Ohio State defends the belt, 24–17, at home over Bowling Green.
AP poll, week 5: Bowling Green unranked at Ohio State No. 5 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Ohio State came in 260 days into reign #254, which began with a win over Miami, with 3 defenses already behind it; this was its 4th defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 1 more time before Wisconsin took it on October 11, 2003, 281 days after the reign began.
For Bowling Green this was its 2nd shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 3 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.
It was the first of 2 meetings between the two with the belt on the line; all-time Ohio State leads 2–0.
About this game
Ohio State defeated Bowling Green 24-17 on September 20, 2003, in a regular season week 5 matchup. As the defending belt holder, Ohio State retained 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 11:59 | Ohio State | +22 yd | Scott McMullen (OSU) pass across the middle complete to Ryan Hamby (OSU) for 22 yards. |
| Q1 10:55 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Buckeyes fumble by Michael Jenkins (OSU), recovered by Mitch Hewitt (BGSU), returned for no gain. |
| Q1 9:24 | Bowling Green | +5 yd | Josh Harris (BGSU) pass across the middle intercepted by Dustin Fox (OSU). Returned for 5 yards. |
| Q1 6:09 | Ohio State | +7 yd | Scott McMullen (OSU) pass right side complete to Drew Carter (OSU) for a 7 yard touchdown. |
| Q1 6:09 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Extra point by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q1 2:17 | Bowling Green | +7 yd | Josh Harris (BGSU) pass across the middle complete to Cornelius McGrady (BGSU) for a 7 yard touchdown. |
| Q1 2:17 | Bowling Green | +0 yd | Extra point by Shaun Suisham (BGSU) is good. |
| Q1 1:42 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Buckeyes fumble by Maurice Hall (OSU), recovered by Will Teague (BGSU), returned for no gain. |
| Q2 14:25 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Buckeyes fumble by Scott McMullen (OSU), recovered by Scott McMullen (OSU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q2 13:24 | Bowling Green | +0 yd | Falcons fumble by Josh Harris (BGSU), recovered by Simon Fraser (OSU), returned for no gain. |
| Q2 13:24 | Ohio State | +47 yd | 47 yard field goal by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q2 13:24 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Buckeyes fumble by Scott McMullen (OSU), recovered by Ben Hartsock (OSU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q2 2:48 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Extra point by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q2 2:48 | Ohio State | +33 yd | Lydell Ross (OSU) rushed up the middle for a 33 yard touchdown. |
| Q3 14:30 | Ohio State | +38 yd | Scott McMullen (OSU) pass left side intercepted by Janssen Patton (BGSU). Returned for 38 yards. |
| Q3 13:14 | Bowling Green | +3 yd | Josh Harris (BGSU) pass right side intercepted by A.J. Hawk (OSU). Returned for 3 yards. |
| Q3 11:28 | Bowling Green | +0 yd | Falcons fumble by Josh Harris (BGSU), recovered by Josh Harris (BGSU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q4 9:24 | Ohio State | +3 yd | Lydell Ross (OSU) rushed left side for a 3 yard touchdown. |
| Q4 9:24 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Extra point by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q4 11:05 | Ohio State | +47 yd | Scott McMullen (OSU) pass across the middle complete to Michael Jenkins (OSU) for 47 yards. |
| Q4 6:49 | Bowling Green | +0 yd | Falcons fumble by B.J. Lane (BGSU), recovered by B.J. Lane (BGSU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q4 3:31 | Bowling Green | +25 yd | Josh Harris (BGSU) pass across the middle complete to Cole Magner (BGSU) for a 25 yard touchdown. |
| Q4 3:31 | Bowling Green | +0 yd | Extra point by Shaun Suisham (BGSU) is good. |
| Q4 2:19 | Bowling Green | +33 yd | 33 yard field goal by Shaun Suisham (BGSU) is good. |
| Q4 1:34 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Buckeyes fumble by Lydell Ross (OSU), recovered by Lydell Ross (OSU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q4 0:15 | Bowling Green | +8 yd | Josh Harris (BGSU) pass left side intercepted by Will Allen (OSU). Returned for 8 yards. |
| Q4 0:31 | Bowling Green | +28 yd | Josh Harris (BGSU) pass across the middle complete to Cole Magner (BGSU) for 28 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 232630194) · This game in the downloadable dataset