Buckeyes remember OT kick

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey thought his prayers had been answered. Long-snapper Jake McQuaide worried about an earlier miss that would have eliminated the need for this overtime field goal.

Linebacker Ross Homan was just relieved that a long, difficult day was finally over.

Devin Barclay’s 39-yard field goal in overtime gave the 10th-ranked Buckeyes a dramatic 27-24 victory over No. 15 Iowa a year ago to boot the Buckeyes all the way to the Rose Bowl.

The two teams meet again on Saturday, with the stakes just as high. No one has forgotten the nail-biter in the gathering darkness in Ohio Stadium on Nov. 14, 2009.

Ohio State, needing a victory to clinch at least a Big Ten title tie and a berth in the Rose Bowl, built a 24-10 lead on touchdown runs by Dan “Boom” Herron and Brandon Saine early in the fourth quarter. The celebration in the stands had already begun.

Iowa, despite being without starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi, refused to buckle.

“Man, it was a really a fight. It was a four-plus-quarter fight,” Homan said. “It was back and forth. They make a play, we make a play. You couldn’t let down for a play. You had to play every play 100 percent or else you were going to lose the game.”

Ahead by two touchdowns with under 11 minutes left, fans started chanting, “Rose Bowl!”

The Hawkeyes would have none of that.

“We kind of thought we had the game sealed up,” said defensive lineman Dexter Larimore. “And then all of a sudden — boom! — they return a kick and we get a three-and-out and they’ve got the ball back and they’re tying the score up.”

After Saine’s touchdown, Iowa’s Derrell Johnson-Koulianos returned the kickoff 99 yards.

With a crowd of 105,455 howling on every snap, the Buckeyes picked up a first down and set up for a 47-yard field goal by Barclay, in just his second game as the kicker.