1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten co-champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 20–17 vs. Arizona State
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 2
AP No. 2
1996 record 11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach John Cooper (9th season)
Offensive coordinator Joe Hollis (5th season)
Defensive coordinator Fred Pagac (1st season)
Home stadium Ohio Stadium
(Capacity: 89,841)
1996 Big Ten football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 2 Ohio State +  7 –1     11 –1  
No. 15 Northwestern +  7 –1     9 –3  
No. 7 Penn State  6 –2     11 –2  
No. 18 Iowa  6 –2     9 –3  
No. 20 Michigan  5 –3     8 –4  
Michigan State  5 –3     6 –6  
Wisconsin  3 –5     8 –5  
Purdue  2 –6     3 –8  
Minnesota  1 –7     4 –7  
Indiana  1 –7     3 –8  
Illinois  1 –7     2 –9  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head 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 Big Ten Conference with the Northwestern Wildcats and played in the 1997 Rose Bowl against Pacific-10 Conference champion the Arizona State Sun Devils. Ohio State did not play Northwestern during the regular season and were selected to play in the Rose Bowl due to their better overall record of 10–1 (the Wildcats were 9–2). Northwestern had played in the previous Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes used two quarterbacks throughout the year, junior Stanley Jackson, and sophomore Joe Germaine, the Buckeyes were dominant throughout the majority of the season, outscoring their opponents by a score of 455–131. The Buckeyes only loss came late in the season to their rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, by a score of 13–9.

Because of the late loss, Ohio State fell from second to fourth in the polls. Due to the Big Ten and Pac-10 not being involved in the Bowl Alliance agreement as the two champions were contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State was set to play #2 Arizona State, while #1 Florida State and #3 Florida played for the national championship in the 1997 Sugar Bowl.

Ohio State went into the 1997 Rose Bowl with high hopes and Germaine came off the bench and threw a late touchdown pass to David Boston to steal a come-from-behind victory. With the Buckeyes dramatic upset victory over the Sun Devils, Buckeye fans hoped for a share of the national title. However, Florida would later avenge a late season loss to their rivals, and beat the Seminoles by a score of 52–20. Florida finished first and Ohio State second in both polls, followed by Florida State and Arizona State. The National Championship was claimed by both Ohio State and Florida following a 2018 Gatorade commercial that debuted during the 2017 NCAA National Championship game.

The Rose Bowl appearance was the Buckeyes first since 1985. The Rose Bowl victory was the sixth in school history, the first since 1974. Germaine was named Rose Bowl MVP.

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 7 12:00 p.m. Rice* No. 10 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ESPN+ W 70–7   93,479[1]
September 21 12:30 p.m. Pittsburgh* No. 7 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ESPN W 72–0   93,959[1]
September 28 2:30 p.m. at No. 5 Notre Dame* No. 4 Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN NBC W 29–16   59,075[1]
October 5 3:30 p.m. No. 4 Penn State No. 3 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (Rivalry) ABC W 38–7   94,241[1]
October 12 3:30 p.m. Wisconsin No. 2 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ESPN W 17-14   94,215[1]
October 19 3:30 p.m. at Purdue No. 2 Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN ABC W 42–14   60,172[1]
October 26 3:30 p.m. at No. 20 Iowa No. 2 Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA ABC W 38–26   70,397[1]
November 2 12:30 p.m. Minnesota No. 2 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ESPN2 W 45–0   93,588[1]
November 9 12:30 p.m. at Illinois No. 2 Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL ESPN W 48–0   54,412[1]
November 16 3:30 p.m. at Indiana No. 2 Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN ABC W 27–17   49,271[1]
November 23 12:00 p.m. No. 21 Michigan No. 2 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (The Game) ABC L 9–13   94,676[1]
January 1, 1997 4:30 p.m. vs. No. 2 Arizona State* No. 4 Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) ABC W 20–17   100,635[1]
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game summaries

Rice

1 234Total
Rice 0 700 7
• Ohio St 21 21217 70
  • Date: September 7
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game attendance: 93,479
  • Television network: ESPN+

[2]

Pittsburgh

1 234Total
Pittsburgh 0 000 0
• Ohio St 21 31137 72

Notre Dame

1 234Total
• Ohio St 12 1070 29
Notre Dame 7 036 16

Penn State

1 234Total
Penn St 0 007 7
• Ohio St 10 1477 38

Wisconsin

1 234Total
Wisconsin 0 707 14
• Ohio St 0 377 17

Purdue

1 234Total
• Ohio St 7 71414 42
Purdue 14 000 14

Iowa

1 234Total
• Ohio St 17 1470 38
Iowa 3 3614 26

Minnesota

1 234Total
Minnesota 0 000 0
• Ohio St 0 102114 45

Illinois

1 234Total
• Ohio St 0 28200 48
Illinois 0 000 0

Indiana

1 234Total
• Ohio St 0 7020 27
Indiana 0 377 17

Michigan

1 234Total
• Michigan 0 0103 13
Ohio St 3 600 9

Rose Bowl

1 234Total
• Ohio St 7 076 20
Arizona St 0 737 17

Roster

1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 9 David Boston So
G 57 LeShun Daniels Sr
WR 82 Mike Furrey Fr
QB 7 Joe Germaine So
WR 15 Dee Miller So
RB 33 Joe Montgomery So
G 56 Rob Murphy Fr
T 75 Orlando Pace Jr
WR 6 Jimmy Redmond Fr
C 77 Tyson Walter Fr
RB 5 Michael Wiley Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 30 Greg Bellisari Sr
S 1 Gary Berry Fr
LB 32 Na'il Diggs Fr
DT 99 Luke Fickell Sr
DT 68 Winfield Garrett Jr
CB 2 Ty Howard Sr
LB 45 Andy Katzenmoyer Fr
S 34 Rob Kelly Sr
CB 20 Central McClellion So
LB 43 Ryan Miller Sr
SS 13 Damon Moore So
CB 19 Ahmed Plummer Fr
CB 24 Shawn Springs Jr
LB 94 Mike Vrabel Sr
CB 11 Antoine Winfield So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 41 Brent Bartholomew So
LS 87 Kevin Houser Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Coaching staff

  • John Cooper - Head Coach - 9th year
  • Bill Conley - Defensive Ends, Recruiting Coordinator (10th year)
  • Walt Harris - Quarterbacks (2nd year)
  • Jim Heacock - Defensive Line (1st year)
  • Joe Hollis - Offensive Coordinator (6th year)
  • Mike Jacobs - Offensive Line (2nd year)
  • Fred Pagac - Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers (15th year)
  • Tim Spencer - Running Backs (3rd year)
  • Chuck Strobart - Wide Receivers (2nd year)
  • Jon Tenuta - Defensive Backs (1st year)

Depth chart

Q[3]

Awards and honors

1997 NFL draftees

PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Club
Orlando Pace11TackleSt. Louis Rams
Shawn Springs13Defensive BackSeattle Seahawks
Rob Kelly233Defensive BackNew Orleans Saints
Ty Howard384Defensive BackArizona Cardinals
Mike Vrabel391Defensive EndPittsburgh Steelers
Nicky Sualua4129Running BackDallas Cowboys
Matt Finkes6189Defensive EndCarolina Panthers

[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Park, Jack (2003). The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-58261-695-7.
  2. ↑ USA Today
  3. ↑ 1986 Ohio State Football Media Guide
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-03.

Buckeye Sports Bulletin (1997), Rose Bowl Championship Yearbook

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