COLUMBUS — The best Ohio State team I’ve ever seen was trailing at the half and staring down a third loss in the third week of October. A team featuring seven future first-round picks and a future Heisman Trophy winner lost to Texas in Week 2 and Penn State in Week 6, and in Week 7 was trailing a mediocre Michigan State team that wound up with a losing record,
Troy Smith got booed in the Shoe that day.
I’ve always cited the 2005 Buckeyes, who finished 10-2 with losses only to the team that won the national title and the team that finished No. 3 in the final AP poll, as maybe the best team I’ve covered. They combined the offensive playmakers of the 2006 team that went through the regular season No. 1, with a veteran defense led by three defenders drafted in the Top 18 of the 2006 draft.
When I think of that team, I think of the close calls in two tight losses and I think of what could have been. I usually forget that Ohio State fell behind the Spartans by 10 points in the first half, lost four fumbles during the game, and didn’t take the lead for good until Smith hit Santonio Holmes with a 46-yard TD pass with less than five minutes to play.
That team was awesome — and almost 3-3.