FIESTA BOWL 2004: OHIO STATE 35, KANSAS STATE 28

Editor's note: Part of a series reviewing the Arizona bowl histories of Ohio State and Clemson heading toward Saturday's College Football Playoff semifinal.

Ohio State returned to the Fiesta Bowl in January 2004, one year after its breathtaking national championship win over Miami with much less at stake.

The Buckeyes lost in October to Wisconsin and in their rivalry game to Michigan so the Fiesta return against Kansas State was about salvaging a season instead of finishing one undefeated.

Still, Ohio State had enough talent to bolt to a 21-0 lead and 35-14 leads at Sun Devil Stadium then held on for a 35-28 win.

"The greatest thing about this is the last thing we wanted is to go out losing two games in a row," said Buckeyes quarterback Craig Krenzel, who repeated as Fiesta Bowl offensive Player of the Game.

Krenzel threw for 189 yards and four touchdowns, two of those to Santonio Holmes. In the 2003 Fiesta, Krenzel rushed for 81 yards yards and two TDs.

There was controversy surrounding the game because of a sexual assault accusation on the day before the Jan. 2 game against Kansas State quarterback Eli Roberson.

Roberson was allowed to play and his 294 passing yards helped the Wildcats to rally before falling to 11-4. He was not charged with a crime by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office but later lost his scholarship for team rules violations.

"I apologize for breaking the team curfew rule and for the decisions that followed that night," Roberson said. "I had no idea how my decisions that night would affect my teammates and everyone associated with Kansas State."