By Michael Amman (uweekly.com) –

John Cooper was recently accepted into the College Football Hall of Fame, which is probably likely to raise a few eyebrows from Buckeye fans who feel that his was a period of shame for the Scarlet and Gray. The John Cooper era was marked with great success on the macro scale, but featured what a lot of fans consider an unforgivable 2-10-1 record against Michigan, as well as a disappointing 3-7 record in bowls (3-8 counting the game they lost after he was fired). Here at UWeekly, we have decided that it wasn’t all bad during that time. Sure, we’ve done better before and we’re certainly doing better now, but we shouldn’t let that ruin the good times we had during the ‘90s. Hell, most of the students here have their first Buckeye memories during Cooper’s tenure. Put on some Counting Crows and drink some Squeeze-Its, because we’re counting down the 10 best reasons not to hate the ‘90s.

The Neutron Man

The Neutron Man existed before and after the nineties, but he really reached his nadir as an Ohio State Icon during John Cooper’s tenure. Maybe it was the lack of signature wins that caused fans to latch onto the enthusiastic manchild, but latch they did. He actually was a good guy, catering a lot of the band’s events and donating to both the band and the cheerleading program. Unfortunately, the most enduring image of him, and arguably of the entire Cooper Era, is that of him bawling like a baby after the 1998 Black Saturday game against Michigan State.

The 1999 Sugar Bowl

After said horrible disaster, at least we went on to win an actual BCS bowl again. Of course, it does not compare to the Rose Bowl either in tradition or excitement, nor does it make up for the crushing loss to Michigan State. However, Texas A&M wasn’t a bad team to beat.

Beating Notre Dame in Ohio Stadium

My uncle was going to Ohio State at this time. This being back before the Internet, college kids had to make t-shirts to have fun. Somehow my uncle was very connected back in the day, and was able to get a couple hundred t-shirts that said, “I Hate Notre Dame More Than You.” They decided to try and sell some before the game, and give the rest to their fraternity. This only sort of worked out, because they ended up selling their own shirts off their backs well before kickoff, thus leaving none for themselves or perhaps their future sports writer nephews. Point is, Ohio State fans really did not like Notre Dame, and for sixty years they had to live with the 0-2 record against the Papists. Winning this game gave them bragging rights over the only good Midwestern team Ohio State hadn’t beaten. It gave Cooper his first victory over fellow 2008 Hall of Fame inductee Lou Holtz. It also gave a little-known running back a great idea for an exterior mural on a future restaurant…

Eddie George

The mural in question is, of course, Eddie George’s fantastic run against Notre Dame in the previously mentioned game, which is twice displayed outside of the Heisman winner’s restaurant. That image competes with Neutron Man’s tearstained face for the classic picture of the John Cooper Era.

More importantly, however, he re-established the platonic ideal of the Ohio State power back, now with speed. He was what people thought of when they thought of the Ohio State offense in the nineties. Thanks in part to him, Ohio State running backs again get the benefit of the doubt for awesome. Were this the internet, there would be ten videos embedded of him tearing the hell out of Illinois and Notre Dame. Sigh — but none from any Michigan game.

Beating Notre Dame in Notre Dame Stadium

”I never met a leprechaun I liked.” – Woody Hayes

This quote is entirely fictional, and was featured on the back of my Uncle’s t-shirts from 1995. It was definitely the first time I had ever heard of this team, and from that age on I never liked them. Ohio State winning for the first and only time in The House Rock Built is awesome, but beating Lou Holtz in a neck brace to force him into retirement is priceless. (Note: Lou Holtz is now actually awesome on ESPN.)

Kirk Herbstriet

Only kidding.

Andy Katzenmoyer

If Eddie George is the iconic representation of Ohio States offense in the ‘90s, then Andy Katzenmoyer was how they thought of OSU’s defense. He was big and tough to the point of insanity. Football coaches the world over have told every single one of their players to “get angry” or “get mean,” except Andy Katzenmoyer. There is no way anyone could in good conscience tell this man to be meaner. He literally destroyed careers of offensive players with his hits, most memorably Corby Jones of Missouri. Again, like Eddie George, YouTube is full of clips of him doing terrible things to opponents. He was so mean, he hurt himself, and ruined his career forever. That’s meaness.

Orlando Pace

The best piece of trivia associated with Orlando Pace is that he pioneered the use of the pancake block. For the uninitiated, a pancake block — often simply called a pancake — is when the offensive lineman knocks over the defender rather than pushing him out of the way or keeping him at bay. Could you have a better idea? It reminds me of the commercial where the caveman decides to stab the other caveman rather than hitting him with a stick. It’s so much more effective and simple, it’s hilarious. Of course, you have to have a sharp enough stick; rather, a giant enough frame to knock over a similarly sized defensive lineman. Did Orlando Pace have that frame? You bet your ass. He’s the only Buckeye to win the Outland Trophey and the Lomardi Award, two of the best-named awards in college football.

The 1997 Rose Bowl

Even the people who sell their football tickets for money remember this game. Well, some of them, anyway. Dicks.

The other 189 games we didn’t lose

Hey, Ohio State had a top ten winning percentage in the 1990s. They could be expected to win three out of every four games. That was better than Alabama, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Texas, Georgia, UCLA, USC (40th in winning percentage, 33rd in total wins), and especially the horrible Texas Tech, a team that won only 19 games for the entire last decade of the second millennium. The only team worse than them was the always pathetic Golden Flashes from Kent State, who could only be bothered to win once every seven games.

All in all, the John Cooper Era wasn’t such a terrible dark period to have. The only time it really stings is when The Rivalry comes up, or when all-time bowl records are discussed, or when we are #1 and have to play Michigan State. We should be congratulating John Cooper on a job done pretty much not bad, not frowning and questioning his place among the college greats. He was, after all, Ohio State’s second “most-winningest” coach. Ohio State gets another guy in the hall of fame; good for us. If anything, it just means there is no way Jim Tressel can be kept out. Unless he kills someone, because then they can’t let you in. It’s one of the rules.