Spring or Snow? Coldest Football Games In Buckeye History
Well, this week has been a wild one. Since last Wednesday, we went from Ohio State’s schedule modified to a 10-game, Big Ten-only campaign in the fall … then have our hopes of a season taken away with a rumored cancellation … then hear that the season may just be postponed to September 26 … only to land at a postponement that pushes the season in some capacity to 2021.
We all know that there are many factors that go into making a spring season happen. We know that there are challenges. But we’re all still hoping we get to see Buckeye football at some point, especially since it sure looks like there are going to be other schools playing this fall.
When Ohio State does return, there’s a good chance that what may be considered “spring” in most states will actually be the dead of winter around the ’Shoe. Whether it’s January or March, we can all name off countless frigid, snowy days in the Ohio “spring.” It may be all sunshine and rainbows down south or out west at that point of the year, but if OSU does take the field during that time, things will look a little different on the Great Lakes.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at the three coldest games in Ohio State history and how the Buckeyes have fared in those frigid conditions.
November 15, 2014 - Ohio State @ Minnesota: 15 degrees (10 degree windchill)
Ohio State’s 2014 NCAA Championship run is remembered for many reasons, most notably overcoming the quarterback carousel at the end of the season due to injury. Perhaps one of the most overlooked games in the championship run? Then-eighth ranked Ohio State’s coldest game in 50 years, when they traveled to Minneapolis, Minn. and beat the 25th-ranked Golden Gophers, 31-24. It was the third coldest game in program history.
Kickoff temperature for this game was 15 degrees and hovered around 20 degrees for the game, with wind chills making the temperature feel around 10 degrees, which as you’ll see in the games below, would have felt like summer time for any other day on this list. Wind wasn’t all that much of a factor, with gusts reaching peaks at 10 miles per hour, and although there was consistent snow throughout the game, it was light.
This was Ohio State’s coldest game in 50 years, but it didn’t seem to bother Joey Bosa, who decided not to wear sleeves and racked up seven tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks in the contest.
While Minnesota showed heart in this game, a 31-24 final score is misleading for how close the game actually was. Ohio State commanded a 31-14 lead before the Golden Gophers scored twice late in the game to make this one appear more competitive. J.T. Barrett had himself a fine game despite the weather, throwing for 200 yards and three touchdown passes as he broke Braxton Miller’s record of 36 touchdowns with 38 on the season to that point. Barrett topped another Miller record with 189 yards rushing in the game, also adding another score on the ground.
Ohio State’s victory over Minnesota helped them stay steady in their race for a playoff berth in 2014, as they were trying to climb back into contention following a week two loss to Virginia Tech. OSU slipped from eight to 22 in the AP poll with that loss. Ultimately, it was the 59-0 blowout win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game that led to Ohio State earning a College Football Playoff berth. They were a coin-flip to make the playoffs and instead ended up winning it all with victories over Alabama and Oregon on the shoulders of their third-string quarterback, Cardale Jones.
The script to end of the 2014 Buckeyes season was a perhaps more likely written by someone in Hollywood than Urban Meyer, but it would not be possible to tell that story without recognizing how challenging the elements were in Minneapolis that cold November afternoon. It was Ohio State's coldest game since 1964.
November 25, 1950 - Ohio State vs. Michigan: 10 degrees (-8 degree windchill)
Dubbed the “Snow Bowl” or the “Blizzard Bowl,” the Ohio State-Michigan matchup in 1950 is one of the most legendary in college football history to this day. With a berth to the 1951 Rose Bowl on the line, both teams battled not only each other on the field, but contended with elements beyond their control.
A blizzard arrived around 8:00 p.m. the evening prior to the game and the weather never let up until well after the game concluded. With a kickoff temperature of 10 degrees and a windchill of -8, it was reported that gusts of wind blew over 35 miles-per-hour at some points during the contest. While the game did “warm up” to 16 degrees (-1 degree windchill) by game’s end, the sustained wind gusts of 20 miles-per-hour and the non-stop snowfall throughout the game made it nearly impossible for each team to generate any sort of offense. Michigan won the game, 9-3.
In fact, although Michigan won this contest, they did so without ever gaining a first down. They punted the ball 24 times, which is near their total yardage gained mark for the game (27 yards) and they never completed a pass. Ohio State punted 21 times, but it was four blocked punts that set up Michigan for each of their scores (a safety and a touchdown). Ohio State was also only able to score off of the field position they gained by blocking a kick, as their lone field goal came from a blocked punt that set the Buckeyes up at the Wolverine eight-yard line. The ensuing drive saw OSU lose 13 yards in three plays and convert on a field goal.
The legend of this game grew as 50,000 fans poured into the stadium and built bonfires to keep warm amidst the cold to watch a matchup that almost never happened. It is rumored that the athletic directors and coaches from each school met prior to kickoff to determine whether the game should be played. Michigan’s athletic director, Fritz Crisler, reportedly offered to forfeit the game without rescheduling, ensuring a Buckeye victory. Dick Larkins, the OSU athletic director at the time, would not accept, and wanted the game to proceed as scheduled.
The loss cost Ohio State the Big Ten title and a trip to the 1951 Rose Bowl. The then-eighth ranked Buckeyes watched as unranked Michigan defeated the fifth-ranked California Golden Bears, 14-6, to secure a Rose Bowl victory. Ohio State’s offense had been dominant in the 1950 season, recording outbursts of 40-plus points three times. They even scored 83 points against Iowa earlier that season. Who knows what that game would have looked like without inclement weather, but the result of this game still lives on in the history of college football.
November 21, 1964 - Ohio State vs. Michigan: 20 degrees (-30 degree windchill)
While the “Snow Bowl” is widely regarded as the coldest game in collegiate history, 1964’s “The Game” will be frozen in history forever. With temperatures as low as six degrees in the morning leading up to the game and a modern-day estimate of wind chills around -30 degrees with winds up to 25 miles-per-hour, the 1964 Big Ten Championship clash is the coldest game Ohio State has ever played in.
The Buckeyes’ defense was a tough matchup for any team it took the field against in 1964, having recorded three shutouts in seven games leading up to the Michigan game (Ohio State was also shut out 27-0 by Penn State two weeks prior). With temperatures this low, it was almost certain that both offenses would struggle to manufacture any offense, and the blunders were prevalent throughout the game’s entirety. The Buckeyes lost the game, 10-0.
This one will be remembered for a late second-quarter Ohio State fumble that set Michigan up for their only touchdown of the game. In fact, the muffed punt by Ohio State's Bo Rein not only put the Wolverines in prime scoring position at the OSU 20-yard line with 52 seconds left in the half, but it was one of six Buckeye fumbles in the game.
It was a pair of Ohio natives that captured the lead for Michigan on a 17-yard touchdown connection to end the first half, as quarterback Bob Timberlake (Franklin, OH) found halfback Jim Detwiler (Toledo, OH) for the score.
In a tough loss, what made this game even harder to swallow was the fact that Ohio State cracked through the Michigan defense, three times finding themselves inside the Wolverines 40 yard-line, but they were unable to convert any of those possessions into points. They even tried to fake a field goal in the second quarter.
Ohio State’s loss was their second of the season and it cost them a trip to the Rose Bowl game that year. The loss also broke a streak of four consecutive wins over TTUN, which had tied a then-record for the Buckeyes. Michigan went on to win the 1965 Rose Bowl game 34-7 over Oregon State in a much warmer Pasadena, CA climate.
If the Buckeyes take the field in the heart of the winter in early 2021, perhaps there will be a game that rivals the brutally cold temperatures of Ohio State's coldest games of all time.
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