Game Summary - January 1, 1990
Auburn 31, Ohio State 14
Before a record crowd of 68,085 9th ranked Auburn faced No. 21 Ohio State in the bowl's second SEC vs Big Ten dual.
The Buckeyes got on the board first with a 1-yard plunge by Carlos Snow and took an early 14-3 lead after Greg Frey connected with Brian Stablein from 9 yards out. The momentum changed abruptly however, with an Auburn wake-up call. Known as "The Hit" by those who saw it, as Auburn's Stacy Danley drifted out of the backfield on a screen pass play, Buckeyes safety Zack Dumas leveled him with a devastating hit. Danley lay motionless on the field for almost four minutes. Then he finally got up and walked off the field, pointing back at the OSU players. "When we saw that hit and what it did to Stacy, it woke us up," said LB Quentin Riggins.
From that point forward the Tigers were a different team and just before halftime Tiger QB Reggie Slack connected on a 11-yard TD pass to Greg Taylor with 11 seconds to play to make it a four point game.
The Tigers continued the pressure in the second half scoring on their first three possessions as Slack threw for two more touchdowns and ran for another for a Tigers 31-14 lead. Ohio State would penetrate the Auburn 38 yard line only once the rest of the game, only to end the threat with an interception.
Slack was voted the game MVP connecting on 16 of 22 pass attempts for 141 yards and 3 TDs and ran for another score. Stacey Danley picked up 85 yards on 20 carries.