The Buckeyes only made two trips to the Holiday Bowl, battling BYU on both occasions. We look back on the 1993 game, which Ohio State entered with a 9-1-1 record.
For today’s random Ohio State bowl game win, we travel back to 1993 when the Buckeyes met the BYU Cougars in the Holiday Bowl. There have only been three meetings all-time between the programs, with all of them coming in bowl games.
The first was in the 1982 Holiday Bowl, followed by the 1985 Citrus Bowl, and finally the 1993 Holiday Bowl. Ohio State has been on the winning end of all three matchups with the Cougars.
The 1993 regular season saw John Cooper put together one of his best seasons as Ohio State head coach, with the Buckeyes entering the Holiday Bowl with a 9-1-1 record. The tie came at Wisconsin in early November, when Bret Powers found Joey Galloway for a 26-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, followed by Marlon Kerner blocking a Wisconsin 22-yard field goal with seven seconds left to preserve the draw.
Ohio State would get blanked by Michigan 28-0 in Ann Arbor to end the regular season, which allowed the Badgers to head to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1963 despite the teams being co-champions of the Big Ten.
With the Rose Bowl out of the picture for the Buckeyes, they still ended up in California for their bowl game, accepting a bid to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. This marked the second appearance for Ohio State in the Holiday Bowl, as they played in the 1982 Holiday Bowl, beating BYU 47-17.
Prior to their trip to San Diego in 1993, the Buckeyes spent the previous two seasons playing in bowl games in Florida, followed by two more appearances in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl to close out the 1994 and 1995 seasons.
BYU came out of the gates hot in LaVell Edwards’ 22nd season as head coach of the Cougars, posting a 4-0 record. Then things really fell apart for BYU, starting with a 68-14 loss at UCLA. After being shellacked by the Bruins, the Cougars lost to Notre Dame, Fresno State, and Utah State.
The setbacks to the Bulldogs and Aggies had to especially hurt since they came by a combined five points. BYU was able to regroup to close out the regular season by winning two of their final three games.
The biggest issue for BYU in 1993 was their terrible defense, which allowed 407 points. Quarterback John Walsh did his best to try and keep the Cougars in games, throwing for 3,727 yards and 28 touchdowns, but he was also prone to mistakes, tossing 15 interceptions.
Bryce Doman led the team with seven touchdown catches, while Eric Drage and Tyler Anderson each added five touchdown grabs. Kalin Hall and Jamal Willis combined to rush for 15 touchdowns to try and keep opposing defenses honest.
By comparison, Ohio State’s passing game was inconsistent at times. Bobby Hoying threw for 1,570 yards, eight touchdowns, and eight interceptions, while Bret Powers added 721 yards, seven touchdowns, and six picks. The top target was Joey Galloway, who found the end zone on 11 of his 47 receptions, finishing the year with 946 yards receiving.
Raymont Harris was a workhorse at running back, rolling up 1,344 yards and 12 scores. Butler By’not’e helped carry some of the load on the ground, grinding for 474 yards and four touchdowns.
The 1993 Holiday Bowl saw some fireworks early when Tim Patillo’s touchdown on a blocked punt opened up the scoring for Ohio State four minutes into the game. BYU responded quickly when Walsh found Jamal Willis for a 27-yard touchdown just over two minutes later. It wouldn’t take long for the Buckeyes to take back the lead, as Raymont Harris scored from two yards out with 5:30 left in the first quarter.
Harris would extend Ohio State’s lead to 21-7 early in the second quarter when he again scored from two yards out. BYU would rally in the second quarter to tie the game at halftime when Walsh first found Lewis for an eight-yard touchdown, followed by a 27-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Doman.
After a thrilling first half, the scoring slowed down in the second half, with Harris scoring for the third time in the game to give the Buckeyes the lead for good. BYU would drive down to the Ohio State 6-yard-line but couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone late in the game.
The best chance for the Cougars came on third down when Tim Nowatzke dropped a pass from Walsh that would have been a touchdown. Then Walsh underthrew Nowatzke on fourth down to seal the victory for Ohio State.
Following the season, defensive tackle Dan “Big Daddy” Wilkinson was drafted first overall in the 1994 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. Wilkinson finished with 13 tackles for loss, which was tops on the Buckeye defense, bettering Jason Simmons’ total by one.
Ohio State would finish the 1994 season 9-4, losing to Alabama 24-17 in the Citrus Bowl. At least Cooper can fondly remember 1994 since it was one of the few seasons where he was able to earn a win over Michigan.