That's a shocking statistic. I always knew his success was massive outside of a certain couple games. I just didn't realize it was that massive.
To understand Cooper you have to divide his tenure into phases:
Phase 1 was his first five years. He went 0-4-1 against Michigan and obviously Ohio State fans hated that but the problem wasn't "Michigan" it was that the team just wasn't very good. The Buckeyes were the underdogs in all five games and only the 1991 loss was bad (31-3) but even that makes some sense in context. Ohio State played a crap OOC, lost to Illinois, lost to Iowa, lost The Game and the Bowl and finished 8-4. Michigan's OOC was MUCH better. They split games against high powered FSU and Note Dame teams and finished 10-2 with their only other loss being in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State didn't get blown out in Ann Arbor because Cooper had a "Michigan problem", they got blown out in Ann Arbor because Michigan was a substantially better team. In the 1988, 1989, and 1990 losses the Buckeyes actually performed better than you would expect given how much better those three Michigan teams were compared to those three Ohio State teams.
Phase 2 was his golden era, 1993-1998. His teams were great and his recruiting was even better but in spite of that he was terrible against Michigan and almost as bad in bowl games. It actually probably started in mid-October of 1992. The Buckeyes started 1992 3-2/0-2 but then things changed. They rattled off five straight wins to get to 8-2/5-2 and headed into The Game ranked #17. They tied the Wolverines in what most Michigan fans refer to as "the year of the tie" because Michigan also tied Notre Dame and Illinois. Michigan won the Rose Bowl and finished #5 so tying them was something of an accomplishment although it obviously wasn't the great win that E. Gordon Gee (the "K" is silent) referred to it as. Even the bowl loss in 1992 wasn't bad. The Buckeyes got matched up with Georgia in the Citrus Bowl and it was a mismatch. Georgia came in 10-2 and #8 while Ohio State was 8-2-1 and #15. That may sound close but it wasn't. Ohio State's two losses were to ~.500 Wisconsin and Illinois teams while Georgia's were to Tennessee and Florida who both finished in the top-12. In spite of the mismatch it was a great game and Ohio State lost by a TD, 21-14.
The 1993 season was my freshman year at Ohio State so I remember it well. They started out at only #17 because they hadn't done much in years (decades really). In one of the games that year they had a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the 1968 National Championship team and it really looked like the 1993 team might accomplish that as well. They won eight straight to get to 8-0 and #3 then tied Wisconsin in Madison and headed into The Game at 9-0-1 and very much in the NC picture at #5. We all know what happened in The Game although Cooper finally got the bowl win monkey off his back with a win over BYU in the Holiday Bowl.
1994 was a bit of a rebuilding year. They lost a west coast OOC game, lost at home to Illinois, and got obliterated in Happy Valley but Cooper finally got the Michigan monkey off his back (or so we thought). Oddly he did it against a superior Michigan team and in style, 22-6! The bowl was a terrible mismatch. Ohio State was 9-3 and #13 and played 11-1 #6 Alabama. Bama's only loss was by one point to the Gators in the SECCG and Ohio State kept that close as well, losing by a TD at 24-17.
1995 was a great team. They started #12 but rattled off 11 straight wins and climbed to #2 heading into The Game. We all know how that worked out. The Buckeyes finished #6 after losing yet another Citrus Bowl, this time to Tennessee (the "cleats" game).
1996 was a near-repeat of 1995. This time they were 10-0 and #2 heading into The Game and this time they won the bowl to finish 11-1 and #2.
1997 was a bit of a rebuilding year but even in a rebuilding year they pushed PSU to the brink in Happy Valley and give Michigan their closest game in Ann Arbor so it wasn't bad.
The 1998 team actually beat Michigan AND won their bowl, the only Cooper team to accomplish both of those things but unfortunately it was squandered by a completely inexplicable loss to a .500 MSU team in Columbus. The MSU coach was some guy named Nick Saban so I guess that answers the "inexplicable" thing.
Phase 3 was after 1998. Cooper was still there but it was over. I think he was just tired. I don't know. 1999 was a rebuilding year but when 2000 wasn't much better that was the end of the road.
The thing he will always be known for is going 2-10-1 against the team up north but it is really just about three games:
- 1993 as #5, would have gone to the RB to play for the NC with a win.
- 1995 as #2. I'm not sure what happens with a win. Northwestern went undefeated in the league but lost OOC to Miami, OH. I'm not sure if the operative tiebreaker would have been overall record or "longest loser rule". Either way, the Buckeyes would have been playing for the NC in their bowl.
- 1996 as #2, would have gone to the RB to play for the NC with a win. They went to the RB anyway and DID win it so this is the closest to a NC that he got.
It is amazing how different the view of Cooper would be if he had just won those three games. He still would have had a losing record against Michigan at 5-7-1 but he'd have been 5-3-1 after losing the first four partially due to inheriting the consequences of Bruce's recruiting. He'd have also had at least one (1996) and possibly as many as three NCs and he'd be an absolute legend in Columbus.
