On This Date: 1978 (7)Clemson- 17 (20)Ohio State- 15

Dec 29, 2020, 8:55 AM

12/29/1978
Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, FL

Clemson- 17, Ohio St.- 15
by: Dan Hope
Independent Mail

The 1978 Gator Bowl between Clemson and Ohio State marked the end of one coaching career and the beginning of another.

The first-ever meeting between the Tigers and the Buckeyes still lives in infamy 38 years later. Ohio State coach Woody Hayes threw a punch at Clemson defensive tackle Charlie Bauman on the sideline after Bauman intercepted a pass late in the fourth quarter. Ohio State fired Hayes the next day, and the five-time national champion never coached another college football game.

Clemson didn’t think much of the punch at the time. Bauman told Orange and White in 2003 that it was “no big deal.” Tigers coach Danny Ford didn’t even know it happened until the next morning.

Instead, Clemson was focused on celebrating its 17-15 win, which came in Ford’s first game as a head coach and set the stage for Clemson football to reach a new level of success.

“A lot of people that were from Ohio State ... they didn’t know where Clemson was,” Ford said. “(The win) showed people where Clemson was. It did a lot of things for Clemson, for the university and our football team and ourselves as coaches and our alumni.”

Going into the 1978 Gator Bowl, Clemson hadn’t won a bowl game since its 23-7 win over TCU in the 1959 Bluebonnet Bowl. Clemson played in the 1977 Gator Bowl, but suffered a 34-3 loss to Pittsburgh.

Ford, meanwhile, was less than three weeks into his tenure leading Clemson’s football program. He came to Clemson in 1977 as the offensive line coach, but was promoted to head coach before the Gator Bowl when Charley Pell resigned to become head coach at Florida.

Preparing to play in a bowl game while getting acclimated to his new gig, putting together a coaching staff and recruiting meant a hectic December for Ford.

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“We had a lot to get done,” Ford said. “Being short one or two coaches, getting back on the road, getting recruiting, going back to the Shrine Bowl and trying to pick up where we left off.”

Despite those challenges, Ford was able to lead Clemson to a win over Ohio State and one of college football’s legendary coaches.

Both teams scored two touchdowns and one field goal, but a blocked extra point by Clemson in the first half ended up making the difference. Ohio State quarterback Art Schlichter’s attempt to run for a game-tying two-point conversion with 8:11 left in the game was stopped by Clemson defensive end Jim Stuckey, and neither team scored after that. The Buckeyes reached the 24-yard line on their final offensive possession, but Bauman’s interception sealed a Tigers victory.

Playing in his final game for the Tigers, Clemson quarterback Steve Fuller completed nine of 20 passing attempts for 123 yards, while he also ran the ball 17 times for 38 yards and a touchdown. Fuller scored his touchdown on a 4-yard run in the second quarter, while freshman running back Cliff Austin scored a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter.

Defensively, Clemson linebacker Bubba Brown recorded 22 tackles, which remains the school record for tackles in a bowl game.

The win was Clemson’s 11th win of the 1978 season, which set a single-season school record at the time. While the Tigers went only 8-4 in 1979 after losing Steve Fuller and many other key players from the 1978 team, Ford went on to win 96 of his 129 career games as Clemson’s coach, and led Clemson to its only national championship to date in 1981.

Ford considered the win over Ohio State to be a launching pad for the success he and the Tigers would achieve over the next decade.

“That certainly changed the attitude of Clemson from the year before when we played so poorly against Pittsburgh and they played so well against us and beat us, kind of embarrassed us on TV,” Ford said. “The success our football team had in our record years, I think that started right there.”

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on that foggy evening in late December.

Besides the Clemson win, the thing everyone remembers most is the punch delivered by Woody Hayes to Wally Bauman after he intercepted Schlichter.

As the years have passed, I have learned that Woody Hayes actions were not at all unusual. In fact, his temper was legendary. He had a history of cursing at referees, destroying equipment, assaulting journalists as well as many of his own players.

We were seated in the corner of the end zone where Obed Ariri kicked the 47 yard field goal that put Clemson up 10-9 just before the half. When Bauman intercepted Schlichter late in the second half, we saw the play and the ensuing melee but had no idea what actually happened.

After the teams were separated, Ohio State was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Our first thought was that an Ohio State player must have hit Bauman late while he was out of bounds.

After the penalty was assessed, Hayes walked onto the field and continued yelling at the officials and was given another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Fuller and the Clemson offense were then able to run out the clock and the team carried Coach Ford off the field.

We had no idea what actually happened until we read about it in the paper the following morning. I still have the copy of the Florida Times-Union. I bought it as we were walking into a Shoney's for breakfast before heading back to South Carolina.

Of course, Hayes was fired before the team plane landed back in Columbus.

On This Date: 1978 (7)Clemson- 17 (20)Ohio State- 15

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