2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team The 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was the national champion of the 2002 college football season . The team was the first in Division I - A ( now Division I FBS ) history to finish its season at 14 – 0 , and the second to win 14 games , following BYU ' s 14 – 1 season in 1996 . The Buckeyes ' 14 – 0 record has since been matched by Boise State and Alabama , both in 2009 , and again by Auburn in 2010 . Led by junior quarterback Craig Krenzel and senior safety Mike Doss , the Buckeyes won the 2003 Fiesta Bowl , which was also the 2003 BCS National Championship Game . Preseason . Despite a 7 – 5 season the year before , the general feeling was one of optimism in Columbus , Ohio , provided that the defense could carry the team while the offense developed . First year coach Jim Tressel was able to deliver on his promise of an upset victory over the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor . Twice All - American safety Mike Doss , in an emotional announcement on January 9 , 2002 , advised that he would not declare himself for the NFL draft and would return to Ohio State for his senior season . ( SI , p . 75 ) Maurice Clarett , a freshman prospect , graduated early from high school and enrolled at Ohio State for the 2002 Winter Quarter to make himself eligible to participate in spring football practice . ( Lindy ' s , p . 15 ; SI p . 16 ) Prior to the 2002 season , the Buckeyes were ranked thirteenth in the AP Poll after losing the 2002 Outback Bowl on a last second field goal to the South Carolina Gamecocks . The Big Ten Conference summer media day sessions predicted Ohio State to finish second in the conference behind That Team Up North and ahead of Michigan State . ( Keels , p . 12 ) Team captains selected were seniors Mike Doss and Donnie Nickey . Offensive captains for the season were named weekly , and were : Craig Krenzel ( Texas Tech , Penn State , and That Team Up North ) , Mike Stafford ( Kent State ) , Ben Hartsock ( Washington State and Illinois ) , Ivan Douglas ( Cincinnati ) , Chris Vance ( Indiana ) , Alex Stepanovich ( Northwestern and Purdue ) , Michael Jenkins ( San Jose State ) , Shane Olivea ( Wisconsin ) , and for the Minnesota game , Andy Groom and Bryce Bishop . ( 2002 archive 12 - 10 - 2002 ) Game notes . Texas Tech . The Buckeyes began the 2002 season in Ohio Stadium against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on August 24 , 2002 . Like Ohio State , Texas Tech had posted a 7 – 5 record in 2001 , narrowly losing to Iowa in the Alamo Bowl , in the final edition of the Pigskin Classic . Tailback Maurice Clarett , the first true freshman to start at tailback in school history , ( Athletic Department archive August 24 , 2002 ) scored three touchdowns in his first game , sparking a convincing 45 – 21 win . Seven sacks of Heisman Trophy candidate Kliff Kingsbury and containment of the Tech offense until late in the game did much to establish the credibility of the Buckeye defense . Kent State . Ohio State , now ranked 8th in the AP Poll , built a 38 - 0 lead before halftime against the Kent State Golden Flashes , with quarterback Craig Krenzel completing his first 11 passes , safety Mike Doss and freshman linebacker A . J . Hawk returning interceptions for touchdowns , and Maurice Clarett scoring twice . Kent State scored twice in the last 4 minutes of the first half but never threatened an upset . With the game in hand , backup quarterback Scott McMullen directed the Buckeye offense for much of the second half , completing 7 of his 11 passes . The Buckeyes took only 47 snaps compared to 80 by the Golden Flashes and actually had a 2 : 1 deficit in time of possession , but outgained Kent State by 60 yards . Sophomore place kicker Mike Nugent , who had been uneven in his kicking as a freshman , gave an indication of his future value to the team by kicking field goals of 41 , 33 , and 45 yards . Washington State . Now ranked sixth in the nation , the Buckeyes faced their first marquee opponent and second Heisman quarterback candidate in Jason Gesser on September 14 when they hosted the 10th - ranked Cougars of Washington State . The game was billed by many in the media as a possible Rose Bowl - preview and was televised nationally ( Keels p . 28 ) . Washington State appeared to live up to its billing with an 11 - play 80 - yard drive midway through the 1st quarter that was capped by short touchdown pass from Gesser . In addition the Cougar defense limited tailback Maurice Clarett to just 36 yards rushing and held the Buckeyes to only a pair of field goals in the half . However Ohio State ' s defense stymied Washington State throughout the game , intercepting Gesser twice and forcing the Cougars to surrender the ball on downs twice in Buckeye territory . In the second half Clarett picked up 44 yards on his first rush and destroyed the Cougar defense with 194 second - half yards . His 230 yards rushing for the day was the 6th best in Buckeye history and just short of Archie Griffin ' s freshman record of 239 . ( Keels p . 28 , Lindy ' s p . 26 ) He scored twice and Ohio State got a Nugent field goal and a safety to win convincingly . The following Tuesday , in his weekly luncheon with the media , Coach Jim Tressel revealed that Clarett had suffered a knee injury during the game , had already undergone arthroscopic surgery , and would miss the next game . Cincinnati . The first of many nailbiters for Buckeye fans came September 21 against the 1 – 1 Cincinnati Bearcats as the team required an interception in the end zone by safety Will Allen with 32 seconds remaining to seal a 23 – 19 victory . Playing a rare road game against an Ohio opponent in Paul Brown Stadium , named for an illustrious former Buckeye head coach , 6th - ranked Ohio State played much of the game trailing the unranked Bearcats of Conference USA , who had narrowly lost by a field goal the previous week to West Virginia . UC put up more than 400 yards of offense , bombing the Buckeye defense with 52 passes , but was stymied by dropped passes and two 4th quarter interceptions . Sophomore running back Lydell Ross , starting in place of the injured Clarett , rushed for 130 yards . Wide receiver Chris Gamble had practiced all week as a defensive back and was used on a 3rd down for UC from the Ohio State 29 in the 4th quarter , making an interception in the end zone . Craig Krenzel , who had scrambled for 64 yards on 14 carries in the first three games , scored the winning touchdown with less than 4 minutes to play , twisting and spinning through the Bearcat defenders for 6 yards . ( Keels p . 35 ) Indiana . 6th - ranked and undefeated Ohio State took care of business in opening the Big Ten schedule with a 45 - 17 win over the 2 - 2 Indiana Hoosiers . Maurice Clarett returned to play after 2 weeks recuperating from his knee surgery September 16 and scored three times in the first half while accruing 104 yards rushing . After leading only 21 – 10 at halftime , Ohio State blew open the game with three scores in the 3rd quarter to win decisively , totalling 244 yards of rushing and 461 overall . Playing both defense and offense , Chris Gamble scored on a 43 - yard reverse on the first drive of the 3rd quarter . Indiana had to punt on the ensuing possession and safety Dustin Fox blocked the kick . Ohio State took over at the Indiana 18 and scored on a short pass from Krenzel to Michael Jenkins to take a 35 – 10 lead . Northwestern . The next week , on the road against the Northwestern Wildcats , which entered the game with a 2 - 3 record and 0 - 1 in conference play , Ohio State played a night game in Evanston , Illinois , in accordance with a scheduling agreement between the Big Ten and ESPN ( Keels , p . 41 ) . The game was again unusually close , with Clarett fumbling three times and caught by the TV cameras arguing with running backs coach Tim Spencer on the sidelines ( Keels , p . 42 ) , but he also carried the ball for 140 yards and two scores as Ohio State prevailed 27 - 16 . Northwestern had a 6 - 0 lead after the 1st quarter but had had two drives stopped inside the Ohio State ten yard line . They later missed a pair of field goal attempts before scoring a touchdown with less than 2 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter to narrow the Buckeye lead to 24 - 16 . Ohio State replied with a long drive and a field goal by Mike Nugent , then used an interception by Cie Grant and a fumble recovery by Donnie Nickey to keep Northwestern at bay . San Jose State . Ohio State for the second season in a row played a non - conference West Coast team at mid - season , hosting the San Jose State Spartans for Homecoming on October 12 . San Jose State had attempted to cancel the game because its schedule featured seven road games in an 8 - week span , but was unable to find a replacement team for the Buckeye home date . The Spartans , 4 - 2 , had already defeated Illinois , had a three - game winning streak , and entered the game with a defense that led Division I - A in taking the ball away from its opponents . The game started slowly and was tied 7 - 7 early in the 2nd quarter . The Buckeye defense , however , held SJS to 265 yards of offense , all of it passing yardage , despite the Spartans completing 81 . 8 % of their 44 passes . ( Lindy ' s , p . 42 ) The offense ran up 567 yards , a season - high , with Krenzel and backup Scott McMullen combining for 355 yards passing on only 19 completions . Krenzel threw for three touchdowns to break the game open in the 3rd quarter , Clarett rushed for 132 yards and scored three times , and Mike Nugent connected on three field goals , tying the school record for 15 straight without a miss . Wisconsin . Ohio State faced its next big test on the road October 19 , in Madison , Wisconsin , taking on the Wisconsin Badgers in one of the most hostile stadiums in the nation . Ranked fourth now , Ohio State faced a Badger team that had opened its season 5 - 0 , but had lost its first two conference games , and 7 of its last 9 conference games at home , and was playing without its top wide receiver , Lee Evans . Animosity simmered in both teams as each had resented the other dancing on their logo s after road wins in the immediately preceding years . ( Keels p . 46 ) Ohio State scored on its first possession with a long pass from Krenzel to Jenkins , but by halftime Wisconsin led , 14 - 13 , on two long plays in each quarter . The 3rd quarter was scoreless , but midway through the 4th , on a 3rd and 6 from its own 16 , Krenzel delivered a high pass 45 yards to Michael Jenkins , who out - jumped two defenders to give the Buckeyes a first down in Wisconsin territory . Krenzel completed the drive with a short touchdown pass to tight end Ben Hartsock , and although a try for a 2 - point conversion failed , the Buckeyes led 19 - 14 . Wide receiver Chris Gamble , who had played defensive back on key downs earlier in the season , was sent into the game when Wisconsin faced a 3 - and - 11 at the Buckeye 29 - yard line . Gamble intercepted the next pass in the end zone to preserve the lead . Also a key player in the victory was punter Andy Groom , whose six punts averaged 50 . 2 yards , with a 4th quarter punt that went for 74 yards and another that was downed at the Wisconsin 1 - yard line . Maurice Clarett rushed for 133 yards but suffered a shoulder stinger on his last carry , an injury that would severely limit his availability over the next four games . Penn State . The following week , on October 26 , the Buckeyes returned to Columbus to face Joe Paterno ' s Penn State Nittany Lions , ranked 17th in the AP , with a 5 – 2 overall record and a 1 – 2 conference record , its losses to Iowa and Michigan . The Ohio State offense struggled throughout the game , exemplified by Craig Krenzel losing a fumble at the Penn State one on Ohio State ' s first possession , but the defense held Penn State ' s offense to only seven points and a season - low 179 yards and 8 first downs ( tying the Penn State school record for fewest first downs , which surprisngly occurred in Penn State ' s memorable 14 - 10 upset of the Miami Hurricanes in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl that grabbed them the national championship ) . Heisman Trophy finalist Larry Johnson was held to a season - low 66 yards rushing on 16 attempts . The game featured Chris Gamble starting on both offense and defense ( which had last occurred for Ohio State in 1963 ) and playing 89 of the game ' s 138 plays ( 51 on defense , 31 on offense , and 7 on punt returns ) . ( Lindy ' s p . 50 ) After Krenzel ' s fumble , Gamble caught the Penn State defender from behind at the OSU 41 , preventing a touchdown return , and two plays later A . J . Hawk ended the threat with his second interception of the year . The key play of the game , however , came on the first series of the 3rd quarter with Penn State in possession and having the lead , 7 – 3 . Gamble " jumped the route " of the Penn State receiver , intercepted the ball at the Nittany Lion 40 , and returned it down the sideline for a touchdown , the only one scored by Ohio State in the game . In all the Buckeyes intercepted three passes , but controversy ensued near the end of the game when Gamble may have interfered with a Lion receiver but was not called for a penalty . ( Lindy ' s , p . 50 ) Clarett played only the first series of the game before injuring his shoulder again and leaving the game . Buckeye radio broadcaster Paul Keels , in his book recounting the season , noted that the fans in Ohio Stadium that day were unusually loud and supportive . ( P . 53 ) Minnesota . The team was far more dominant on November 2 , posting an impressive 34 - 3 rout of the 19th - ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers . Minnesota , at 7 - 1 overall and 3 - 1 in conference play , was a contender for the Big Ten title . The Gophers blocked a punt that led to the first score of the day , a field goal , but Ohio State ' s defense throttled the Minnesota rushing attack , which had been averaging 271 yards a game , ( Lindy ' s , p . 54 ) holding it to 53 yards and the passing attack to 59 , and Minnesota , despite starting its next two possessions at its 45 , was unable to score further . Lydell Ross and Maurice Hall , playing in place of the injured Clarett , rushed for 89 and 93 yards respectively , as Ohio State scored 34 unanswered points . Defensive linemen Darrion Scott , Simon Fraser , and David Thompson recorded 4 sacks and were instrumental in stopping the run . Purdue . On November 9 , the 3rd - ranked Buckeyes , in an unexpectedly close game with the 4 - 5 Purdue Boilermakers ( 2 - 3 in Big Ten play ) , delivered one of the most thrilling moments in Ohio State football history . The offense had been stagnant the entire game , unable to run against the Purdue defense . Maurice Clarett , still hampered by the recurrence of his stinger injury in the Penn State game , carried the ball only 14 times for 52 yards . Krenzel had completed only 11 passes for 123 yards when Ohio State faced a 3rd and 14 from midfield , trailing 6 – 3 late in the fourth quarter . He scrambled in the passing pocket and completed a pass along the sideline to tight end Ben Hartsock but came up a yard short of a first down at the 37 - yard line with just over 2 : 00 remaining in the game . On fourth down with a yard to go , coach Jim Tressel opted against attempting a 54 - yard field goal by Mike Nugent to tie the game , and in an uncharacteristically high - risk move , ran pass play " King Right 64 Y Shallow Swap " instead , whose first option was a short crossing pass ( " shallow swap " ) to Hartsock ( the " Y " receiver ) . Instead , Krenzel went deep to wide receiver Michael Jenkins , jostling with defensive back Antwaun Rogers . Jenkins caught the pass at the goal line and scored . After a Gamble interception of Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton stifled any comeback by the Boilermakers , the Buckeyes escaped West Lafayette with a victory , 10 - 6 . From his call of the touchdown , ABC announcer Brent Musburger uttered a phrase that has gone down in Buckeye lore : " Holy Buckeye " . The Buckeye defense was equally stellar , limiting Purdue to a pair of field goals on four possessions inside the Ohio State 20 , and an interception by middle linebacker Matt Wilhelm allowed Mike Nugent to kick a tying field goal as the clock ran out in the first half . Illinois . The Buckeyes had risen in the polls to now rank 2nd , and concluded their season road games in Champaign , Illinois , taking on the 4 - 6 Illinois Fighting Illini . Illinois was 3 – 3 in conference play , and what seemed to be a mismatch proved to be yet another dangerously close game as the Illini kicked a field goal on the last play of the 4th quarter to come from behind to force overtime . As it had on its earlier road games , Ohio State struggled offensively with an inconsistent running game minus Maurice Clarett . Illinois took the lead in the 3rd quarter , only to lose it on a 50 - yard strike from Krenzel to Jenkins . The teams exchanged field goals before Illinois missed a 59 - yard attempt with only 2 minutes left that appeared to settle the game , but the Illini forced a punt and tied the game as time expired in regulation play . The overtime game was the first ever played by Ohio State , and on the opening possession the Buckeyes scored , with Krenzel scrambling from the pocket for 14 yards and Maurice Hall scoring on an 8 - yard run up the middle . The Illini appeared to make two touchdown receptions in their possession but the first was out - of - bounds and the second a bobbled incompletion . Defensive lineman Tim Anderson knocked down the final attempt to keep the Buckeyes undefeated . ( Lindy ' s p . 62 : Keels , p . 74 - 75 ) That Team Up North . The regular season finale against the Michigan Wolverines on November 23 logically became the most important of the regular season . That Team Up North was 9 - 2 , a contender for the conference championship with a 6 - 1 record , and ranked 9th in the USA Today poll and 12th in the AP . The intensity of the Michigan - Ohio State rivalry was increased by the stakes : a victory by the 12 - 0 Buckeyes would secure a spot for them in the BCS National Championship game . That Team Up North had ruined Ohio State attempts at undefeated regular seasons three times in the past decade ( 1993 , 1995 , 1996 ) , and hoped to spoil yet another national title bid , while hoping to capture a share of the Big Ten crown if Iowa also lost . The game was fittingly intense , with the Wolverines ahead or within striking distance of the Buckeyes for the entire game . Maurice Clarett , returning from injury , scored an early touchdown to put the team ahead 7 – 3 , and the defense held That Team Up North to three first half field goals that included a crucial stop inside the Ohio State ten just before the half . Trailing 9 – 7 in the fourth quarter , Krenzel engineered a drive from the That Team Up North 43 with 8 : 30 remaining . After gaining a first down on a 4th down quarterback sneak , Krenzel completed a pass ( and another play name went into Buckeye legend : Gun Switch Right Dart 59 X Skinny Wheel ) to Clarett swinging left out of the backfield ( " wheel " ) while the wide receiver ran a post pattern to decoy the secondary ( " X skinny " ) that resulted in a first down at the That Team Up North six yard line . Two plays later , with 4 : 55 to go , Maurice Hall took an option pitch from Krenzel and ran into the endzone from two yards out . After a lost fumble with two minutes remaining , Michigan regained possession at its own 20 with only 50 seconds . They moved the ball , but the final pass attempt by Michigan quarterback John Navarre , with 0 : 01 left and long to the endzone , was intercepted by Will Allen . With the victory , Ohio State finished the 2002 season by sharing the conference crown with the Iowa Hawkeyes , who also went undefeated in Big Ten play . BCS national championship game . Following their defeat of Michigan , Ohio State faced the number one ranked and heavily favored ( 11 . 5 points ) Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl on January 3 , 2003 , selected that year as the championship game for the teams ranked first and second in the BCS ratings . The Hurricanes were attempting to win their second consecutive championship , winning the Rose Bowl in the previous season and winning 34 straight games in dominating fashion . Led by Heisman Trophy finalists quarterback Ken Dorsey and tailback Willis McGahee , Miami was favored by nearly two touchdowns over the offensively anemic Buckeyes . The Hurricanes jumped out to an early 7 – 0 lead , quieting the largely scarlet and gray crowd . The second quarter , however , belonged to Ohio State , with a Mike Doss interception setting up a Craig Krenzel touchdown run which was followed by a Ken Dorsey fumble setting up the Buckeyes on the Miami 14 . A Maurice Clarett touchdown run put Ohio State ahead 14 – 7 at halftime . The Hurricanes stalled on their opening drive of the half , handing the ball over to Ohio State who drove inside the Miami ten yard line before Krenzel was intercepted by Sean Taylor , who was then stripped of the ball by Maurice Clarett on the return . The Buckeyes settled for a field goal and a ten point lead . A Willis McGahee touchdown run brought the Hurricanes within 3 points by the beginning of the fourth quarter . On third down a catch by Chris Gamble was ruled incomplete due to his being out of bounds . Replays however seem to show that : 1 ) Gamble had his jersey grabbed on this play which could have resulted in pass interference call and a consequent Ohio State first down . 2 ) Gamble appeared to land inbounds , again a first down . With a first down Ohio State would have been in a position to run the clock out and win the game without it going to overtime . Instead they had to punt and Groom punted the ball 44 yards . Todd Sievers kicked a field goal to send the game into overtime . On their first possession in overtime , the Hurricanes scored a touchdown on a 7 yard pass to Kellen Winslow . Ohio State had no choice but to play for another overtime , with Krenzel completing a fourth and 14 pass to Michael Jenkins , giving Ohio State new life . On fourth and 3 , after an initial signal of defensive holding , a pass interference penalty was called by official Terry Porter on Miami defensive back Glenn Sharpe . However the penalty was flagged after the play was completed and while Miami was celebrating an apparent victory , causing the call to become controversial . With a first - and - goal at the two , Krenzel scored three plays later on a one - yard touchdown run , sending the game into another overtime . Though initially shrouded in controversy , " The Call " has since been defended by sportswriters as a good one , was validated by the National Association of Sports Officials , and was selected by Referee Magazine as one of the " Best 18 Calls of All Time . " Ohio State took the field again on offense , moving down the field quickly and capping the drive with a 5 - yard touchdown run by Maurice Clarett . Miami began its second overtime possession with no options except to score a touchdown . Backup quarterback Derek Crudup , who came in for a play after Dorsey was shaken up , converted a fourth down pass to Winslow , which was followed by facemask and pass interference penalties against Ohio State that now gave Miami an identical first - and - goal situation at the two - yard line . The Hurricanes were stuffed on the first three plays , and pressure forced a desperation throw by Dorsey that fell incomplete in the endzone , ending the game with Ohio State as the 2002 football national champions . 2002 player personnel . Depth chart . Source : Athletic Department official site , 2002 football archive 12 - 10 - 02 depth chart