1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 16–17 vs. USC
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 4
AP No. 4
1979 record 11–1 (8–0 Big Ten)
Head coach Earle Bruce (1st season)
MVP Jim Laughlin
Captain Ken Fritz
Captain Mike Guess
Captain Jim Laughlin
Captain Tom Waugh
Home stadium Ohio Stadium
(Capacity: 83,112)
1979 Big Ten football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 Ohio State $ 8 –0 –0  11 –1 –0
No. 10 Purdue 7 –1 –0  10 –2 –0
No. 18 Michigan 6 –2 –0  8 –4 –0
No. 19 Indiana 5 –3 –0  8 –4 –0
Iowa 4 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
Minnesota 3 –5 –1  4 –6 –1
Michigan State 3 –5 –0  5 –6 –0
Wisconsin 3 –5 –0  4 –7 –0
Illinois 1 –6 –1  2 –8 –1
Northwestern 0 –9 –0  1 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled an 11–1 record, including the 1980 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where they lost, 17–16, to the USC Trojans.

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 8 1:30 p.m. Syracuse* Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 31–8   86,205
September 15 2:30 p.m. at Minnesota No. 15 Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, MN W 21–17   43,926
September 22 1:30 p.m. Washington State* No. 16 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 45–29   87,495
September 29 4:00 p.m. at No. 17 UCLA* No. 14 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA ABC W 17–13   47,228
October 6 1:30 p.m. Northwestern No. 8 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 16–7   87,406
October 13 1:30 p.m. Indiana No. 8 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 47–6   87,521
October 20 1:30 p.m. Wisconsin No. 6 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 59–0   87,585
October 27 1:30 p.m. Michigan Statedagger No. 4 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 42–0   87,747
November 3 2:00 p.m. at Illinois No. 5 Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy) W 44–7   41,870
November 10 1:00 p.m. Iowa No. 3 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 34–7   87,835
November 17 12:30 p.m. at No. 13 Michigan No. 2 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (The Game) ABC W 18–15   106,255
January 1, 1980 5:00 p.m. vs. No. 3 USC* No. 1 Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) NBC L 16–17   105,526
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Roster

1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 47 Doug Donley Jr
G 56 Ken Fritz Sr
QB 10 Art Schlichter So
RB 46 Tim Spencer Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 25 Todd Bell Jr
CB 27 Ray Ellis Jr
LB 65 Keith Ferguson Jr
LB 5 Jim Laughlin Sr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 13 Vlade Janakievski Sr
P 19 Tom Orosz Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Depth chart

[1]

Coaching staff

  • Earle Bruce - Head Coach (1st year)
  • Pete Carroll - Defensive Backs (1st year)
  • Dennis Fryzel - Defensive Coordinator (1st year)
  • Glen Mason - Offensive Line / Defensive Inside Linebackers (2nd year)
  • Bill Myles - Offensive Line (3rd year)
  • Wayne Stanley - Running Backs (1st year)
  • Steve Szabo - Defensive Line (1st year)
  • Bob Tucker - Defensive Outside Linebackers (1st year)
  • Fred Zechman - Quarterbacks/Receivers (1st year)

1980 NFL draftees

PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Club
Jim Laughlin491LinebackerAtlanta Falcons
Mike Guess6156Defensive BackChicago Bears
Ken Fritz10277GuardPittsburgh Steelers

[2]

Game summaries

Syracuse

1 234Total
Syracuse 0 080 8
• Ohio St 7 1437 31
  • Date: September 8
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:46
  • Game attendance: 86,205
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy; 67°F; wind 10–15 N

[3]

Minnesota

1 234Total
• Ohio St 7 068 21
Minnesota 14 300 17
  • Date: September 15
  • Location: Memorial Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:36
  • Game attendance: 43,926
  • Game weather: Sunny; 68°F; wind 8 SE
  • Referee: Otho Kertz

[4]

Washington State

1 234Total
Wash St 3 01016 29
• Ohio St 7 17714 45
  • Date: September 22
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:46
  • Game attendance: 87,495
  • Game weather: Overcast; 64°F; wind 10–20 NE

[5]

The longest pass in school history to date, an 86-yard bomb from Art Schlichter to Calvin Murray, helped propel Ohio State to a 45-29 win over Washington State. The previous record was an 80-yard pass from Joe Sparma to Bob Klein in 1961 versus Michigan.[6]

UCLA

1 234Total
• Ohio St 0 737 17
UCLA 10 003 13
  • Date: September 29
  • Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:46
  • Game attendance: 47,228
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 71°F; light wind SW
  • Referee: Bill Love

[7]

Northwestern

1 234Total
Northwestern 0 007 7
• Ohio St 10 303 16
  • Date: October 6
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:41
  • Game attendance: 87,406
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy; 58°F; wind 10–20 SW

[8]

[9]

Indiana

1 234Total
Indiana 0 060 6
• Ohio St 9 17147 47
  • Date: October 13
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:48
  • Game attendance: 87,251
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 44°F; wind 15 NW

[10]

Wisconsin

1 234Total
Wisconsin 0 000 0
• Ohio St 14 141021 59
  • Date: October 20
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:48
  • Game attendance: 87,585
  • Game weather: Sunny; 77°F; wind 15–20 S

[11]

Michigan State

1 234Total
Michigan St 0 000 0
• Ohio St 14 1477 42
  • Date: October 27
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:35
  • Game attendance: 87,747
  • Game weather: Mostly sunny; 53°F; wind 10–15 S

[12]

Illinois

1 234Total
• Ohio St 3 141017 44
Illinois 0 070 7
  • Date: November 3
  • Location: Memorial Stadium
  • Game attendance: 41,870
  • Game weather: Clear; 51°F; wind 9 NW

[13]

Iowa

1 234Total
Iowa 0 007 7
• Ohio St 13 1407 34
  • Date: November 10
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:51
  • Game attendance: 87,835
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 41°F; wind 10–20 NW

[14]

Michigan

#2 Ohio State at #13 Michigan
1 234Total
• Ohio St 0 666 18
Michigan 0 780 15
  • Date: November 17
  • Location: Michigan Stadium
  • Elapsed time: 2:47
  • Game attendance: 106,255
  • Game weather: Sunny; 55°F; wind 10–15 SW
  • Television network: ABC

Ohio State clinched the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl with an 18-15 victory over their archrivals. The Buckeyes had not beaten nor scored a touchdown against Michigan since 1975, the last time they had gone to Pasadena.[15]

Rose Bowl

1980 Rose Bowl
1 234Total
• USC 3 707 17
Ohio St 0 1033 16
  • Date: January 1
  • Location: Rose Bowl
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 105,526
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen, O.J. Simpson

[16]

References

  1. ↑ 1980 Ohio State Football Media Guide
  2. ↑ https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1980.htm
  3. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Aug-14.
  4. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Aug-14.
  5. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives.
  6. ↑ Ocala Star-Banner. 1979 Sept 23.
  7. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Aug-16.
  8. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  9. ↑ "Buckeyes Win in Struggle." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Oct 7.
  10. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  11. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  12. ↑ "1979-08-Michigan State" (PDF). Ohio State Official Athletic Site. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  13. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  14. ↑ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  15. ↑ "Woody's successor takes Bucks to Pasadena." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Nov 18.
  16. ↑ http://admin.xosn.com/fls/17300//pdf/fb/m-footbl-bowls.pdf
Win/Loss statistics
Draft data
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