By Darin 
How can a team score a game-winning touchdown after the clock hits zero? In 1974, the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes found themselves in that impossible scenario. The legendary matchup between Michigan State and the top-ranked Buckeyes wasn’t just an upset; it was a chaotic masterpiece of officiating confusion. It ended with two different signals from two different officials, a field stormed by fans of both teams, and a decision so controversial that the Big Ten commissioner himself had to deliver the bad news to a furious Woody Hayes.
On November 9, 1974, the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes, boasting a powerhouse offense led by Archie Griffin, looked invincible. They entered Spartan Stadium and, for much of the game, played the part, building a 13-3 lead. But the Spartans, refusing to be a footnote, rallied in the fourth quarter. The game was truly flipped on its head when MSU running back Levi Jackson broke an 88-yard touchdown run, giving Michigan State a stunning 16-13 lead.
The final moments became one of the most bizarre sequences in college football history. The Buckeyes drove the length of the field, setting up a final, desperate push at the MSU goal line. With 13 seconds left, fullback Champ Henson was stopped just short of the end zone. With the clock running and no timeouts, Ohio State frantically scrambled to the line. Quarterback Cornelius Greene took the snap, but the ball was botched. Wingback Brian Baschnagel grabbed the loose ball and lunged across the goal line.
Pandemonium. One official, the head linesman, raised his arm to signal a game-winning touchdown. But the back judge was emphatically waving his arms, signaling that time had expired before the snap. As players and fans from both sides stormed the field in confusion, officials huddled. Finally, Big Ten commissioner Wayne Duke was brought in to make the official announcement: the clock had, in fact, run out. The touchdown did not count. Michigan State had won.
OSU versus Mich St. 1974 final play 10 Nov 1974, Sun Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Michigan) Newspapers.com
This game’s primary accomplishment was sending the 1974 college football season into a tailspin. The loss cost Ohio State its perfect season and its undisputed #1 ranking. The game’s ripple effect was massive: it created the infamous 1974 Big Ten title tie between Ohio State and Michigan, which led to a bitter, controversial vote among athletic directors to decide the conference’s Rose Bowl representative. For Michigan State, it remains one of the greatest upsets in program history, a giant-killing moment forever immortalized by its chaotic, clock-stopping finale.