1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football
1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten co-champion
Sugar Bowl, L 6–35 vs. Alabama
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 11
Record	9–3 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (27th season);
Defensive coordinator	George Hill
MVP	Dave Adkins
Captains	Aaron Brown; Ray Griffin; Jeff Logan; Chris Ward;
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium; (Capacity: 83,112)
	Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 9 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 11 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Indiana	4	–	3	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Illinois	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	8	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the

New Orleans, Louisiana, where they lost 35–6 to the Alabama Crimson Tide

.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	1:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)*	No. 5	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 10–0	86,287
September 17	1:30 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 6	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 38–7	87,799
September 24	1:30 p.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma*	No. 4	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	L 28–29	88,119
October 1	8:30 p.m.	at SMU*	No. 6	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX		W 35–7	51,970
October 8	1:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 4	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 46–0	87,707
October 15	2:30 p.m.	at Iowa	No. 5	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 27–6	60,070
October 22	2:30 p.m.	at Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL		W 35–15	29,563
October 29	1:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	No. 3	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 42–0	87,837
November 5	2:00 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 4	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)		W 35–0	66,973
November 12	1:30 p.m.	Indiana	No. 4	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 35–7	87,786
November 19	12:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Michigan	No. 4	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 6–14	106,024	^[1]
January 2, 1978	2:00 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Alabama*	No. 9	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 6–35	76,811	^[2]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami (FL)	0	0	0	0	0
• Ohio St	0	10	0	0	10

Date: September 10
Location:
CST
Elapsed time: 2:29
Game attendance: 86,287
Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C); wind 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) WNW

Ron Springs 27 Rush, 114 Yds

^[4]

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Minnesota	0	0	7	0	7
• Ohio St	7	3	7	21	38

Date: September 17
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
CST
Elapsed time: 2:36
Game attendance: 87,799
Game weather: Mostly cloudy; 83 °F (28 °C); wind 5–15 mph (8.0–24.1 km/h) S–W

Ron Springs 27 Rush, 147 Yds

^[5]

Oklahoma

#3 Oklahoma Sooners (2–0) at #4 Ohio State Buckeyes (2–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	17	3	0	9	29
Ohio State	0	14	14	0	28

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Date: September 29
Game time: 1:55 p.m.
Game weather: Overcast, 78 °F (26 °C)
Game attendance: 88,119
Referee: Gene Calhoun (Big Ten)
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Ara Parseghian
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

OKLA – Elvis Peacock 33-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick), 11:59. Oklahoma 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards, 2:09.
OKLA – Billy Sims 14-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick), 11:05. Oklahoma 14–0. Drive: 2 plays, 16 yards, 0:45.
OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 23-yard field goal, 3:29. Oklahoma 17–0. Drive: 12 plays, 60 yards, 6:08.

Second quarter

OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 33-yard field goal, 12:58. Oklahoma 20–0. Drive: 9 plays, 45 yards, 3:31.
OSU – Ron Springs 30-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 10:32. Oklahoma 20–7. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 2:23.
OSU – Rod Gerald 19-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 9:46. Oklahoma 20–14. Drive: 1 play, 19 yards, 0:06.

Third quarter

OSU – Joel Payton 1-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 8:04. Ohio State 21–20. Drive: 7 plays, 48 yards, 3:51.
OSU – Jimmy Moore 16-yard pass from Greg Castignola (Vlade Janakievski kick), 4:44. Ohio State 28–20. Drive: 5 plays, 33 yards, 2:01.

Fourth quarter

OKLA – Elvis Peacock 1-yard run (run failed), 1:29. Ohio State 28–26. Drive: 12 plays, 57 yards, 4:55.
OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 41-yard field goal, 0:03. Oklahoma 29–28. Drive: 5 plays, 50 yards, 1:18.

Top passers

OKLA – Dean Blevins – 3/5, 44 yards, 2 INT
OSU – Greg Castignola – 2/2, 29 yards, TD

Top rushers

OKLA – Billy Sims – 11 rushes, 60 yards, TD
OSU – Ron Springs – 14 rushes, 64 yards, TD

Top receivers

OKLA – Steve Rhodes – 3 receptions, 44 yards
OSU – Jimmy Moore – 1 reception, 16 yards, TD

At SMU

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	7	14	7	7	35
SMU	0	0	0	7	7

Date: October 1
Location: Cotton Bowl
Game attendance: 51,970

Purdue

Purdue Boilermakers at Ohio State Buckeyes

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Purdue	0	0	0	0	0
Ohio St	29	10	7	0	46

at Ohio Stadium • Columbus, Ohio

Date: October 8
Game attendance: 87,707
Box Score

Game information

OSU (12:49) - Guess 65 yard interception return (Janakievski kick)
OSU (7:49) - Payton 1 yard run (Janakievski kick)
OSU (5:00) - Payton 1 yard run (Janakievski kick)
OSU (2:16) - Payton 10 yard run (Janakievski kick)
OSU (7:58) - Springs 66 yard run (Janakievski kick)
OSU (7:50) - Payton 2 yard run (Janakievski kick)

Purdue

Herrmann 11/21, 117 Yds, 2 INT
M. Brown 17 Rush, 66 Yds
Arnold 3 Rec, 60 Yds

Ohio St

Gerald 3/6, 90 Yds, INT
Springs 10 Rush, 151 Yds, TD
H. Jones 1 Rec, 45 Yds

Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	3	10	7	7	27
Iowa	0	0	0	6	6

Date: October 15
Location: Kinnick Stadium
Game attendance: 60,070

At Northwestern

#4 Ohio State Buckeyes at Northwestern Wildcats

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	14	7	7	7	35
Northwestern	3	6	0	6	15

at

Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois

Date: October 22

Game time: 12:30 p.m. CST

Game weather: Light rain, 53 °F (12 °C)

Game attendance: 29,563

Box Score

Game information

First quarter

NW – Sam Poulos 44-yard field goal, 9:33. Northwestern 3–0. Drive: 10 plays, 59 yards, 5:00.
OSU – Joel Payton 4-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 4:58. Ohio St 7–3. Drive: 3 plays, 80 yards, 0:54.
OSU – Jeff Logan 5-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 1:15. Ohio St 14–3. Drive: 8 plays, 45 yards, 2:17.

Second quarter

NW – Mike Taylor 33-yard pass from Dana Hemphill (pass failed), 10:10. Ohio St 14–9. Drive: 2 plays, 34 yards, 0:57
OSU – Joel Payton 1-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 1:57. Ohio St 21–9. Drive: 4 plays, 21 yards, 1:34.

Third quarter

OSU – Rod Gerald 24-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 10:41. Ohio St 28–9. Drive: 8 plays, 71 yards, 2:18.

Fourth quarter

OSU – Paul Campbell 1-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 7:40. Ohio St 35–9. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 4:01.
NW – Harold Gilmore 14-yard run (run failed), 4:40. Ohio St 35–15. Drive: 7 plays, 73 yards, 2:54.

Top passers

OSU – Rod Gerald – 7/14, 148 yards, 2 INT
NW – Dana Hemphill – 6/10, 51 yards, TD

Top rushers

OSU – Ron Springs – 14 rushes, 130 yards
NW – Harold Gilmore – 23 rushes, 121 yards, TD

Top receivers

OSU – James Harrell – 2 receptions, 62 yards
NW – Mike Taylor – 3 receptions, 41 yards, TD

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wisconsin	0	0	0	0	0
• Ohio St	7	7	14	14	42

Date: October 29
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game attendance: 87,837

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	0	7	21	7	35
Illinois	0	0	0	0	0

Date: November 5
Location:
Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois
Game attendance: 66,973

^[6]

Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Indiana	7	0	0	0	7
• Ohio St	7	0	21	7	35

Date: November 12
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Game attendance: 87,786

^[7]

Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	3	0	3	0	6
• Michigan	0	7	7	0	14

Date: November 19
Location: Michigan Stadium
Game attendance: 106,024

Sugar Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	0	0	0	6	6
• Alabama	0	13	8	14	35

Date: January 2
Location:
Louisiana Superdome
Game weather: Indoors (dome)

1978 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL club
Chris Ward	1	4	Tackle	New York Jets
Ray Griffin	2	35	Defensive back	Cincinnati Bengals
Herman Jones	7	185	Wide receiver	Chicago Bears
Jeff Logan	7	191	Running back	Baltimore Colts
David Adkins	8	209	Linebacker	Atlanta Falcons
Aaron C. Brown	10	252	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

References

Newspapers.com
.

Newspapers.com
.

^ 1978 Ohio State Football Media Guide

^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved September 11, 2015.

^ Ohio State Football - Game Archives. Retrieved October 6, 2018.

^ Eugene Register-Guard. November 6, 1977.

^ Eugene Register-Guard. November 13, 1977.

v
t
e
Ohio State Buckeyes football
Venues

Recreation Park (1890–1897)

Ohio Field (1898–1921)

Ohio Stadium (1922–present)

Woody Hayes Athletic Center (practice)

Bowls & rivalries

Bowl games

Illinois: Illibuck Trophy

Michigan (The Ten Year War)

Penn State

Culture & lore

History

Block O

Brutus Buckeye

"Across the Field"

"Buckeye Battle Cry"

"Carmen Ohio"

"Hang On Sloopy"

Marching band

Neutron Man

The Ten Year War

Snow Bowl (1950)

1969 Michigan game

1973 Michigan game

The Kick

Holy Buckeye

2005 Texas game

2006 Michigan game

2016 Penn State game

Media

WBNS-TV

WBNS

WBNS-FM

Ohio State Sports Network

People

Head coaches

All-Century Team

NFL draftees

Statistical leaders

Retired numbers

Seasons

1890

1891

1892

1893

1894

1895

1896

1897

1898

1899

1900

1901

1902

1903

1904

1905

1906

1907

1908

1909

1910

1911

1912

1913

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

1926

1927

1928

1929

1930

1931

1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

1946

1947

1948

1949

1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

1956

1957

1958

1959

1960

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

National championship seasons in bold

v
t
e
Big Ten Conference football champions
Western Conference

Wisconsin (1896)

Wisconsin (1897)

Michigan (1898)

Chicago (1899)

Iowa & Minnesota (1900)

Michigan & Wisconsin (1901)

Michigan (1902)

Michigan, Minnesota, & Northwestern (1903)

Michigan & Minnesota (1904)

Chicago (1905)

Michigan, Minnesota, & Wisconsin (1906)

Chicago (1907)

Chicago (1908)

Minnesota (1909)

Illinois & Minnesota (1910)

Minnesota (1911)

Wisconsin (1912)

Chicago (1913)

Illinois (1914)

Illinois & Minnesota (1915)

Ohio State (1916)

Big Ten

Ohio State (1917)

Illinois, Michigan, & Purdue (1918)

Illinois (1919)

Ohio State (1920)

Iowa (1921)

Chicago, Iowa, & Michigan (1922)

Illinois & Michigan (1923)

Chicago (1924)

Michigan (1925)

Michigan & Northwestern (1926)

Illinois & Minnesota (1927)

Illinois (1928)

Purdue (1929)

Michigan & Northwestern (1930)

Purdue, Michigan & Northwestern (1931)

Michigan & Purdue (1932)

Michigan & Minnesota (1933)

Minnesota (1934)

Minnesota & Ohio State (1935)

Northwestern (1936)

Minnesota (1937)

Minnesota (1938)

Ohio State (1939)

Minnesota (1940)

Minnesota (1941)

Ohio State (1942)

Michigan & Purdue (1943)

Ohio State (1944)

Indiana (1945)

Big Nine

Illinois (1946)

Michigan (1947)

Michigan (1948)

Michigan & Ohio State (1949)

Big Ten

Michigan (1950)

Illinois (1951)

Purdue & Wisconsin (1952)

Illinois & Michigan State (1953)

Ohio State (1954)

Ohio State (1955)

Iowa (1956)

Ohio State (1957)

Iowa (1958)

Wisconsin (1959)

Minnesota & Iowa (1960)

Ohio State (1961)

Wisconsin (1962)

Illinois (1963)

Michigan (1964)

Michigan State (1965)

Michigan State (1966)

Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue (1967)

Ohio State (1968)

Michigan & Ohio State (1969)

Ohio State (1970)

Michigan (1971)

Michigan & Ohio State (1972)

Michigan & Ohio State (1973)

Michigan & Ohio State (1974)

Ohio State (1975)

Michigan & Ohio State (1976)

Michigan & Ohio State (1977)

Michigan & Michigan State (1978)

Ohio State (1979)

Michigan (1980)

Iowa & Ohio State (1981)

Michigan (1982)

Illinois (1983)

Ohio State (1984)

Iowa (1985)

Michigan & Ohio State (1986)

Michigan State (1987)

Michigan (1988)

Michigan (1989)

Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, & Michigan State (1990)

Michigan (1991)

Michigan (1992)

Ohio State & Wisconsin (1993)

Penn State (1994)

Northwestern (1995)

Ohio State & Northwestern (1996)

Michigan (1997)

Michigan, Ohio State, & Wisconsin (1998)

Wisconsin (1999)

Michigan, Northwestern, & Purdue (2000)

Illinois (2001)

Ohio State & Iowa (2002)

Michigan (2003)

Iowa & Michigan (2004)

Ohio State & Penn State (2005)

Ohio State (2006)

Ohio State (2007)

Ohio State & Penn State (2008)

Ohio State (2009)

Michigan State & Wisconsin (2010)

Wisconsin (2011)

Wisconsin (2012)

Michigan State (2013)

Ohio State (2014)

Michigan State (2015)

Penn State (2016)

Ohio State (2017)

Ohio State (2018)

Ohio State (2019)

Ohio State (2020)

Michigan (2021)

Michigan (2022)

Michigan (2023)

National championships in bold

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1977_Ohio_State_Buckeyes_football_team&oldid=1219281044"

[1] Newspapers.com
.

[2] Newspapers.com
.

[RecordBook-3] 1978 Ohio State Football Media Guide

[4] Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved September 11, 2015.

[5] Ohio State Football - Game Archives. Retrieved October 6, 2018.

[6] Eugene Register-Guard. November 6, 1977.

[7] Eugene Register-Guard. November 13, 1977.

[1]

[2]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Schedule

Roster

Depth chart

Game summaries

Miami (FL)

Minnesota

Oklahoma

At SMU

Purdue

Iowa

At Northwestern

Wisconsin

Illinois

Indiana

Michigan

Sugar Bowl

1978 NFL draftees

References