1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
The 1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled an 11–1 record, including the 1980 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where they lost, 17–16, to the USC Trojans. Game summaries. Syracuse. Minnesota. Washington State. The longest pass in school history to date, an 86-yard bomb from Art Schlichter to Calvin Murray, helped propel Ohio State to a 45-29 win over Washington State. The previous record was an 80-yard pass from Joe Sparma to Bob Klein in 1961  versus Michigan. UCLA. Northwestern. Indiana. Wisconsin. Michigan State. Illinois. Iowa. at Michigan. Ohio State clinched the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl with an 18-15 victory over their archrivals. The Buckeyes had not beaten nor scored a touchdown against Michigan since 1975, the last time they had gone to Pasadena. Rose Bowl.