The last time Les and The Vest met
In an article written by Kyle Nagel from the Dayton Daily News, it was suggested that Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel and LSU head coach Les Miles may have played against each other when Tressel’s Berea High School team took on Elyria in a scrimmage back in 1968.
That year, Tressel was a sophomore quarterback for the Braves, and Miles, who is one year younger, was an the offensive lineman for the Pioneers.
It was the only instance that both met on the football field as players, since Tressel attended Baldwin-Wallace and played quarterback of his father, Lee.
Miles was a two-year starter under legendary coach Bo Schembechler at Michigan from 1974-75.
The two have met once before on the gridiron as competitors, though not as players, but as opposing head coaches.
In December of 2004, Tressel was in his fourth-year as head coach at Ohio State. Miles on the other hand, was in his fourth and final year at the helm of Oklahoma State when the Buckeyes and the Cowboys squared off in the Alamo Bowl.
It was Miles’ last game before taking over for Nick Saban at LSU.
Digging up the archives, here’s the game recap that I wrote on the Alamo Bowl when Buckeye Banter was known as Scarlet & Gray Today, and it was one of several blogs on my first web site, All-Sports Ohio:
Buckeyes young guns shoot down Cowboys
By: Matt Barker, Editor of ASO
December 30, 2004
Last night, it appeared that the Ohio State Buckeyes football team was on a mission. It was fitting then to be carrying out this mission in San Antonio, Texas, home of the Alamo Bowl.
Ohio State dominated every aspect of the game as the Buckeyes routed the Oklahoma State Cowboys 33-7 in front of a sellout-crowd of 65,265 inside the Alamodome.
Oklahoma State seemed demoralized after quarterback Donovan Woods was intercepted by Buckeyes’ linebacker Bobby Carpenter on the third play of the game. Woods never saw Carpenter who hauled in the pass and ran nine yards to the Cowboys’ 28 yard line.
It would not take long for the Buckeyes to score. Just three plays later, Justin Zwick, who started in place of suspended Troy Smith at quarterback, lobbed a pass to a sliding Anthony Gonzalez just inside the goal line for a 23-yard touchdown, putting the Buckeyes ahead 7-0 with 12:02 remaining in the opening period.
Ohio State’s swarming defense forced the Cowboys to a three-and-out on their next possession. Thanks to a 17-yard punt, Ohio State started out at the Cowboys’ 41 yard line.
On the very first play, Ginn beat his defender deep and was wide-open in the corner of the end zone. But cornerback Danie McLemore dragged down Ginn not allowing him to make the catch, and the Cowboys’ were penalized 15 yards for pass interference.
After three offensive plays that gained seven yards, Mike Nugent came in and split the uprights from 37-yards away to make the score 10-0 with 9:53 left to play in the first quarter.
Oklahoma State’s Woods gave the Buckeyes another gift when the Cowboys got the football back, fumbling as he tried to avoid the strong pass rush. Defensive tackle Joel Penton recovered for Ohio State at the Oklahoma State 48 yard line.
But the Buckeyes had to settle on a 35-yard field goal by Nugent. Key play of the drive was on a third-and-12 from the Oklahoma State 27. Ginn, at quarterback after Zwick suffered a pulled hamstring earlier in the quarter, took off around the right end and turned up field. He was clipped up from behind, though if not, he would have scored easily. The field goal put the Buckeyes ahead 13-0.
After both teams were not be able to move the ball much and after three consecutive punts, Ohio State started out at the Oklahoma State 22 yard line with 14:20 left in the first half.
After three rushing plays by fullback Branden Joe that gained 17 yards, Zwick connected with split end Santonio Holmes for a gain of 10. The next play showed the speed and talent of Ginn.
On a screen pass to Ginn out in the left flat toward the near-sideline, it appeared that he was pinned in by the Cowboy defense for a short gain.
But Ginn broke loose and headed toward the far-sideline and was eventually pushed out-of-bounds at the 9-yard line after a gain of 42. Three plays later, senior running back Lydell Ross would not be denied as he dove in from the 1, putting the Buckeyes ahead 20-0.
Nugent later added a 41-yard field goal to put Ohio State up 23-0 heading into halftime.
Oklahoma State caught the first break of the second half when Branden Joe coughed up the pigskin on Ohio State’s first play from scrimmage. The Cowboys recovered the loose ball at the Buckeyes’ 33.
Oklahoma State could not capitalize to the turnover, however, after driving down the the Ohio State 6-yard line. Faced with a fourth-and-goal, the Cowboys lined up in field-goal formation. The snap went to the holder John Wohlgemuth, a senior wide receiver, who ran around the left end and was chased out-of-bounds by Quinn Pitcock and Anthony Schlegel for no gain on the fake.
Ohio State put the final nail into the coffin by going 94 yards in nine plays on their next possession. The bulk of that yardage came from runs of 16 and 27 yards by Ross, the latter put the Buckeyes’ inside Cowboy territory. On the very next play, Ginn took the snap and ran around the right side of the defense for a gain of 28.
Five plays later, Ginn took the snap again from shotgun formation and darted through the middle of the Cowboys’ porous defense for a five-yard touchdown scamper with 8:13 remaining in the third quarter that gave Ohio State a 30-0 advantage.
Nugent later added another field goal from 37 yards out to make the score 33-0 with 10:44 left to play in the game.
Oklahoma State eventually scored on their next possession, nullifying the shutout for the Buckeyes. It came against Ohio State’s second team defense, when running back Shaun Willis ran it in from the 4-yard line.
