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American college football season
The 1998 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season . The team's head football coach was John Cooper . The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium . The team finished the season with a win-loss record of 11–1, and a Big Ten Conference record of 7–1. They were co-champions of the Big Ten Conference with the Wisconsin Badgers and the Michigan Wolverines and played in one of the premiere Bowl Championship Series bowl games, the 1999 Sugar Bowl .
Led by senior quarterback Joe Germaine , the Buckeyes were the preseason number one team and remained top-ranked throughout the majority of the season. The Buckeyes only loss came late in the season to the Michigan State Spartans . The team blew a 15-point lead late in the game to fall 28–24.
Because of the late loss, Ohio State was kept out of the National Championship Game, the 1999 Fiesta Bowl . Their regular season "miss" of not playing fellow tri-champion Wisconsin also cost the Bucks a trip to the 1999 Rose Bowl because Ohio State was the last to play in the Rose Bowl in 1997 , Wisconsin last played in 1994 .[1]
The Buckeyes beat Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl to finish second in both polls behind the Tennessee Volunteers after their victory over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl .[2]
Schedule
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 5 8:00 p.m. at No. 11 West Virginia * No. 1 CBS W 34–1768,409[3]
September 12 12:30 p.m. Toledo * No. 1 ESPN W 49–093,149[3]
September 19 3:30 p.m. No. 21 Missouri * No. 1 ABC W 35–1493,269[3]
October 3 12:00 p.m. No. 7 Penn State No. 1 ABC W 28–993,479[3]
October 10 12:00 p.m. at Illinois No. 1 ESPN+ W 41–046,390[3]
October 17 12:00 p.m. Minnesota No. 1 ESPN+ W 45–1593,138[3]
October 24 12:00 p.m. at Northwestern No. 1 ESPN2 W 36–1047,130[3]
October 31 3:30 p.m. at Indiana No. 1 ABC W 38–752,049[3]
November 7 3:30 p.m. Michigan State No. 1 Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry) ABC L 24–2893,595[3]
November 14 3:30 p.m. at Iowa No. 7 ABC W 45–1469,473[3]
November 21 12:00 p.m. No. 11 Michigan No. 7 ABC W 31–1694,339[3]
January 1, 1999 8:30 p.m. vs. No. 8 Texas A&M * No. 3 ABC W 24–1476,503[3]
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Game summaries
West Virginia
1
2
3
4
Total
Buckeyes
10
10
7
7
34
Mountaineers
3
7
0
7
17
Toledo
1
2
3
4
Total
Rockets
0
0
0
0
0
Buckeyes
21
21
7
0
49
Missouri
1
2
3
4
Total
Tigers
0
14
0
0
14
Buckeyes
7
6
8
14
35
Penn State
1
2 3 4 Total
Penn St
0
3 6 0
9
• Ohio St
0
14 14 0
28
Scoring summary 2 PSU Forney 42-yard field goal Penn St 3-0
2 OHST Rudzinski recovered fumble in end zone (Stultz kick) Ohio St 7-3
2 OHST Wiley 20-yard pass from Germaine (Stultz kick) Ohio St 14-3
3 OHST Cooper recovered blocked punt in end zone (Stultz kick) Ohio St 21-3
3 PSU Cerimele 1-yard run (two-point conversion failed) Ohio St 21-9
3 OHST Montgomery 1-yard run (Stultz kick) Ohio St 28-9
Illinois
#1 Ohio St at Illinois
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
10
14 0 17
41
Illinois
0
0 0 0
0
Scoring summary Q1 11:32 OHST Stultz 40 yard field goal OHST 3–0
Q1 2:52 OHST Lumpkin 1 yard pass from Germaine (Stultz kick) OHST 10–0
Q2 11:17 OHST Boston 30 yard pass from Germaine (Stultz kick)OHST 17–0
Q2 6:19 OHST Germany 37 yard pass from Germaine (Stultz kick)OHST 24–0
Q4 12:51 OHST Stultz 46 yard field goal OHST 27–0
Q4 10:57 OHST Diggs 47 yard fumble return (Stultz kick)OHST 34–0
Q4 3:45 OHST Wells 2 yard run (Stultz kick)OHST 41–0
Joe Germaine 17/28, 307 Yds (third straight 300+ yard passing game – school record)
[4]
Minnesota
1
2
3
4
Total
Golden Gophers
3
10
0
2
15
Buckeyes
14
17
7
7
45
Northwestern
1
2
3
4
Total
Buckeyes
17
6
6
7
36
Wildcats
7
3
0
0
10
Indiana
1
2
3
4
Total
Buckeyes
14
7
7
10
38
Hooisers
0
7
0
0
7
Michigan State
1
2
3
4
Total
Spartans
3
6
9
10
28
Buckeyes
17
0
7
0
24
Iowa
1
2
3
4
Total
Buckeyes
14
14
7
10
45
Hawkeyes
7
7
0
0
14
Michigan
Michigan Wolverines (8–2) at Ohio State Buckeyes (9–1)
at Ohio Stadium , Columbus, Ohio
Date : November 21, 1998Game time : 12:00 p.m.Game weather : Cloudy, 38 °F (3 °C)Game attendance : 94,339Referee : Bill LeMonnierTV : ABCBox Score
Game information
First quarter
OSU – Michael Wiley 53-yard run (Dan Stultz kick), 12:20. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 69 yards, 1:18.
OSU – Dee Miller 16-yard pass from Joe Germaine (Dan Stultz kick), 9:44. Ohio St 14–0. Drive: 3 plays, 16 yards, 1:33.
Second quarter
MICH – Jay Feely 27-yard field goal, 14:33. Ohio St 14–3. Drive: 4 plays, 5 yards, 0:59.
OSU – David Boston 30-yard pass from Joe Germaine (Dan Stultz kick), 4:03. Ohio St 21–3. Drive: 2 plays, 35 yards, 0:44.
MICH – Tai Streets 3-yard pass from Tom Brady (Jay Feely kick), 0:25. Ohio St 21–10. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 2:38.
Third quarter
OSU - David Boston 43-yard pass from Joe Germaine (Dan Stultz kick), 9:51. Ohio St 28–10. Drive: 4 plays, 54 yards, 1:14.
MICH – Jay Feely 34-yard field goal, 4:47. Ohio St 28–13. Drive: 9 plays, 27 yards, 4:50.
OSU – Dan Stultz 39-yard field goal, 1:36. Ohio St 31–13. Drive: 6 plays, 58 yards, 3:06.
Fourth quarter
MICH – Jay Feely 30-yard field goal, 14:47. Ohio St 31–16. Drive: 10 plays, 68 yards, 1:41.
Top passers
Top rushers
Top receivers
Ohio State secured a share of its 28th Big Ten title as the fans stormed the field with less than 30 seconds to play. Joe Germaine completed 19-of-24 passes for 330 yards, his seventh career 300-yard game, and his favorite target was David Boston , who finished with 10 receptions for 217 yards, most ever by a Michigan opponent. Boston also broke his own single-season reception mark and moved past Cris Carter on the school's all-time yardage list.[5]
Texas A&M
1
2
3
4
Total
Aggies
7
0
7
0
14
Buckeyes
21
3
0
0
24
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
3–0
1987
W 28–12
Coaching staff
John Cooper - Head Coach - 11th year
Bill Conley - Tight Ends, Recruiting Coordinator (12th year)
Jim Heacock - Defensive Tackles (3rd year)
Mike Jacobs - Offensive Coordinator, Offensive Line (4th year)
Fred Pagac - Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers (17th year)
Tim Salem - Quarterbacks (2nd year)
Shawn Simms - Defensive Ends (2nd year)
Tim Spencer - Running Backs (5th year)
Chuck Strobart - Wide Receivers (4th year)
Jon Tenuta - Defensive Backs (3rd year)
Depth chart
Defense
DE
DT
DT
DE
60 Brent Johnson
73 Joe Brown
79 Ryan Pickett
94 Rodney Bailey
52 James Cotton
98 Mike Collins
90 Clinton Wayne
48 Matt LaVrar
Offense
LT
LG
C
RG
RT
77 Tyson Walter
56 Rob Murphy
63 Kurt Murphy
64 Ben Gilbert
67 Brooks Burris
69 Jim Massey
65 Mike Gurr
78 Drew Elford
55 Tam Hopkins
75 Henry Fleming
TE
85 John Lumpkin
84 Steve Wisniewski
FL
15 Dee Miller
4 Ken-Yon Rambo
Key reserves
8 Steve Bellisari (Fr) Special Teams/DB/QB
FB
23 Matt Keller
36 Sean Penny
RB
5 Michael Wiley
33 Joe Montgomery
Q[6]
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final AP 1 (30) 1 (39) 1 (57) 1 (64) 1 (58) 1 (66) 1 (64) 1 (64) 1 (64) 1 (63) 7 7 5 5 3 2 Coaches Poll 1 (31) 1 (38) 1 (52) 1 (53) 1 (45) 1 (54) 1 (59) 1 (58) 1 (55) 1 (54) 7 6 5 (1) 5 (1) 3 (1) 2 BCS Not released 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 Not released
References
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore Media People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
Western Conference Big Ten Big Nine Big Ten National championships in bold