Florida State Vs. Ohio State History
About Ohio State
Location Columbus, OH
Enrollment 48,676
Colors Scarlett & Gray
Symbol Buckeyes
Conference Big Ten
Stadium Ohio Stadium (90,349)
Surface Natural Grass
Offensive Formation I Formation
Defensive Formation 4-3
1997 Record 10-2
1997 Big Ten Record 6-2, tied for second
1997 Ranking 9th AP, 10th ESPN/USA Today
President Richard Sisson (Interim)
Athletic Director Andy Geiger
Sports Information Director Steve Snapp
Head Coach John Cooper
Overall Record 168-71-6
Record at Ohio State 86-31-4 (10)
1997 OHIO STATE Record
(10-2, 6-2)
8/28 WYOMING 24-10 W
9/13 BOWLING GREEN 44-13 W
9/20 ARIZONA 28-20 W
9/27 at Missouri 31-10 W
10/04 IOWA 23- 7 W
10/11 at Penn State 27-31 L
10/18 INDIANA 31- 0 W
10/25 NORTHWESTERN 49- 6 W
11/01 at Michigan State 37-13 W
11/08 at Minnesota 31- 3 W
11/15 ILLINOIS 41- 6 W
11/22 at Michigan 14-20 L
FIRST MEETING
October 3, 1981 - Columbus, Ohio
Florida State 10 13 13 0 36
Ohio State 7 14 0 6 27
Just when it looked like the prophecy of doom concerning Florida State's murderous away schedule may come true, Rick Stockstill passed for 299 yards to lead FSU to a 36-27 upset over nationally-ranked Ohio State in Columbus.
After Ohio State had scored early to take a 7-0 lead, Florida State rallied for a 10-7 advantage as Mike Rendina booted a 52-yard field goal and Ron Hester returned a blocked punt 35-yards for a score. A fake field goal attempt that resulted in a 5-yard touchdown run by Kelly Lowrey kept the Seminoles in front at 17-13, but Ohio State took a late second quarter lead on Art Schlichter's 52-yard touchdown pass to Gary Williams.
Two touchdown passes from Stockstill gave the Seminoles a 30-21 lead and put the Tribe ahead for good. Stockstill's first touchdown pass to Tony Johnson put the Seminoles up 23-21 at the half and a seven yard pass to tight end Sam Childers gave FSU a nine punt bulge at 30-21.
Ricky Williams scored an insurance touchdown in the third quarter on a three yard plunge. Mike Whiting rushed for 90 yards to lead all ball carriers in the game, while Williams turned in a fine 81-yard performance on just 15 carries. Schlichter had an outstanding day hitting 31 passes on 52 attempts for 458 yards.
The OSU game marked the second leg of a scheduled tabbed Murderer's Row and Octoberfest by the media. The Seminoles 1981 season had the Seminoles traveling, in succession, to: Nebraska, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and LSU. FSU posted a 3-2 record over the stretch and a 6-5 record on the year.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - FSU: Whiting 15-90; R. Williams 15-81; OSU: Spencer 14-63
Passing - FSU: Stockstill 25-41-299; OSU: Schlichster 31-52-458
Receiving - FSU: McKinnon 5-107, Whiting 9-74; OSU: G. Williams 13-220 Anderson 8-158
SECOND MEETING
October 2, 1982 - Columbus, Ohio
Florida State 7 14 0 13 34
Ohio State 10 7 0 0 17
Ricky Williams and Jessie Hester scored fourth quarter touchdowns and Florida State's offense rolled up 476 yards in total offense as FSU shocked Ohio State for the second year in a row -- 34-17.
Trailing 7-0 quarterback Kelly Lowrey took a halfback option pass from Cedric Jones for an 11-yard score. He would go on to become the only FSU player to ever score a rushing, receiving and throw for a touchdown in the same game.
After falling behind 10-7, FSU added two quick touchdowns to take a 21-10 lead -- stunning Ohio State's record crowd of 89,491.
A Brent Offenbacker touchdown pass of 34 yards to Tim Spencer cut the lead to four at the half, but FSU's defense shut down the Buckeye attack for the rest of the game. Hester then scored on a nine yard pass from Blair Williams and Ricky Williams added a 10-yard scoring run as the Seminoles completed the upset. For the game, Lowrey led the air attack with a 14-23 showing for 130 yards and Greg Allen rushed for 104 yards on 18 carries.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - FSU: G. Allen 18-104; R. Williams 16-77; OSU: Spencer 16-99
Passing - FSU: Lowrey 23-14-130; OSU: Offenbacker 11-24-204
Receiving - FSU: Johnson 5-90; OSU: G. Williams 5-104
