1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1975 Big Ten Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football
1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 10–23 vs. UCLA
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
1975 record	11–1 (8–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (25th season);
MVP	Cornelius Greene
Captains	Brian Baschnagel; Tim Fox; Archie Griffin; Ken Kuhn;
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium; (Capacity: 83,112)
	Seasons ← 1974 1976 →

The 1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1975 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled an 11–1 record, including the 1976 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where they lost, 23–10, to the UCLA Bruins.

In 1975, Archie Griffin became college football's only two-time Heisman trophy winner. Griffin won four Big Ten Conference titles with the Ohio State Buckeyes and became the only player ever to start in four Rose Bowls.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 13	4:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Michigan State	No. 3	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ABC	W 21–0	80,383
September 20	1:30 p.m.	No. 7 Penn State*	No. 3	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)		W 17–9	88,093
September 27	1:30 p.m.	North Carolina*	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 32–7	87,750
October 4	9:00 p.m.	at No. 13 UCLA*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 41–20	55,482
October 11	1:30 p.m.	Iowa	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 49–0	87,826
October 18	1:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 56–0	87,820
October 25	2:30 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 1	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 35–6	69,405
November 1	1:30 p.m.	Indiana	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 24–14	87,835
November 8	2:00 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)		W 40–3	67,751
November 15	1:30 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 38–6	87,817
November 22	1:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Michigan	No. 1	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (The Game)		W 21–14	105,543
January 1, 1976	5:00 p.m.	vs. No. 11 UCLA*	No. 1	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	L 10–23	105,464
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel[]

1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB		Cornelius Greene
RB	`45`	Archie Griffin	Sr
FB		Pete Johnson
QB	`8`	Rod Gerald	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB		Tim Fox
DB		Ray Griffin

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Tom Klaban

Head coach

Woody Hayes

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Depth chart[]

Defense

FS
Tim Fox
Duncan Griffin
⋅

WLB	SLB
Ed Thompson	Ken Kuhn
Dave Adkins	Tom Cousineau
⋅	⋅

SS
Ray Griffin
Joe Allegro
⋅

CB
Craig Cassady
Max Midlam
⋅

DE	DT	NT	DT	DE
Bob Brudzinski	Nick Buonamici	Aaron Brown	Eddie Beamon	Pat Curto
Kelton Dansler	Mark Sullivan	Mark Lang	Byron Cato	⋅
⋅	Tyrone Harris	⋅	⋅	⋅

CB
Bruce Ruhl
Lenny Mills
⋅

Offense

SE
Lenny Willis
Herman Jones
⋅

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Chris Ward	Ted Smith	Rick Applegate	Bill Lukens	Scott Dannelley
Lou Pietrini	Jim Savoca	Ron Ayers	⋅	Garth Cox
⋅	⋅	Doug Porter	⋅	⋅

TE
Larry Kain
Jimmy Moore
Greg Storer

WB
Brian Baschnagel
Jimmy Harrell
⋅

QB
Cornelius Greene
Rod Gerald
Jim Pacenta

FB
Pete Johnson
Lou Williott
⋅

Special Teams
PK Tom Klaban
P Tom Skladany
P Mike Keeton
KR Lenny Willis

RB
Archie Griffin
Jeff Logan
Woody Roach

^[1]

Coaching staff[]

Woody Hayes - Head Coach (25th year)
George Chaump - Offense (8th year)
George Hill - Defensive Coordinator (5th year)
Charles Clausen - Defense (5th year)
Alex Gibbs - Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (1st year)
Mickey Jackson - (2nd year)
John Mummey - Quarterbacks (7th year)
Ralph Staub - (6th year)
Dick Walker - Defensive Backs (7th year)
Jeff Kaplan - 'brain coach' & counselor (3rd year)

Game summaries[]

Michigan State[]

Ohio State Buckeyes (0–0) at Michigan State Spartans

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	0	7	7	7	21
Michigan St	0	0	0	0	0

at Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, Michigan

Date: September 13
Game weather: Partly sunny • Mid 50s • Wind W–NW 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn) to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h; 17 kn)
Game attendance: 80,383
Ohio State Football Archives

Game information

Ohio St

Greene
3/7, 85 Yds, TD, INT
Griffin
29 Rush, 108 Yds
Willis
2 Rec, 82 Yds, TD

Michigan St

Baggett
5/9, 67 Yds, 3 INT
Jackson
20 Rush, 58 Yds
Fortney
3 Rec, 35 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	OSU	MSU
2	1:16	8	57		Ohio St	Johnson 6-yard touchdown run, Klaban kick good	7	0
3	6:52	6	76		Ohio St	Willis 64-yard touchdown reception from Grenne, Klaban kick good	14	0
4	14:56	4	30		Ohio St	Johnson 9-yard touchdown run, Klaban kick good	21	0
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							21	0

Penn State[]

^[2]

UCLA[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	7	21	10	3	41
UCLA	7	0	7	6	20

Date: October 5
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Game attendance: 55,482

^[3]

Purdue[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	14	7	7	7	35
Purdue	3	3	0	0	6

Date: October 25
Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN

Archie Griffin broke Cornell's Ed Marinaro NCAA career rushing record with a 23-yard run up the middle in the fourth quarter. ^[4]

Minnesota[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Minnesota	0	0	6	0	6
• Ohio St	3	14	0	21	38

Date: November 15
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 87,817

^[5]

Michigan[]

Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Wolverines

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	7	0	0	14	21
Michigan	0	7	0	7	14

at Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Date: November 22, 1975
Game weather: Clear, 36 °F (2 °C)
Game attendance: 105,543
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

OSU – Pete Johnson 7-yard pass from Cornelius Greene (Tom Klaban kick), 4:43. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 15 plays, 63 yards.

Second quarter

MICH – Jim Smith 11-yard pass from Gordon Bell (Bob Wood kick), 0:24. Tie 7–7. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards.

Fourth quarter

MICH – Rick Leach 1-yard run (Bob Wood kick), 7:11. Michigan 14–7. Drive: 10 plays, 43 yards.
OSU – Pete Johnson 1-yard run (Tom Klaban kick), 3:18. Tie 14–14. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards.
OSU – Pete Johnson 3-yard run (Tom Klaban kick), 2:19. Ohio St 21–14. Drive: 1 play, 3 yards.

Top passers

OSU – Cornelius Greene – 7/16, 84 yards, TD, 2 INT
MICH – Rick Leach – 7/20, 102 yards, 3 INT

Top rushers

OSU – Pete Johnson – 18 rushes, 52 yards, 2 TD
MICH – Gordon Bell – 21 rushes, 124 yards

Top receivers

OSU – Lenny Willis – 2 receptions, 32 yards
MICH – Jim Smith – 3 receptions, 31 yards, TD

Awards and honors[]

Archie Griffin, Heisman Trophy^[6]

1976 NFL draftees[]

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Tim Fox	1	21	Defensive Back	New England Patriots
Archie Griffin	1	24	Running Back	Cincinnati Bengals
Brian Baschnagel	3	66	Wide Receiver	Chicago Bears
Leonard Willis	4	118	Wide Receiver	Minnesota Vikings
	7	205	Linebacker	Cincinnati Bengals
Craig Cassady	8	213	Defensive Back	New Orleans Saints
	10	287	Kicker	Cincinnati Bengals
Cornelius Greene	11	317	Quarterback	Dallas Cowboys
	13	375	Tight End	Pittsburgh Steelers
	16	441	Linebacker	Atlanta Falcons
	17	482	Guard	Cincinnati Bengals

References[]

^ 1976 Ohio State Football Media Guide
^ "246-Pound Fullback Keys Buckeye Triumph." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Sept 21.
^ "Griffin Gets 100 Yards in 41-20 Buckeye Win." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Oct 5.
^ "Griffin tops mark; Illinois stops Sparts." Eugene Register-Guard. 1975 Oct 26.
^ Palm Beach Post. 1975 Nov 16. Retrieved 2016-Jul-30.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Win/Loss statistics

Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

Ohio State Drafted Players

[RecordBook-1] 1976 Ohio State Football Media Guide

[2] "246-Pound Fullback Keys Buckeye Triumph." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Sept 21.

[3] "Griffin Gets 100 Yards in 41-20 Buckeye Win." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Oct 5.

[4] "Griffin tops mark; Illinois stops Sparts." Eugene Register-Guard. 1975 Oct 26.

[5] Palm Beach Post. 1975 Nov 16. Retrieved 2016-Jul-30.

[6] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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National championships in bold

1975 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 8 Michigan	7	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	2
Michigan State	4	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Indiana	1	–	6	–	1	2	–	8	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll