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 with an Auburn wake-up call. It is 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 was lay motionless on the ground. After about four minutes 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 on 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 TDs and ran for another to take a 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 the game MVP hitting on 16 of 22 pass attempts for 141 yards and 3 TD and ran for one. Stacey Danley picked up 85 yards on 20 carries.