American college football season
The 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1970 Big Ten Conference football season . The Buckeyes compiled a 9–0 regular season record to attain a #2 ranking. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference title and a berth in the 1971 Rose Bowl in Pasadena against the Stanford Indians , ranked #12 and champions of the Pac-8 . The Buckeyes would go on to lose 27-17 in their bowl game giving them a 9-1 record.
This was the last year Ohio State played a nine-game regular season schedule. Many major colleges added an 11th game in 1970, although no Big Ten school did so until the following season.
The Buckeyes were recognized as the 1970 national champion by the National Football Foundation (NFF) giving them their sixth claimed title. The NFF awarded the title before bowl games at the time. This was the fifth and last title that legendary head coach Woody Hayes would win for the Buckeyes. The Ohio State Buckeyes would not win another national championship until 2002. Most consider the 11-0-1 Nebraska Cornhuskers to be the 1970 National Champions as they finished #1 in the AP vote after the bowl games.
Schedule
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 26 1:30 p.m. Texas A&M * No. 1 W 56–1385,657
October 3 1:30 p.m. Duke * No. 1 W 34–1086,123
October 10 1:30 p.m. at Michigan State No. 1 W 29–075,511
October 17 1:30 p.m. Minnesota No. 1 W 28–886,667
October 24 2:30 p.m. at Illinois No. 1 W 48–2946,208
October 31 1:30 p.m. No. 20 Northwestern No. 2 W 24–1086,673
November 7 2:00 p.m. at Wisconsin No. 3 W 24–772,578
November 14 1:00 p.m. at Purdue No. 3 ABC W 10–768,157
November 21 1:00 p.m. No. 4 Michigan No. 5 ABC W 20–987,331
January 1, 1971 5:00 p.m. vs. No. 12 Stanford * No. 2 NBC L 17–27103,839
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Roster
1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Depth chart
Defense
DE
DT
NT
DT
DE
87 Ken Luttner
79 Shad Williams
68 Jim Stillwagon
70 George Hasenohrl
83 Mark Debevc
⋅
67 Ralph Holloway
⋅
⋅
⋅
Offense
WB
16 Larry Zelina
24 Tom Campana
[1]
Coaching staff
Game summaries
Texas A&M
1
2 3 4 Total
Texas A&M
0
7 0 6
13
• Ohio St
21
7 21 7
56
Date: September 26Location: Ohio Stadium , Columbus, OH Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:36Game attendance: 85,657Game weather: 79°F; wind 14–20 S–SW
Scoring summary Q1 11:45 OHST Kern 6-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 7–0
Q1 7:27 OHST Brockington 2-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 14–0
Q1 3:13 OHST Hayden 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 21–0
Q2 12:48 TA&M May 29-yard pass from James (McDermott kick) OHST 21–7
Q2 :16 OHST Brockington 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 28–7
Q3 6:10 OHST White 5-yard pass from Maciejowski (Schram kick) OHST 35–7
Q3 5:23 OHST Zelina 11-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 42–7
Q3 2:47 OHST Coburn 7-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 49–7
Q4 13:15 OHST Maciejowski 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 56–7
Q4 5:17 TA&M May 22-yard pass from James (kick failed) OHST 56–13
[2]
Top-ranked Ohio State rolled up 513 yards of offense and scored touchdowns off five Texas A&M turnovers in a 56-13 rout. Fullback John Brockington scored twice and six other players accounted for touchdowns. The Buckeyes' defense forced three fumbles and an interception which led to four scores in an eight-minute span in the third quarter even though head coach Woody Hayes pulled the starters a little after halftime.[3]
Duke
1
2 3 4 Total
Duke
3
0 0 7
10
• Ohio St
0
6 21 7
34
Date: October 3Location: Ohio Stadium , Columbus, OH Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:27Game attendance: 86,123Game weather: Sunny; 63°F; wind 18–30 W–NW
Scoring summary Q1 2:04 DUKE Pugh 38-yard field goal DUKE 3–0
Q2 :13 OHST Luttner 45-yard blocked punt return (kick blocked) OHST 6–3
Q3 10:52 OHST Zelina 11-yard pass from Kern (Schram kick) OHST 13–3
Q3 4:24 OHST Kern 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 20–3
Q3 1:27 OHST Brockington 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 27–3
Q4 5:51 OHST Galbos 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 34–3
Q4 1:23 DUKE Jones 2-yard run (Pugh kick) OHST 34–10
[4]
[5]
Michigan State
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
9
0 7 13
29
Michigan St
0
0 0 0
0
Date: October 10Location: Spartan Stadium , East Lansing, MI Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:33Game attendance: 75,511Game weather: Partly sunny; 50°F; wind 15 SSWReferee: Howard Wirtz
Scoring summary Q1 8:17 OHST Brockington 2-yard run (kick failed) OHST 6–0
Q1 1:36 OHST Schram 33-yard field goal OHST 9–0
Q3 5:15 OHST Maciejowski 2-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 16–0
Q4 7:46 OHST Maciejowski 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 23–0
Q4 4:39 OHST Brockington 25-yard run (kick failed) OHST 29–0
[6]
[7]
Minnesota
1
2 3 4 Total
Minnesota
0
0 0 8
8
• Ohio St
21
7 0 0
28
Date: October 17Location: Ohio Stadium , Columbus, OH Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:30Game attendance: 86,667Game weather: Sunny; 52°F; wind 12 W
Scoring summary Q1 11:14 OHST Kern 7-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 7–0
Q1 5:00 OHST Brockington 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 14–0
Q1 1:57 OHST Brockington 62-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 21–0
Q2 8:40 OHST Kern 10-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 28–0
Q4 6:09 MINN Hamm 12-yard pass from Curry (Cook pass from Curry) OHST 28–8
[8]
Illinois
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
7
7 13 21
48
Illinois
7
13 3 6
29
Date: October 24Location: Memorial Stadium , Champaign, IL Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:39Game attendance: 46,208Game weather: 60°F; wind 4–10 SEReferee: Dwight Wilkey
Scoring summary Q1 10:12 OHST Brockington 2-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 7–0
Q1 4:17 ILL Lewis 18-yard run (Wells kick) Tie 7–7
Q2 12:10 ILL Dieken 11-yard pass from Wells (Wells kick) ILL 14–7
Q2 11:53 OHST Kern 76-yard run (Schram kick) Tie 14–14
Q2 2:34 ILL Robinson 1-yard run (kick failed) ILL 20–14
Q3 11:48 OHST White 43-yard pass from Kern (Schram kick) OHST 21–20
Q3 6:27 ILL Wells 30-yard field goal ILL 23–21
Q3 3:59 OHST Brockington 5-yard run (kick failed) OHST 27–23
Q4 14:56 OHST Brockington 11-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 34–23
Q4 9:30 OHST Hayden 31-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 41–23
Q4 4:19 OHST Coburn 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 48–23
Q4 :37 ILL Dieken 4-yard pass from Wells (pass failed) OHST 48–29
[9]
Northwestern
1
2 3 4 Total
Northwestern
7
3 0 0
10
• Ohio St
0
3 14 7
24
Date: October 31Location: Ohio Stadium , Columbus, OH Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:31Game attendance: 86,673Game weather: Sunny; 60°F; wind 10 SW
Scoring summary Q1 2:58 NW Adamle 1-yard run (Planisek kick) NW 7–0
Q2 12:13 OHST Schram 32-yard field goal NW 7–3
Q2 1:22 NW Planisek 29-yard field goal NW 10–3
Q3 11:27 OHST Kern 6-yard run (Schram kick) Tie 10–10
Q3 4:01 OHST Brockington 8-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 17–10
Q4 4:14 OHST Kern 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 24–10
[10]
[11]
Wisconsin
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
3
7 14 0
24
Wisconsin
0
7 0 0
7
Date: November 7Location: Camp Randall Stadium , Madison, WI Game start: 1:00 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:33Game attendance: 72,758Game weather: Sunny; 45°F; wind 5–10 WReferee: Dwight Wilkey
Scoring summary Q1 3:00 OHST Schram 23-yard field goal OHST 3–0
Q2 14:27 OHST Brockington 11-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 10–0
Q2 1:17 WIS Mialik 15-yard pass from Graff (Jaeger kick) OHST 10–7
Q3 8:31 OHST Brockington 4-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 17–7
Q3 5:58 OHST Brockington 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 24–7
[12]
[13]
Purdue
Game information
First quarter
OSU – John Brockington 26-yard run (Fred Schram kick), 2:13. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 71 yards.
PUR – Stan Brown 96-yard kickoff return (Jeff Jones kick), 2:01. Tie 7–7.
Fourth quarter
OSU – Fred Schram 30-yard field goal, 2:04. Ohio St 10–7. Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards.
Top passers
OSU – Ron Maciejowski – 1/3, 52 yards
PUR – Gary Danielson – 2/12, 17 yards, 2 INT
Top rushers
Top receivers
OSU – Bruce Jankowski – 1 reception, 52 yards
PUR – Stan Brown – 1 reception, 9 yards
Woody Hayes received a congratulatory phone call from President Richard Nixon after the game and then asked to speak to Fred Schram, who made the game-winning field goal. John Brockington carried the ball for 136 yards and Leo Hayden added 64 yards on 16 carries.[14]
Michigan
Game information
First quarter
OSU – Fred Schram 28-yard field goal, 12:18. Ohio St 3–0. Drive: 6 plays, 15 yards.
Second quarter
MICH – Dana Coin 31-yard field goal, 14:57. Tie 3–3. Drive: 4 plays, 3 yards.
OSU – Bruce Jankowski 26-yard pass from Rex Kern (Fred Schram kick), 1:18. Ohio St 10–3. Drive: 11 plays, 47 yards.
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
OSU – Fred Schram 27-yard field goal, 10:49. Ohio St 13–9. Drive: 15 plays, 64 yards.
OSU – Leo Hayden 4-yard run (Fred Schram kick), 8:14. Ohio St 20–9. Drive: 3 plays, 9 yards.
Top passers
Top rushers
Top receivers
Ohio State clinched a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl berth and some measure of revenge for the 1969 upset.
Stanford
1
2 3 4 Total
Ohio State
7
7 3 0
17
• Stanford
10
0 3 14
27
Scoring summary Q1 10:20 STAN Brown 4 yard run (Horowitz kick) STAN 7–0
Q1 6:50 STAN Horowitz 37 yard field goal STAN 10–0
Q1 3:45 OSU Brockington 1 yard run (Schram kick) STAN 10–7
Q2 14:24 OSU Brockington 1 yard run (Schram kick) OSU 10–14
Q3 12:29 STAN Horowitz 48 yard field goal OSU 13–14
Q3 8:33 OSU Schram 32 yard field goal OSU 13–17
Q4 10:03 STAN Brown 1 yard run (Horowitz kick) STAN 20–14
Q4 8:18 STAN Plunkett 10 yard pass to Vataha (Horowitz kick) STAN 27–14
[15]
New Year's Day
In the Cotton Bowl in Dallas , top-ranked and defending national champion Texas was upset 24-11 by #6 Notre Dame , ending the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak.
Heavily-favored Ohio State could claim their second outright national title in three years that afternoon with a Rose Bowl victory over Stanford in Pasadena. Stanford (8-3) was led by quarterback Jim Plunkett , the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner. The Indians had climbed to a 6-0 conference record and 8-1 overall, but lost their final two regular season games, to Sugar Bowl -bound Air Force and arch-rival California . Stanford lost earlier in the season at home to Purdue , a team OSU defeated on the road.
The Buckeyes led Stanford by four points after three quarters, but were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter and lost 27-17. Later that night, #3 Nebraska won the Orange Bowl 17-12 over #5 LSU in Miami to claim the top spot in the AP writers poll.
References
Win/Loss statistics
Draft data
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore Media People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1936–1949 1950s 1960s
1960 : Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF ) / Ole Miss (FWAA)
1961 : Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA)
1962 : USC
1963 : Texas
1964 : Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF)
1965 : Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1966 : Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF)
1967 : USC
1968 : Ohio State
1969 : Texas
1970s 1980–1991
Western Conference Big Ten Big Nine Big Ten National championships in bold