1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

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1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football
NFF co-national champion
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 17–27 vs. Stanford
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 5
Record9–1 (7–0 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive schemeHeavy run
Base defense5–2
MVPJim Stillwagon
Captains
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
Seasons
← 1969
1971 →
1970 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Ohio State $ 7 0 0 9 1 0
No. 9 Michigan 6 1 0 9 1 0
Northwestern 6 1 0 6 4 0
Iowa 3 3 1 3 6 1
Wisconsin 3 4 0 4 5 1
Michigan State 3 4 0 4 6 0
Minnesota 2 4 1 3 6 1
Purdue 2 5 0 4 6 0
Illinois 1 6 0 3 7 0
Indiana 1 6 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the Big Ten Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Buckeyes won all nine games in the regular season and were ranked second in both major polls. Ohio State won the Big Ten title and a berth in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on New Year's Day against the Stanford Indians, ranked No. 12 and champions of the Pac-8. The Buckeyes were upset, 27–17, and finished with a 9–1 record.

This was the last year Ohio State played a nine-game regular-season schedule (the Big Ten first allowed a 10th regular season game in 1965). Many major colleges added an eleventh game in 1970, although no Big Ten school did so until the following season.

The Buckeyes were recognized as co-national champions, along with Texas, by the National Football Foundation at the end of the regular season. The teams were jointly awarded the MacArthur Bowl.[1]

This was the fifth and last national title that head coach Woody Hayes won for the Buckeyes; they did not win another national championship until 2002.

Both Ohio State and Texas would go on to lose their bowl games; the 11–0–1 Nebraska Cornhuskers won the AP national championship when they finished No. 1 in final post-bowl AP Poll.

Schedule[edit]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 261:30 p.m.Texas A&M*No. 1W 56–1385,657
October 31:30 p.m.Duke*No. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 34–1086,123[2]
October 101:30 p.m.at Michigan StateNo. 1W 29–075,511
October 171:30 p.m.MinnesotaNo. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 28–886,667
October 242:30 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 1W 48–2946,208
October 311:30 p.m.No. 20 NorthwesternNo. 2
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 24–1086,673
November 72:00 p.m.at WisconsinNo. 3W 24–772,578
November 141:00 p.m.at PurdueNo. 3ABCW 10–768,157
November 211:00 p.m.No. 4 MichiganNo. 5
ABCW 20–987,331
January 1, 19715:00 p.m.vs. No. 12 Stanford*No. 2NBCL 17–27103,839
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Personnel[edit]

1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 34 John Bledsoe
OL 58 Chuck Bonica
HB 42 John Brockington Sr
WR 24 Tom Campana
OL 75 Dave Cheney
RB 47 James Coburn
OL 52 Tom DeLeone
OL 53 Brian Donovan
QB 33 Richard Galbos
TE 58 Jimmie Harris
HB 22 Leo Hayden Sr
OL 65 John Hicks
WR 82 Bruce Jankowski Sr
QB 10 Rex Kern (C) Sr
DL 57 Dick Kuhn
QB 18 Ron Maciejowski
QB Ross Moore
OL 62 Phil Strickland
TE 80 Jan White (C) Sr
WR 16 Larry Zelina
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 63 Doug Adams (C) Sr
CB 26 Tim Anderson Sr
DL 83 Tom Debevc
DL 70 George Hasenohrl
DL 67 Ralph Holloway
DB 28 Mike Vladich
DL 87 Ken Luttner
S 3 Mike Sensibaugh Sr
DB 14 Bruce Smith
MG 68 Jim Stillwagon (C) Sr
S 32 Jack Tatum Sr
LB 88 Stan White
DL 79 Shad Williams
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 1 Fred Schram
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt
Source:[3]

Depth chart[edit]

[4]

Game summaries[edit]

Texas A&M[edit]

Texas A&M Aggies (2–0) at Ohio State Buckeyes (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Texas A&M 0 7 0613
Ohio State 21 7 21756

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: September 26
  • Game time: 1:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 80 °F (27 °C)
  • Game attendance: 85,657
  • Box Score
Game information

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.[5]

Duke[edit]

1 234Total
Duke 3 007 10
• Ohio St 0 6217 34
  • Date: October 3
  • Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:27
  • Game attendance: 86,123
  • Game weather: Sunny; 63 °F (17 °C); wind 18 to 30 mph (29 to 48 km/h) W–NW

[6]

[7]

Michigan State[edit]

1 234Total
• Ohio St 9 0713 29
Michigan St 0 000 0
  • Date: October 10
  • Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:33
  • Game attendance: 75,511
  • Game weather: Partly sunny; 50 °F (10 °C); wind 15 mph (24 km/h) SSW
  • Referee: Howard Wirtz

[8]

[9]

Minnesota[edit]

1 234Total
Minnesota 0 008 8
• Ohio St 21 700 28
  • Date: October 17
  • Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:30
  • Game attendance: 86,667
  • Game weather: Sunny; 52 °F (11 °C); wind 12 mph (19 km/h) W

[10]

Illinois[edit]

1 234Total
• Ohio St 7 71321 48
Illinois 7 1336 29
  • Date: October 24
  • Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:39
  • Game attendance: 46,208
  • Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C); wind 4 to 10 mph (6.4 to 16.1 km/h) SE
  • Referee: Dwight Wilkey

[11]

Northwestern[edit]

1 234Total
Northwestern 7 300 10
• Ohio St 0 3147 24
  • Date: October 31
  • Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:31
  • Game attendance: 86,673
  • Game weather: Sunny; 60 °F (16 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h) SW

[12]

[13]

Wisconsin[edit]

1 234Total
• Ohio St 3 7140 24
Wisconsin 0 700 7
  • Date: November 7
  • Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:33
  • Game attendance: 72,758
  • Game weather: Sunny; 45 °F (7 °C); wind 5 to 10 mph (8.0 to 16.1 km/h) W
  • Referee: Dwight Wilkey

[14]

[15]

Purdue[edit]

Ohio State Buckeyes (7–0) at Purdue Boilermakers
Period 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 7 0 0310
Purdue 7 0 007

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

  • Date: November 14, 1970
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Overcast, 37 °F (3 °C)
  • Game attendance: 68,157
  • Box Score
Game information

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.[16]

Michigan[edit]

Michigan Wolverines at Ohio State Buckeyes (8–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Michigan 0 3 609
Ohio St 3 7 01020

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Game information

Ohio State clinched a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl berth and some measure of revenge for the 1969 upset.

Stanford[edit]

1 234Total
Ohio State 7 730 17
• Stanford 10 0314 27

New Year's Day[edit]

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.

1971 NFL draftees[edit]

Player Round Pick Position NFL club
John Brockington 1 9 Running Back Green Bay Packers
Jack Tatum 1 19 Defensive Back Oakland Raiders
William Anderson 1 23 Defensive Back San Francisco 49ers
Leo Hayden 1 24 Running Back Minnesota Vikings
Jan White 2 29 Tight End Buffalo Bills
Jim Stillwagon 5 124 Linebacker Green Bay Packers
Doug Adams 7 165 Linebacker Denver Broncos
Mike Sensibaugh 8 191 Defensive Back Kansas City Chiefs
Larry Zelina 8 196 Running Back Cleveland Browns
Bruce Jankowski 10 250 Wide Receiver Kansas City Chiefs
Rex Kern 10 260 Defensive Back Baltimore Colts
Ron Maciejowski 15 376 Quarterback Chicago Bears
Mark Debevc 16 405 Linebacker Cincinnati Bengals

References[edit]

  1. ^ "MacArthur Winners". The News–Messenger. Fremont, Ohio. December 9, 1970. Retrieved November 1, 2022. Ohio State football Coach Woody Hayes and Texas coach Darrell Royal accept the MacArthur Bowl which was awarded jointly to their teams as the best of 1970 at the award dinner of the National Football Foundation
  2. ^ "Buckeyes awaken to rip Duke, 34–10". Chicago Tribune. October 4, 1970. Retrieved January 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Rose Bowl rosters". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. January 1, 1971. p. 34.
  4. ^ 1971 Ohio State Media Guide"
  5. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1970 September 26.
  6. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Mar-09.
  7. ^ Palm Beach Post. 1970 October 4.
  8. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Mar-09.
  9. ^ "Ohio State Drubs Spartans." Palm Beach Post. 1970 Oct 11.
  10. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Mar-09.
  11. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Mar-15.
  12. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Mar-15.
  13. ^ Ocala Star-Banner. 1970 Nov 1.
  14. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Mar-16.
  15. ^ Ocala Star-Banner. 1970 Nov 8.
  16. ^ "Notre Dame, Ohio State Survive 10-7 Heartstoppers." Palm Beach Post. 1970 Nov 15.