A brief history between Ohio State-Oklahoma

Saturday night will be the fourth meeting between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oklahoma Sooners. Let’s take a quick look back at how the first three meetings went between these two college football powers.

Meeting #1: The Field Goal

The year was 1977. Ohio State and Oklahoma squared off for the first time ever at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

Oklahoma, who was ranked No. 3, showed that they deserved the high ranking. OU jumped out to a fast start, with Billy Sims leading the Sooners to an early 17-0 lead after the first quarter. After Uwe von Schamann (remember that name) netted a field goal, the visiting squad had pulled away to a 20-0 advantage.

However, the Buckeyes had the “three yards and a cloud of dust” running strategy, and were going to battle until the clock hit all zeroes. Three straight rushing touchdowns later, and the Woody Hayes-coached Buckeyes found themselves leading the game midway through the third quarter.

But the Buckeyes had more left in the tank. Greg Castignola passed for his first touchdown of the game and put the Scarlet and Gray up 28-20. Only two passes were lobbed by Castignola against the visitors from Norman, Okla., but this completion put momentum squarely into Ohio State’s corner.

With under 90 seconds left in regulation, the Sooners fought back and scored a touchdown—but the conversion failed. Down 28-26, the Sooners attempted a squib kick on the ensuing kickoff. A deflection led to the Sooners getting the ball back—and a chance to win the game was now presented.

Four plays later, the Sooners were in field goal range for von Schamann. With three seconds left, von Schamann delivered a 41-yard field goal that lifted the Sooners to a 29-28 victory in Columbus.

Meeting #2: Revenge in Norman

Fresh off a 9-3, 1982 season that ended with a win in the Holiday Bowl against BYU, the Buckeyes rolled into the 1983 campaign with a Sooners rematch set for Sept. 17. At this early juncture, OSU entered ranked No. 6, while the home team Sooners were sitting on the No. 2 ranking.

After leading 7-0 at the end of 15 minutes, Buckeye quarterback Mike Tomczak went back to John Frank for his second touchdown to open the second quarter.

Oklahoma answered back with a Spencer Tillman 37-yard touchdown, however, Ohio State pulled up to a 21-7 lead in the third quarter and didn’t look back. When the dust settled, the Scarlet and Gray got their long awaited revenge on the Crimson and Cream, winning in Norman, 24-14.

Meeting #3: Another win in Norman

With 1983 way in the rearview mirror, 2016 brought the third meeting between the two schools. It may have been 33 years later, but the rematch had the same result as the second meetup: an Ohio State win in Norman.

This time around, Urban Meyer, who was in his fifth season at the helm of the Buckeyes, got his second win against Bob Stoops (the first win came against Stoops in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game).

Once again, the visiting Buckeyes got on the board early. H-back Curtis Samuel scored from 36 yards out, and defensive back Jerome Baker housed a Baker Mayfield throw for a touchdown. This would be the first game of the season that brought Ohio State’s secondary into the limelight as “Defensive Back University.”

For OSU’s offense, J.T. Barrett threw four touchdowns, including a play-of-the-year-caliber snag by wide receiver Noah Brown.

A combination of the offense and defense was too much for OU to handle, as the Buckeyes rolled out of Norman with a 45-24 victory.