BUCKEYES IN HISTORY Ohio State flirts with No. 1, but keeps coming up short

The Buckeyes' last undisputed national championship came after the 1969 Rose Bowl.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Ohio State's traditions over the past three decades have included Script Ohio, three yards and a cloud of dust -- and a lot of regrets.
Since winning the 1969 Rose Bowl to finish No. 1, Ohio State has flirted with a national championship nine times and has failed at every turn.
Ohio State's 10th shot comes tonight when the No. 2 Buckeyes take on No. 1 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
A parade of former players and coaches has addressed those missed opportunities in talks to the team over the past few weeks.
"They all said that opportunities like this only come once in a lifetime and you don't want to look back 20 years from now and say, 'What if?' " tight end Ben Hartsock said Wednesday.
Is Ohio State -- a 13-point underdog to the Hurricanes -- yet another disappointment or a team of destiny?
"We came awfully close in the last decade and never quite got there, lost that one game somewhere along the way," athletic director Andy Geiger said. "But this team has kept its focus and has kept doing the things that it has needed to do to win the game.
"They made the plays they needed to make. Some can say it's luck, but when it keeps happening I think it's more than luck," Geiger said.
Huge hole
Archie Griffin knows something about luck and destiny. The only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice, the former Ohio State tailback still aches because his resume has a huge hole in it.
"I always said I'd give up a Heisman Trophy for a national championship," said Griffin, Geiger's top assistant in the athletic department. "That's the honest to goodness truth because that's what I wanted more than anything."
Three times during his career, Griffin came close but didn't win a championship.
He is reminded of it even at family gatherings. His youngest brother, Keith, chose not to follow in the footsteps of the three older Griffin boys by going to Ohio State. He went to Miami. It is Keith -- and none of his older brothers -- who has a national championship ring.
"When he came home for Thanksgiving, he had his Miami hat and was wearing it proud," Archie said with a rueful laugh.
Last time
The last time the Buckeyes had a national championship riding on a single game was the 1980 Rose Bowl. A year earlier, the venerated Woody Hayes had his 28-year coaching career come to an ugly end when he was fired for punching a Clemson player in the final minutes of the Gator Bowl.
Ohio State picked Earle Bruce, a former Hayes lieutenant and the head coach at Iowa State, to take his place.
The Buckeyes responded with a remarkable season behind sophomore quarterback Art Schlichter and a defense that gave up more than one touchdown in only four games. They finished the regular season 11-0 and No. 1 in the nation and met No. 3 Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl.
The Trojans featured reigning (Charles White) and future (Marcus Allen) Heisman winners and stars such as Anthony Munoz, Brad Budde and Ronnie Lott.
The Buckeyes took the opening kickoff and drove to a fourth and 1 deep in USC territory. Bruce decided to go for the first down rather than take a sure three points from place-kicker Vlade Janakievski.
Twenty-three years have passed, and Bruce, recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, still second-guesses himself.
"The thing that you always say after you lose something like that: What if? What if? The 'what if' for me is what if we would have gone for a field goal on the first drive?" Bruce said. "If we would have got three points there, they might not have had the opportunity to come back and beat us at the end."
Quarterback Paul McDonald and White led an 80-yard march in the fourth quarter that resulted in the tying touchdown. Eric Hipp's extra-point kick gave USC a 17-16 win.
1973
When Griffin was a sophomore in 1973, the only blemish on the Buckeyes' record was a 10-10 tie at No. 4 Michigan that dropped Ohio State out of the No. 1 spot.
Even a 42-21 dismantling of Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl couldn't get the second-ranked Buckeyes around Notre Dame in the polls.
In 1974, Ohio State was No. 3 and could have captured the national title with a win over No. 5 USC in the Rose Bowl but lost 18-17.
The Buckeyes were No. 1 most of the 1975 season and met UCLA -- a team they had pummeled 41-20 on their home field three months earlier -- in the Rose Bowl.
"Oh, man, that last one, that's the most disappointing," Griffin said. "It was in our hands."
UCLA's stunning 23-10 reversal ended Griffin's college career.
1995
No. 2 Ohio State won its first 11 games in 1995 and was a heavy favorite at No. 12 Michigan. The Buckeyes had a Heisman tailback again, Eddie George.
But Michigan's Tim Biakabutuka rushed for a school-record 313 yards in the Wolverines' stunning 31-23 upset.
A year later the Buckeyes again won every game until they played Michigan. Again they were No. 2. Again they were heavily favored and playing before a home crowd against the No. 21-ranked Wolverines.
They dominated most of the game, but fell 13-9. The play of the game came when Brian Griese threw a short slant pass to Tai Streets that became a 69-yard touchdown. All-American cornerback Shawn Springs slipped on a muddy spot to open the door for Streets.
In 1998, the Buckeyes were No. 1 all season until falling 26-24 at home to unranked Michigan State, blowing a 24-9 second-half lead and failing on four passes into the end zone at the end.
"Somehow to get that national championship, you've got to be able to get over that hump," Griffin said. "I can't tell you why we haven't."