1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten co-champion Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 27–10 vs. Colorado
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 6
1976 record	9–2–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (26th season)
MVP	Bob Brudzinski
Captains	Bill Lukens Tom Skladany Ed Thompson
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 83,112)
Seasons ← 1975 1977 →

1976 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–2–1 record, including the 1977 Orange Bowl in Miami, where they won, 27–10, against the Colorado.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 11	1:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 4	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 49–21	86,509
September 18	3:30 p.m.	at No. 7 Penn State*	No. 2	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 12–7	62,503
September 25	1:30 p.m.	Missouri*	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		L 21–22	87,936
October 2	1:30 p.m.	No. 4 UCLA*	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	T 10–10	87,969
October 9	2:30 p.m.	at Iowa	No. 10	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 34–14	59,170
October 16	2:30 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 9	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 30–20	79,579
October 23	1:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 9	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 24–3	87,898
October 30	2:30 p.m.	at Indiana	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		W 47–7	39,663
November 6	1:30 p.m.	Illinois	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 42–10	87,564
November 13	2:00 p.m.	at Minnesota	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 9–3	53,190
November 20	12:30 p.m.	No. 4 Michigan	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (The Game)	ABC	L 0–22	88,250
January 1, 1977	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 12 Colorado*	No. 11	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	W 27–10	65,537
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Depth chart[]

^[1]

Coaching staff[]

• Woody Hayes – Head Coach (26th year)
• George Chaump – Offense (9th year)
• George Hill (American football) – Defensive Coordinator (6th year)
• Alex Gibbs – Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (2nd year)
• Mickey Jackson – (3rd year)
• John Mummey – Quarterbacks (8th year)
• Ralph Staub – (7th year)
• Dick Walker – Defensive Backs (8th year)

Game summaries[]

UCLA[]

1 2 3 4 Total UCLA 0 0 3 7 10 Ohio St 0 7 0 3 10 Date: October 2 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Scoring summary 2 OSU Johnson 4-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 7-0 3 UCLA Corral 47-yard field goal OSU 7-3 4 UCLA Dankworth 1-yard run (Corral kick) UCLA 10-7 4 OSU Skladany 25-yard field goal Tied 10-10

^[2]

Iowa[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 21 3 10 0 34 Iowa 0 0 0 14 14 Date: October 9 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 59,170

Scoring summary 1 OSU Gerald 17-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 7-0 1 OSU Johnson 1-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 14-0 1 OSU Johnson 1-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 21-0 2 OSU Skaladany 26-yard field goal OSU 24-0 3 OSU Skladany 46-yard field goal OSU 27-0 3 OSU Johnson 3-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 34-0 4 IOWA Sheeler 5-yard run (Quartaro kick) OSU 34-7 4 IOWA Caldwell 3-yard run (Quartaro kick) OSU 34-14

^[3]

Minnesota[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 3 6 0 0 9 Minnesota 0 3 0 0 3 Date: November 13 Location: Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, Minnesota

Scoring summary 1 OHST Skladany 39-yard field goal Ohio St 3-0 2 MINN Rogind 49-yard field goal Tie 3-3 2 OHST Pacenta 4-yard run (kick blocked) Ohio St 9-3

Ohio State clinches at least a share of Big Ten title for record fifth straight year.^[4]

Orange Bowl[]

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 10 0 0 0 10 • Ohio State 7 10 3 7 27 Date: January 1 Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida Game attendance: 65,537

Scoring summary 1 CU Zetterberg 26-yard field goal CU 3-0 1 CU Morehead 11-yard pass from Knapple (Zetterberg kick) CU 10-0 1 OSU Logan 36-yard run (Skladany kick) CU 10-7 2 OSU Skaldany 28-yard field goal Tied 10-10 2 OSU Johnson 3-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 17-10 3 OSU Skladany 20-yard field goal OSU 20-10 4 OSU Rod Gerald 4-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 27-10

^[5]

1977 NFL draftees[]

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Bob Brudzinski	1	23	Linebacker	Los Angeles Rams
Tom Skladany	2	46	Punter	Cleveland Browns
Pete Johnson	2	49	Running back	Cincinnati Bengals
	8	210	Linebacker	New York Jets
	9	238	Defensive tackle	Chicago Bears

References[]

Win/Loss statistics

• Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players