In this week’s random Ohio State bowl win, the Buckeyes headed down to New Orleans early in 1999 to battle the Big 12 champion Texas A&M Aggies.
This week’s look at a random Ohio State bowl game win takes us down to New Orleans, where the Buckeyes took on the Texas A&M Aggies in the 1999 Sugar Bowl. This marked the third trip in Ohio State program history to the Sugar Bowl.
The first two appearances in the legendary game for the Buckeyes didn’t go so well, as Ohio State lost 35-6 to Alabama in 1978 and a 31-14 defeat to Florida State in the 1998 Sugar Bowl. Vegas had a little different outlook for Ohio State against the Aggies than they did against the Seminoles. The Buckeyes entered the 1999 game as 12-point favorites, as opposed to taking on Florida State as touchdown underdogs.
John Cooper’s squad had bigger aspirations than the Sugar Bowl in the 1998 season, though. Ohio State entered the season as the top-ranked team in the country, and they didn’t disappoint early on, beating 11th-ranked West Virginia 34-17 in Morgantown to start the season.
The Buckeyes would pick up ranked wins over Missouri and Penn State before falling 28-24 to unranked Michigan State in Columbus, their only loss of the season. At least Ohio State was able to close out their regular season schedule with a 31-16 win over Michigan, halting a three-game losing streak to the Wolverines.
By beating Michigan and not having to play Wisconsin in Big Ten play, the Buckeyes, Wolverines, and Badgers all tied for the conference title. When it came to who would play in the Rose Bowl, Wisconsin was sent to Pasadena since Ohio State and Michigan had played in the Rose Bowl more recently than Wisconsin.
Aside from playing in the Rose Bowl in 1997, the Buckeyes played in the 1995 and 1996 Citrus Bowls, the 1998 and 1999 Sugar Bowls, the 2000 and 2001 Outback Bowls, and the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
Texas A&M entered the season ranked 14th in the country. The Aggies had a rough start to the season, losing 23-14 to Florida State in the Kickoff Classic. Then the 28-7 win in their next game against Louisiana Tech was eventually forfeited because running back D’Andre Hardeman was found to be academically ineligible. Texas A&M would rebound to win seven straight games, including a 28-21 win over second-ranked Nebraska in College Station, before falling 26-24 to Texas in Austin to close out the season.
Not many people gave the Aggies much of a chance in the Big 12 Championship Game against Kansas State, who was undefeated. Early on it looked like the Wildcats would be moving on to the BCS National Championship Game, as Michael Bishop and company jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the second quarter.
Entering the fourth quarter Kansas State was up 27-12, but Texas A&M quarterback Branndon Stewart tossed two touchdowns in the final quarter to tie the game, followed by a 32-yard score to Sirr Parker in double overtime to hand the Wildcats their first loss of the season.
Texas A&M had a star on defense in linebacker Dat Nguyen, who recorded 147 tackles, 20 behind the line of scrimmage, forced four fumbles, and picked off two passes. While the Aggies had a strong running game with backs Dante Hall and Ja’Mar Toombs, they faced questions at quarterback. Randy McCown played in 10 games, and Branndon Stewart appeared in seven games.
Neither really did much through the air, combining to throw for just over 2,000 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. Still, Ohio State knew they couldn’t take Texas A&M lightly or they would suffer the same fate as Kansas State.
Even though the first BCS National Championship Game would see Tennessee and Florida State square off, Ohio State was still hoping they could lay claim to a national title if the Seminoles were able to beat the Volunteers and pollsters possibly might vote the Buckeyes as the top team in the country over Florida State. Obviously Tennessee didn’t allow that to happen since they beat the Seminoles 23-16.
Despite being an underdog, Texas A&M jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on a Dante Hall 9-yard touchdown run just five minutes into the game. That would wake the Buckeyes up, as Joe Germaine found Reggie Germany for an 18-yard touchdown pass just two minutes later.
Joe Montgomery would add a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:10 left in the quarter, and Kevin Griffin would cap off the opening quarter with a 16-yard return of a blocked punt to push Ohio State’s lead to 21-7. Dan Stultz would add a 31-yard field goal before halftime to give the Buckeyes a 24-7 lead at the break.
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There wouldn’t be much activity in the second half, with the only score being a Texas A&M touchdown in the third quarter. By winning 24-14, Ohio State was able to earn their first Sugar Bowl win. The Buckeyes would outgain the Aggies 432 yards to 283 yards, doing most of their damage on the ground, racking up 210 yards rushing.
Montgomery finished with 96 yards rushing on nine carries, with Michael Wiley grinding out 88 yards on 16 carries.
David Boston was named Sugar Bowl MVP by catching 11 passes for 105 yards. Boston finished the season with 85 catches for 1,435 yards, and 13 touchdowns catches. Dee Miller was a strong second option in the passing attack, hauling in 59 passes for 915 yards. Joe Germaine had 3,330 yards passing and 25 touchdowns passes in 1998, while Michael Wiley ran for 1,235 yards and 10 scores.
Although the offense put up some big stats during the 1998 season, the defense is what the Buckeyes hung their hat on. Andy Katzenmoyer, Na’il Diggs, Antoine Winfield, Ahmed Plummer, and Damon Moore were just a few of the standouts that year on the Ohio State defense. The loss to Michigan State was the only game where the Buckeyes allowed more than 20 points in a game.
Winfield and Katzenmoyer would go on to be first round picks in the 1999 NFL Draft, as well as David Boston, who was drafted eighth overall by the Arizona Cardinals.
Unfortunately for Ohio State, they really struggled the next season. After posting a 6-6 record, the Buckeyes weren’t even invited to play in a bowl game at the end of the 1999 season. The win over the Aggies in the Sugar Bowl was probably Cooper’s last notable win as head coach, since he was fired following the end of the 2000 season.
Jim Tressel would be hired to replace Cooper and the rest is history.