Ohio State Comes Back in Record Fashion to Win Rose Bowl

The January 1st, 2022 Rose Bowl game was the 16th in Ohio State history, and will go down in Buckeye lore as one of the more memorable. OSU’s opponent was Utah, winner of the Pac-12, and making its first appearance in the Rose Bowl.

At the outset, it looked like Ohio State was going to follow the lead of fellow Big Ten rival Michigan, who was blown out on New Year’s Eve by Georgia in the College Football Championship semifinal game at the Orange Bowl. Utah took a 14-0 1st quarter lead. Each team scored three touchdowns in the 2nd quarter, beginning with Ohio State and alternating every other one after that. But the net result was still a 14 point Utah lead at halftime at 35-21.

Ohio State got to within a touchdown at the 11:20 mark of the 3rd quarter on Marvin Harrison, Jr’s 2nd touchdown reception of the game. The two teams traded field goals after that and it was 38-31 Utah going into the 4th quarter. The Buckeyes tied the score on Harrison’s third touchdown reception with 10:12 left in the 4th quarter, and with 4:22 remaining, Ohio State took the lead for the first time on a touchdown reception by Jaxon Smith Njigba, who, like Harrison, had three touchdown catches. It was 45-38.

But Utah wasn’t finished. Backup quarterback Dalton Kincaid, who had taken over when starter Cameron Rising was injured earlier in the quarter, threw a 15 yard touchdown pass to Bryson Barnes with 1:54 left to tie it at 45-45. Buckeye quarterback C.J. Stroud then drove Ohio State 56 yards on seven plays, culminating with a Noah Ruggles’ field goal with nine seconds left to give OSU a 48-45 victory.

As might be expected in a game with 93 points and 1146 total yards, several records were set. Stroud threw for 573 yards and six touchdowns, both Rose Bowl records. Smith-Njigba’s 347 receiving yards were the most in bowl game history and are also an Ohio State record. His, and Harrison’s three touchdown receptions tied the Rose Bowl record. Smith-Njigba’s 15 receptions were also a Rose Bowl record.