1998 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1998 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten co-champion
Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 24–14 vs. Texas A&M
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 2
AP No. 2
1998 record 11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach John Cooper (11th season)
Offensive coordinator Mike Jacobs (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator Fred Pagac (3rd season)
MVP Joe Germaine
Captain Joe Germaine
Captain Jerry Rudzinski
Captain Antoine Winfield
Home stadium Ohio Stadium
(Capacity: 89,841)
1998 Big Ten football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 2 Ohio State %+  7 –1     11 –1  
No. 6 Wisconsin $+  7 –1     11 –1  
No. 12 Michigan +  7 –1     10 –3  
No. 24 Purdue  6 –2     9 –4  
No. 17 Penn State  5 –3     9 –3  
Michigan State  4 –4     6 –6  
Minnesota  2 –6     5 –6  
Indiana  2 –6     4 –7  
Illinois  2 –6     3 –8  
Iowa  2 –6     3 –8  
Northwestern  0 –8     3 –9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

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 Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV CBS W 34–17   68,409[3]
September 12 12:30 p.m. Toledo* No. 1 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ESPN W 49–0   93,149[3]
September 19 3:30 p.m. No. 21 Missouri* No. 1 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ABC W 35–14   93,269[3]
October 3 12:00 p.m. No. 7 Penn State No. 1 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ABC W 28–9   93,479[3]
October 10 12:00 p.m. at Illinois No. 1 Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL ESPN+ W 41–0   46,390[3]
October 17 12:00 p.m. Minnesotadagger No. 1 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ESPN+ W 45–15   93,138[3]
October 24 12:00 p.m. at Northwestern No. 1 Ryan Field • Evanston, IL ESPN2 W 36–10   47,130[3]
October 31 3:30 p.m. at Indiana No. 1 Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN ABC W 38–7   52,049[3]
November 7 3:30 p.m. Michigan State No. 1 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ABC L 24–28   93,595[3]
November 14 3:30 p.m. at Iowa No. 7 Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA ABC W 45–14   69,473[3]
November 21 12:00 p.m. No. 11 Michigan No. 7 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (The Game) ABC W 31–16   94,339[3]
January 1, 1999 8:30 p.m. vs. No. 8 Texas A&M* No. 3 Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) ABC W 24–14   76,503[3]
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. 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 234Total
Penn St 0 360 9
• Ohio St 0 14140 28

Illinois

#1 Ohio St at Illinois
1 234Total
• Ohio St 10 14017 41
Illinois 0 000 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

1 234Total
Michigan 0 1033 16
• Ohio State 14 7100 31

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

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

Q[6]

1999 NFL draftees

PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Club
David Boston18Wide ReceiverArizona Cardinals
Antoine Winfield123Defensive BackBuffalo Bills
Andy Katzenmoyer128LinebackerNew England Patriots
Joe Montgomery249Running BackNew York Giants
Joe Germaine4101QuarterbackSt. Louis Rams
Damon Moore4128Defensive BackPhiladelphia Eagles
Brent Bartholomew6192PunterMiami Dolphins
Dee Miller6196Wide ReceiverGreen Bay Packers

References

  1. ↑ Thomaselli, Rich (1998). "Big Ten". The Sporting News. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
  2. ↑ "A Case for No. 1". CNN. January 9, 1999. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
  3. 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.
  4. ↑ USA Today. Retrieved 2014-Sep-02.
  5. ↑ "Michigan vs. Ohio State". USA Today. November 21, 1998.
  6. ↑ 1986 Ohio State Football Media Guide
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