Trivial Pursuit – The Ohio State Football Way – Season 2

​I bought this book last September, in 2022. I shop whenever I’m watching an OSU football game. It’s a superstition, but it makes me feel like I’m doing my part to help the Buckeyes win.

                                                               My Stats from Last Year: 
​​                              Trivia score              Name Recognition
Chapter 1              5 of 20                                  --
Chapter 2                 7                                    14 of 28
Chapter 3                 11                                 11 of 20
Chapter 4                  5                                      9 of 22
Chapter 5                  5                                      7 of 21
Chapter 6                  5                                    12 of 38
Chapter 7                  8                                    10 of 26

That means my best scores came in Chapter 5 for both trivia and name recognition. It was all about catching the ball, AKA the receivers. Here’s my link to last year’s trivia:
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                              http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/trivial-pursuit-the-ohio-state-football-way


                               Game Day Saturday, September 16 - Chapter 8 - How I did, and what I learned. 

Chapter 8: Coaching Carousel: I thought I’d do better on this chapter than I did. I’ve been following Ohio State football since the 60s. I can name the coaches in order . . . Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, John Cooper, Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, and Ryan Day.

I double checked, and I missed one. Luke Fickel was coach for less than a year. He came between Tressel and Meyer. I have a soft spot for Luke’s wife, Amy. She comes from Spencerville, Ohio. That’s just up the road from my house in Wapak.

In spite of knowing all that, I was back to mediocre again, 7 right out of 20. YUCK! And on name recognition, I knew 11 out of 23. Yep, mediocre, but, these questions are hard!

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These are my four favorite OSU coaches. I don’t know any of the ones before Woody.  I was born in 1959, and Woody became head coach in 1951. He was still there during the fall of 1978 when I was a freshman. I feel sorry now for the next two coaches . . .  There was no way they could compare to Woody, and the three that followed . . . I loved them like Woody 😊
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   Now for my Pick 3 questions, they’re all about the best OSU coach ever – Wayne Woodrow Hayes!
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3. Including Woody Hayes, how many coaches have the Buckeyes had since hiring Hayes in 1951?
 A. 4      B. 5      C. 6     D. 7

I got it right . . . 7! You can double check the answer in the first paragraph. I named those 7 coaches in order, and I only forgot 1. Not bad!

11. How many Big Ten championships did Woody Hayes win as the Buckeyes’ head coach?
A. 13    B. 15    C. 11    D.  17

​Shucks! I guessed 17. Too high! The answer . . . 13. I guess even Woody couldn’t win them all, but he sure tried. 
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18. Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel combined to coach more All-Americans at
​Ohio State than Woody Hayes.             A. True      B. False

I missed it! I said true, that two coaches could produce more All-Americans than just one. Wrong! I forgot that Woody coached for 28 years, while Jim and Urban only did 15, altogether.  Wow! What a coach!

                             Fun Fact: Before Woody came, OSU was known as the coaches’ graveyard.
                 
                                                    
Game Day Saturday, September 23 – Chapter 9 - How I did. 
I started Chapter 9 during the Notre Dame game, and it was quite a game . . . I only managed to answer the questions. That’s it. Today the Buckeyes are playing Maryland so I’m going to try to do the writing.

Chapter 9: Championship Caliber: I had no idea how I’d do this time. Who remembers championships after they’re over? Not me!

I was surprised I actually did a little better . . . up from 7 to 8 on the multiple-choice questions. On name recognition I knew 10 out of 20. Woo-hoo! That’s 50%. Still mediocre, but a little bit better!

                                           Game Day Saturday, October 7 - Chapter 9 – What Resonated with Me 
​​None of the questions or their answers resonated with me, but the additional information from Ray Walker did. During the Notre Dame game, and afterwards something struck home. I didn’t know that Lou Holtz made a few comments about the Buckeyes, and Ryan Day answered back after the game, that it was Ohio against the world. It feels like it’s always been that way.
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​- Ray noted that in 2018 ESPN ranked the national champions from the BCS years, and they put the 2002 Buckeyes last. The reason, the Buckeyes had a lot of close games as they finished out the season. ESPN said they just weren’t dominant enough. Gee, I thought winning was everything!
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It didn’t matter that the Buckeyes were the first to win 14 games in a season, or that they were 1 of 9 teams on the list to go unbeaten and win the national championship. When you’re ranked high, you have a target on your back. Add in that 2002 team were the first #2 to beat a #1 during the BCS years, but that didn’t matter to the powers at ESPN that made the rankings. (Like always, Ohio against the world)
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                                                   Game Day Saturday, October 14 – Chapter 10 - How I did 
I didn’t! I went to a baby shower, but I kept track of the score. When I got home, the game was still on, but we had company, so no chapter 10 ☹ But the Buckeyes beat Purdue 41 – 7 . . . Woohoo!

               Game Day Saturday, October 21 – Chapter 10, Finally! How I did & What Resonated with Me
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Chapter 10: Going Bowling: I had a bad feeling about this chapter . . . It’s either the kind with one ball and nine pins, or the kind that involves holiday football games in warm destinations. I figured I’d be terrible at both ☹

I’m glad I was prepared. I went down, 5 out of 20 on the multiple-choice questions. FIVE! That’s like a 25%. OUCH!  On name recognition I knew 7 out of 20. A 35% is a little better, but not much. Double OUCH!

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What Resonated with Me:  1. I recognized two names – William White and Bobby Hoying. They were both local boys, from the county right next door. William grew up in Lima and played football for the Spartans. Northwest Ohio was thrilled when he became a Buckeye, and so was I.
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2. Bobby grew up in St. Henry, and he played for the Redskins. He was chosen as Mr. Football back in 1990, out of all the high school players from across the state. Bobby went from playing quarterback in a small town in Mercer County to playing at The Ohio State University. It’s incredible when a local boy succeeds, and both Bobby and William made it all the way to the NFL.  WOW!

3. I found a not-so-good memory in this chapter about bowl games, with Clemson. They were the team that got Woody Hayes fired. He was and still is my favorite coach ever. It began when Clemson intercepted a pass near the end of the game.

Woody was known for his temper, and he grabbed the player’s jersey and hit him. The Buckeye team captain pulled Woody off the kid, and he was fired the next day.

It was a sad end for Woody and his coaching career, but he was forgiven, and I’m glad his contributions have not been forgotten.

PS – OSU lost that game in 1978. They’d lose again to Clemson in 2016 and 2019, but they finally beat them in 2021 . . .  49 – 28. There’s nothing like the thrill of victory after those 3 defeats.
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                                  Game Day Saturday, October 28 - Chapter 11 - How I did, and what I learned.

Chapter 11: Draft Day: I had no idea how I’d do in this chapter. I’ve never paid attention to the draft, ever! My results – I went up one, to 6 out of 20 on the multiple-choice questions. That’s 30%. Guessing stinks as a strategy, but it’s all I had ☹

On name recognition I knew more names than last time, 22, but there were 30 I didn’t know. My score – 22 out of 50, for a 42%. YIKES! ☹

I discovered after reading this chapter that draft day doesn’t always lead to a contract. It means nothing, until that contract is signed. Here are 3 stories about 3 superstar Buckeyes. 
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#1. Have you heard of Paul Warfield? The Cleveland Browns drafted him in 1964. I was only 5 years old, but somehow, I remember he was fast.

As a Buckeye he was a halfback. That meant he lined up with the offense, and he ran the ball down the field.  Funny, I thought that would make him a running back!
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Cleveland picked him as a defensive back, but they also knew he could catch the ball. So, they decided to try him as a receiver. The result – Paul learned how to catch the ball that first year in the NFL. I guess your team gets a HUGE say on what position you play.
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  #2. Tom Skladany is another name I remember. He left OSU before I came in as a freshman. He was a gifted kicker, the first specialty player to ever get a scholarship to a Big 10 school. The Browns picked him in the second round of the 1977 draft, but he never signed with them. He wound up sitting out the whole 1977 NFL season. Why?

Evidently Art Modell called his agent ‘the biggest thorn in the side of professional football.” Art put Tom on the trading block, first with the Rams in return for two second round picks. Later he shipped Tom off to the Lions for a second and seventh round pick for 1978. OUCH!
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​#3. Terry Glenn’s story from 1996 caught my eye. I was a mom with three kids by then, and I had time for football again. Terry had great hands . . . he was a receiver, and he was the seventh pick, in THE first round. Talented, right?!

Well not enough for Bill Parcells, the coach for the New England Patriots. He said, “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” Evidently Parcells didn’t want Terry, but two higher ups did . . . owner Bob Kraft and general manager, Bobby Grier. I have a feeling Parcells was happier with Terry by the end of the season . . . He set a rookie record of 90 catches, and they helped the Patriots into the Super Bowl that year.
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                             Game Day Saturday, November 4 - Chapter 12 - How I did, and what I learned. 

Chapter 12: Writing the Record Book: I had no idea once again how I’d do on this chapter. I would hear someone set a record, then promptly forget about it. My results on multiple choice questions – I went up one again, to 7 out of 20. That’s another 35%. Guessing isn’t the best strategy, but it’s all I had, again ☹

On name recognition this was one of my best scores, I knew 20, and I didn’t recognize 12. My score – 20 out of 32, for a sky-high 63%. That’s still a D or an F. YIKES! ☹

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​Game Day Saturday, November 11 - Chapter 12 – Three Record-Setting Stories

​#1. What would you do if you were the quarterback, and your passing game was off? Duh! You’d hand the ball to a running back. In 2020, that’s exactly what Justin Fields did in the Big Ten championship game. He handed the ball to Trey Sermon who had just transferred in from Oklahoma.

I’m glad he did! Trey carried the ball 29 times, right into the OSU record book. He ran 331 yards that day against the Northwestern Wildcats. His best two plays, in the third quarter. Trey ran 65 yards, then 33, right into the end zone for a touchdown. That gave the Buckeyes their first lead in the game.
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Imagine, the Buckeyes behind in the third quarter?! OUCH! In the fourth quarter Trey’s running game gave OSU another touchdown and a spot in the College Football Playoff. He was the MVP, duh! Thanks, Trey, for saving the game!                                                                 
​                                                                             Bonus Source: Trey Sermon - Wikipedia
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#2. Meet Garcia Lane. This is the only picture I could find of him, and it was long after he set his OSU record in 1983. I graduated in June 1981 so I remember him well. He was a great player!

His record – a pair of punt returns in ONE game against Purdue. The first came in the third quarter. Garcia caught the ball on his own 37, ran to his left, then cut back to the right. That’s when he found his hole and ran down the field for a 63-yard touchdown. Woohoo!

Later in that same quarter, the Boilermakers punted to Garcia again. This time, no need for cutbacks. Garcia followed his blockers for another touchdown. This time – for 71 yards. Would you believe those were the second and third touchdowns of his OSU career?

I didn’t realize returning a punt for 2 touchdowns in one game was exceptional. Only 10 Buckeyes have ever done it, and it took their whole OSU career to make it happen. Only 6 did it in one season, and Garcia, he did it in ONE game. No one has repeated or broken his record, ever. WOW!

BTW – Garcia said there were two things he treasured from his years as a Buckeye – the punt return record, and being voted team captain his senior year. He never saw it coming, and it meant the world, because his teammates picked him.
                                                     Source: On The Lighter Side : Garcia Lane (247sports.com)
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#3. And when it comes to kicking, you’ll find Mike Nugent at the top of all the lists. Some of his records include. . . 

1. Mike kicked his way to 120 points in 2002. Think of how many field goals and extra points he had to kick to get there. It’s only been passed 4 times since he graduated in 2004.
2. He still holds the kicking record for college career points (356)
3.  Made field goals (72)
4.  Mike’s career field goal percentage (81.8%)
5. The number of 50-yard field goals in one season (5) for his career (80)
6. He holds the top two spots for field goals (25 in 2002 and 24 in 2004)
7. He made 24 field goals in a row between 2001 and 2002.
8. He became the second Buckeye to kick 5 field goals in one game.
9. Then he tied the record for perfect games in 2004 at North Carolina State. Mike made 9 perfect kicks, and 8 of them were from at least 50 yards away.  
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                                  Incredible! No wonder Mike played in the NFL from 2005 until 2020.
                             Bonus Source: Mike Nugent Stats | The Football Database (footballdb.com)


                               Game Day Saturday, November 18 - Conclusions from Ray Walker and Me
Ray Walker started his conclusions with congratulations – for making it through all 12 chapters. Yay, I did that! He also said if he’d done his job well, that I’d be filled to the brim with new facts. Sorry, Ray. There was just too much information for me to absorb and retain. But Ray did give me a lot of behind-the-scenes stories. I loved reading them, but I wish I could remember them ☹.

Ray also said his questions, answers, and stories were meant for readers to enjoy. I liked guessing the answers, but his questions, they were HARD! I even tested myself on name recognition, an extra challenge that I never quite rose to.

The hardest part of all was the range of questions. It covered ALL of Buckeye History. I know a lot, from the mid-60’s to the mid-80’s. Then my kids came along, and I lost track of my Buckeyes. I returned in the 90’s thru today. That’s a wide range of sports history to retain, and I didn’t do as well as I thought I would. 

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The Shoe: by Lectrician2 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108576037

But I did end up with the fun and Buckeye pride Ray wanted readers to have. I found it when I picked 3 stories from each chapter to write about. Now I’m even more amazed by what my Buckeyes have accomplished throughout my lifetime, and beyond.
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For my pick-3’s, I always go hunting for pictures, and it’s a trip down memory lane whether I find a picture from their OSU days, or from later on. Then I take Ray’s stories and give them a Rinda-spin . . .   by adding in my memories.
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Meet the Quarterbacks: (Chapter 3 – Calling the Signals) I know each and every one of these names, except for Les Horvath. He was before my time. Rex Kerns is the first one I remember, but I can only recall hearing his name on TV in the ’60s.

Art Schlichter is the quarterback from my college years, the ’70s. He had his ups and downs over the years, but the important thing about him – he was a Buckeye.

Craig Krenzel was playing when my baby sister was in college, the ’90s. Would you believe he went to the same church she did after they both graduated? She was impressed by his behavior. He acted like everyone else. He was just one of the church faithful, not a star quarterback.
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Game Day Saturday, November 25 -  Memories from 2 Years of OSU Triv

Today was THE GAME – the one with Michigan. They won the last 2 years, but I was hoping today would break the pattern. It didn’t ☹ Michigan won again, but only by 6 points. It could have swung the other way, but it didn’t ☹
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                  My question from last week’s post – the one I still remembered after 2 years of trivia –
                                                  What charm do OSU players get if they beat Michigan? 

Gold Pants! It makes me sad this is another year without that charm for my favorite team.
The Story: In 1934 OSU hired Francis Schmidt as head coach. When the local media got a chance to ask about that team up north, Schmidt said, “They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us.”

That’s when two Columbus businessmen formed the ‘Gold Pants Club.’ They created gold lapel pins, shaped like football pants. Each player and coach on that winning team gets a gold pin, engraved with their initials, game date, and the score.
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                                                                 What kind of trenches do football games have? 

​The one between the offensive and defensive lines. They’re manned by lineman. The offensive ones fight to keep the quarterback safe, and he fights to gain yards/first downs/touchdowns for the team. He can either hand off the ball to a running back or throw it to one of the receivers.

The defensive lineman fight to stop the quarterback. If they sack him, he loses yardage. If they stop the running backs, the offense might not get that all important first down.
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As for those receivers, there are also defensive backs who do whatever they can, within the rules (and sometimes outside them too) to stop the play. If they intercept the ball, that’s even better. It’s the only way a defensive player can EVER score a touchdown.
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​Last year the linemen failed in THE GAME, but they tightened their lines, and the Buckeyes almost beat the #1 team/national champion – Georgia. I was so proud of those linemen.

This year they were just as tough. OSU and Michigan were well matched, even with a brand-new quarterback. Kyle threw 2 interceptions, 1 near the beginning of the game. A defender caught it, and it gave Michigan a touchdown. The 2nd was the last play. Another defender caught it, and the clock ran out.

The Buckeyes lost by 6 points – the cost of that 1st interception. Many of us think the Michigan pass/touchdown, was actually intercepted. This time by the Buckeyes, but the referees refused to change the call.
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Oh well, there’s always next year . . . See you at one of the New Year’s bowls! My team is sure to accept an invitation to one of them 😊

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Game Day Friday, December 29 -  Final Memories from 2 Years of OSU Triva
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Last night was the Cotton Bowl, the last game of the 2023 season. So many changes have happened since the Michigan game. Our starting quarterback left through the transfer portal. Other players did too, or they declared for the NFL like Marvin Harrison Jr did. I miss the old days when the players finished the WHOLE season.

The Cotton Bowl didn’t end the way I hoped, but there were some bright spots . . . the defensive line was excellent. Our second-string quarterback gave his all and tried to play past an injury, but he wound up back on the sidelines.

A third-stringer who’d only thrown 5 passes wound up leading the team, in a Bowl game. Incredible! The last time that happened was with Cardale Jones. He led the Buckeyes to a national championship. Here’s to the future, whatever it brings. Life is never dull when you’re a Buckeye!

    The last trivia question is from Chapter 4 – Between the Tackles, where the running backs rule.
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#5. Eddie George and Ezekiel Elliott are tied in the record books with the most 200-yard games for the Buckeyes, with how many?       5       4       3       2

​The answer . . . 5 games. Both Eddie and Ezekiel had 5 games with over 200 yards.
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So where are they now? Eddie retired in 2006. He played for the Houston Oilers, who became the Tennessee Titans. Then he went to the Dallas Cowboys. Over his 9 years in the NFL, he rushed for 10,441 yards and scored 68 touchdowns. That’s 408 points he put on the scoreboard. Eddie was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1995 and a four-time Pro Bowler. The Titans retired Eddie’s #27, which is a huge honor, and he’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
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After Eddie retired, he went back to OSU to get his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. He earned his master’s degree in Management at Northwestern. Eddie hasn’t left football completely behind . . . he was named head coach at Tennessee State in April of 2021, and this is him in 2022. 

Bonus Source: Ohio State's Eddie George Named Pro Football Hall Of Fame Semifinalist - Sports Illustrated Ohio State Buckeyes News, Analysis and More

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As for Ezekiel, he’s still playing. He started with the Dallas Cowboys in 2016. He was an instant star. He was the NFL’s top rusher as a rookie, and players ranked him at #7 in the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2017. Not bad for a beginner!

Ezekiel remained a Top 100 Player for the next 3 years, through 2020. He played for the Cowboys for 6 years, through the end of the 2022 season. In 2021 Ezekiel began dealing with knee and ankle injuries, including a torn ligament in his knee during Week 4, but he refused to sit on the sidelines. He’d play one last season as a Cowboy before they released him in March of 2023.
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Ezekiel signed a one-year contract with a new team in August, the New England Patriots. He ran third down and red zone plays behind one of the starters. I don’t know where he’ll land in 2024, but I wish him well as a running back, and in life after football. I hope the best is yet to come for him.

                                                                  Bonus Source: Ezekiel Elliott - Wikipedia

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