Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell, an assistant coach on the Ohio State team that faced Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl after the 2010 season, was asked what he remembered about that game on Tuesday.
“All I remember is we were down to about one corner left on the bench and we got a punt blocked with about a minute to go in the game,” Fickell recalled of the Buckeyes' 31-26 victory in New Orleans. “We called an all-out pressure and dropped the boundary end, a Cincinnati, Ohio, kid, and he picked it off and ended the game for us.”
Fickell was referencing defensive end Solomon Thomas, who dropped into coverage and intercepted Ryan Mallett’s pass intended for DJ Williams with 58 seconds left in the game. Arkansas snapped the ball from the Ohio State 18.
The Buckeyes led 28-7 in the second quarter and held off a big comeback effort by the Razorbacks.
“I do remember we left a call sheet some place that some way, somehow wound up in the hands of the opposing team,” Fickell said. “It wasn’t planted. It was one of those things that was unique. I think one of our GAs left it in the Burger King.”
Ohio State later vacated the Sugar Bowl victory, 11 other victories and the Big Ten title from the 2010 season due to players receiving benefits deemed improper by the NCAA at the time. Coach Jim Tressel also resigned about five months following the game.
Fickell was the Buckeyes' interim coach during a 6-7 campaign in 2011. He assisted Tressel from 2002-10 and Urban Meyer from 2012-16 at Ohio State.
Saturday's game at Arkansas will be Fickell's first against the Razorbacks since the Sugar Bowl.
Matt Jones contributed