 14 0 7021

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: October 21
  • Game time: 1:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Overcast, 44 °F (7 °C)
  • Game attendance: 89,091
  • Referee: Jim Kemerling
Game information

At Minnesota

edit
Ohio State Buckeyes (4–2) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (4–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 0 8 102341
Minnesota 17 14 0637

at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Date: October 28
  • Game time: 2:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Game attendance: 33,945
  • Referee: Jerry Hendrickson
Game information

[2]

At Northwestern

edit
Ohio State Buckeyes (5–2) at Northwestern Wildcats (0–7)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 7 21 71752
Northwestern 7 0 61427

at Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois

  • Date: November 4
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Overcast, 45 °F (7 °C)
  • Game attendance: 28,236
  • Referee: John Nealon
  • TV announcers (WOSU-TV): Jack Kramer and Paul Warfield
Game information
  • Scottie Graham 17 Rush, 102 Yds
  • Carlos Snow 17 Rush, 100 Yds

Ohio State versus Northwestern on YouTube

Iowa

edit
Iowa Hawkeyes (4–4) at Ohio State Buckeyes (6–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Iowa 0 0 000
Ohio St 7 7 7728

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: November 11
  • Game time: 12:30 p.m. CDT
  • Game weather: Overcast, 52 °F (11 °C)
  • Game attendance: 89,536
  • Referee: Jerry Hendrickson
Game information

Wisconsin

edit
Wisconsin Badgers (2–7) at #22 Ohio State Buckeyes (7–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Wisconsin 3 10 3622
Ohio St 7 21 14042

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: November 10
  • Game time: 1:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 28 °F (−2 °C)
  • Game attendance: 89,626
  • Referee: Jim Kemmerling
Game information

At Michigan

edit
#20 Ohio State Buckeyes (8–2) at #3 Michigan Wolverines (9–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 0 3 9618
Michigan 7 7 01428

at Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

  • Date: November 25
  • Game weather: Partly sunny, 46 °F (8 °C)
  • Game attendance: 106,137
  • TV: ABC
Game information

Hall of Fame Bowl (vs Auburn)

edit
Hall of Fame Bowl: #9 Auburn Tigers (9–2) vs. #21 Ohio State Buckeyes (8–3)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 7 7 0014
Auburn 3 7 71431

at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida

  • Date: January 1, 1990
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 64 °F (18 °C)
  • Game attendance: 52,535
  • Referee: Bill McDonald
  • TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui
Game information

Draft picks

edit
Rnd. Pick No. NFL team Player Pos. College Conf. Notes
5 111 Denver Broncos Jeff Davidson  OG    
7 185 San Diego Chargers Joe Staysniak  OG    
9 243 Washington Redskins Tim Moxley  OG    

References

edit
  1. ^ "QB Slack splits OSU defense as Auburn lays claim to Fame". The Cincinnati Post. January 2, 1990. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Beale, Joe (October 19, 2009). "Flashback: Ohio State vs. Minnesota, 1989". Eleven Warriors. Retrieved December 11, 2024.