Jack Park, a leading Ohio State football historian, checks in each week during the college football season with a retrospective about the Buckeyes.
Ohio State completed its 1978 season in the Gator Bowl against seventh-ranked Clemson, champion of the Athletic Coast Conference. The 20th-ranked Buckeyes entered the December 29 game with a record of 7-3-1, the Tigers were 10-1. It was the first meeting between the two, and interestingly Clemson was a two-point favorite.
A crowd of 72,011 attended the Friday evening contest. Clemson drove 80 yards for the game’s first touchdown midway through the second quarter to put the Tigers on top, 7-3, after Bob Atha’s 27-yard field goal had staked Ohio State to an early 3-0 lead late in the first period.