According to Google Maps it’s a 270.8 mile drive from Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend to Ohio Stadium in Columbus. A drive that takes four hours and 19 minutes which isn’t just down the street but is nothing when it comes to a road trip for a college football team or its fans.
Especially when you consider those two college football squads are among the most historic in the game and have two of the most passionate fan bases in all of sports, not just college football.
But throughout time Notre Dame and Ohio State have met on the football field just six times ever. Of those six games, two have been played at Notre Dame Stadium, two have been played at Ohio Stadium, and the other two have taken place in the Fiesta Bowl.
Unless you live under a rock then you’re aware Notre Dame opens the 2022 season at Ohio State before the Buckeyes make the return trip to South Bend late next September.
Before this underplayed series resumes on Labor Day weekend, here is a look back at the brief history Notre Dame and Ohio State have shared on the football field.
1935: Notre Dame’s first “Game of the Century”
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
5-0 Notre Dame hit the road to take on 4-0 Ohio State in the November 2 showdown and the game didn’t disappoint. The Irish offense stalled early as Ohio State built a 13-0 halftime lead. After a scoreless third quarter, Andy Pilney returned a punt to the Ohio State 13-yard line to set up the first score of the day for the Irish.
Pilney connected on a 15-yard pass to Mike Layden to narrow the Ohio State lead to 13-12 before a forced fumble set up a short field for the Irish as Will Shakespeare found Wayne Millner for the eventual game-winning score.
Notre Dame would ultimately finish the year 7-1-1 in Elmer Layden’s second season as head coach.
1936: First meeting in South Bend
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
The first meeting between the two at Notre Dame Stadium didn’t feature the same hype as the 1935 battle as Notre Dame had lost to Pitt the week previous and Ohio State was 2-2 going into the Halloween day showdown. It was a game that only a midwesterner could love as the wind and rain howled in what resulted in a 7-2 Notre Dame victory over the Buckeyes in what was played in front of a then-record Notre Dame Stadium crowd of 50,000 fans.
Notre Dame has no beat Ohio State since.
1995: Eddie George’s huge day helps build Heisman resume
Photo by Fred Squillante
60 years after their first trip to Columbus, Notre Dame…