Ohio State defends the belt, 16–13, at home over San Diego State.
AP poll, week 3: San Diego State unranked at Ohio State No. 2 · No. 1 that week: NC State. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Ohio State came in 246 days into reign #254, which began with a win over Miami, with one defense already behind it; this was its second defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 3 more times before Wisconsin took it on October 11, 2003, 281 days after the reign began.
For San Diego State this was its 4th shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 4 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.
This is the only time Ohio State and San Diego State have met with the belt on the line.
About this game
Ohio State defeated San Diego State 16-13 on September 6, 2003 in Week 3 of the regular season. As the belt's defending holder, Ohio State kept the belt with the victory.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 14:55 | Ohio State | +14 yd | Craig Krenzel (OSU) pass right side intercepted by Jacob Elimimian (SDSU). Returned for 14 yards. |
| Q1 13:49 | San Diego State | +11 yd | Matt Dlugolecki (SDSU) pass across the middle complete to Wesley Williams (SDSU) for a 11 yard touchdown. |
| Q1 13:49 | San Diego State | +0 yd | Extra point by J.C. Mejia (SDSU) is good. |
| Q1 9:58 | Ohio State | +38 yd | 38 yard field goal by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q1 6:54 | San Diego State | -100 yd | Matt Dlugolecki (SDSU) pass right side intercepted by Will Allen (OSU). Returned for a 100 yard touchdown. |
| Q1 6:54 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Extra point by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q1 6:36 | Ohio State | +27 yd | Kickoff returned by Kyle Conerly (SDSU) for 27 yards. |
| Q1 5:52 | San Diego State | +19 yd | Matt Dlugolecki (SDSU) pass right side intercepted by Robert Reynolds (OSU). Returned for 19 yards. |
| Q1 3:38 | Ohio State | +32 yd | 32 yard field goal by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q2 13:45 | San Diego State | +0 yd | Aztecs fumble by Devin Pitts (SDSU), recovered by Brandon Mitchell (OSU), returned for no gain. |
| Q2 11:14 | Ohio State | +21 yd | Craig Krenzel (OSU) pass left side complete to Drew Carter (OSU) for 21 yards. |
| Q3 10:55 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Buckeyes fumble by Craig Krenzel (OSU), recovered by Brandon Rager (SDSU), returned for no gain. |
| Q3 9:22 | San Diego State | +47 yd | 47 yard field goal by J.C. Mejia (SDSU) is good. |
| Q3 9:17 | San Diego State | +27 yd | Kickoff returned by Maurice Hall (OSU) for 27 yards. |
| Q3 5:50 | San Diego State | +20 yd | Matt Dlugolecki (SDSU) pass across the middle complete to Robert Ortiz (SDSU) for 20 yards. |
| Q3 5:15 | Ohio State | +30 yd | Craig Krenzel (OSU) pass across the middle complete to Ryan Hamby (OSU) for 30 yards. |
| Q3 5:15 | Ohio State | +34 yd | Maurice Hall (OSU) rushed up the middle for 34 yards. |
| Q3 1:05 | Ohio State | +28 yd | 28 yard field goal by Mike Nugent (OSU) is no good. |
| Q4 15:00 | San Diego State | +0 yd | Aztecs fumble by Jeffrey Webb (SDSU), recovered by David Patterson (OSU), returned for no gain. |
| Q4 13:27 | Ohio State | +35 yd | 35 yard field goal by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q4 11:12 | San Diego State | +45 yd | 45 yard field goal by J.C. Mejia (SDSU) is good. |
| Q4 8:26 | San Diego State | +0 yd | Aztecs fumble by Matt Dlugolecki (SDSU), recovered by Matt Dlugolecki (SDSU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q4 4:25 | Ohio State | +20 yd | Punt by B.J. Sander (OSU) returned 20 yards by Kyle Conerly (SDSU) to the Aztecs 35. |
| Q4 4:05 | San Diego State | +24 yd | Matt Dlugolecki (SDSU) pass across the middle complete to Devin Pitts (SDSU) for 24 yards. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 232490194) · This game in the downloadable dataset