American college football season
1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football Conference Big Ten Conference Coaches No. 2 AP No. 2 1996 record 11–1 (7–1 Big Ten) Head coach Offensive coordinator Joe Hollis (5th season)Defensive coordinator Fred Pagac (1st season)Home stadium Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 89,841)Seasons
1996 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
W
L
No. 2 Ohio State +
7
–
1
11
–
1
No. 15 Northwestern +
7
–
1
9
–
3
No. 7 Penn State
6
–
2
11
–
2
No. 18 Iowa
6
–
2
9
–
3
No. 20 Michigan
5
–
3
8
–
4
Michigan State
5
–
3
6
–
6
Wisconsin
3
–
5
8
–
5
Purdue
2
–
6
3
–
8
Minnesota
1
–
7
4
–
7
Indiana
1
–
7
3
–
8
Illinois
1
–
7
2
–
9
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll
The 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season . The team's head 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 Big Ten Conference with the Northwestern Wildcats and played in the 1997 Rose Bowl against Pacific-10 Conference champion the Arizona State Sun Devils . Ohio State did not play Northwestern during the regular season and were selected to play in the Rose Bowl due to their better overall record of 10–1 (the Wildcats were 9–2). Northwestern had played in the previous Rose Bowl .
The Buckeyes used two quarterbacks throughout the year, junior Stanley Jackson , and sophomore Joe Germaine , the Buckeyes were dominant throughout the majority of the season, outscoring their opponents by a score of 455–131. The Buckeyes only loss came late in the season to their rivals, the Michigan Wolverines , by a score of 13–9.
Because of the late loss, Ohio State fell from second to fourth in the polls. Due to the Big Ten and Pac-10 not being involved in the Bowl Alliance agreement as the two champions were contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl , Ohio State was set to play #2 Arizona State, while #1 Florida State and #3 Florida played for the national championship in the 1997 Sugar Bowl .
Ohio State went into the 1997 Rose Bowl with high hopes and Germaine came off the bench and threw a late touchdown pass to David Boston to steal a come-from-behind victory. With the Buckeyes dramatic upset victory over the Sun Devils, Buckeye fans hoped for a share of the national title. However, Florida would later avenge a late season loss to their rivals, and beat the Seminoles by a score of 52–20. Florida finished first and Ohio State second in both polls, followed by Florida State and Arizona State.
The Rose Bowl appearance was the Buckeyes first since 1985 . The Rose Bowl victory was the sixth in school history, the first since 1974 . Germaine was named Rose Bowl MVP.
Schedule [ ]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 7 12:00 p.m. Rice * No. 10 ESPN+ W 70–793,479[1]
September 21 12:30 p.m. Pittsburgh * No. 7 ESPN W 72–093,959[1]
September 28 2:30 p.m. at No. 5 Notre Dame * No. 4 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (College GameDay )NBC W 29–1659,075[1]
October 5 3:30 p.m. No. 4 Penn State No. 3 Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry ) (College GameDay ) ABC W 38–794,241[1]
October 12 3:30 p.m. Wisconsin No. 2 ABC W 17–1494,215[1]
October 19 3:30 p.m. at Purdue No. 2 ABC W 42–1460,172[1]
October 26 3:30 p.m. at No. 20 Iowa No. 2 ABC W 38–2670,397[1]
November 2 12:30 p.m. Minnesota No. 2 ESPN2 W 45–093,588[1]
November 9 12:30 p.m. at Illinois No. 2 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL ESPN W 48–054,412[1]
November 16 3:30 p.m. at Indiana No. 2 Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN ABC W 27–1749,271[1]
November 23 12:00 p.m. No. 21 Michigan No. 2 ABC L 9–1394,676[1]
January 1, 1997 4:30 p.m. vs. No. 2 Arizona State * No. 4 Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl )ABC W 20–17100,635[1]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Game summaries [ ]
Rice [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Rice
0
7 0 0
7
• Ohio St
21
21 21 7
70
Date: September 7Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 93,479Television network: ESPN+
Scoring summary 1 OHST Lumpkin 2 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 7–0
1 OHST Pearson 8 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 14–0
1 OHST Pearson 22 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 21–0
2 OHST Stanley 15 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 28–0
2 RICE Perry 5 yard run (Ruff kick) Ohio St 28–7
2 OHST Boston 58 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 35–7
2 OHST Wiley 49 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 42–7
3 OHST Pearson 25 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 49–7
3 OHST Wiley 51 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 56–7
3 OHST Wiley 60 yard pass from Germaine (Stamp kick) Ohio St 63–7
4 OHST Je Jackson 3 yard run (Stamp kick) Ohio St 70–7
[2]
Pittsburgh [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Pittsburgh
0
0 0 0
0
• Ohio St
21
31 13 7
72
Date: September 21Location: Ohio Stadium
Notre Dame [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
12
10 7 0
29
Notre Dame
7
0 3 6
16
Date: September 28Location: Notre Dame Stadium
Penn State [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Penn St
0
0 0 7
7
• Ohio St
10
14 7 7
38
Date: October 5Location: Ohio Stadium
Wisconsin [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Wisconsin
0
7 0 7
14
• Ohio St
0
3 7 7
17
Date: October 12Location: Ohio Stadium
Purdue [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
7
7 14 14
42
Purdue
14
0 0 0
14
Iowa [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
17
14 7 0
38
Iowa
3
3 6 14
26
Minnesota [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Minnesota
0
0 0 0
0
• Ohio St
0
10 21 14
45
Date: November 2Location: Ohio Stadium
Illinois [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
0
28 20 0
48
Illinois
0
0 0 0
0
Date: November 9Location: Memorial Stadium
Indiana [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
0
7 0 20
27
Indiana
0
3 7 7
17
Date: November 16Location: Memorial Stadium
Michigan [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Michigan
0
0 10 3
13
Ohio St
3
6 0 0
9
Date: November 23Location: Ohio Stadium
Rose Bowl [ ]
See also: 1997 Rose Bowl
1
2 3 4 Total
• Ohio St
7
0 7 6
20
Arizona St
0
7 3 7
17
Date: January 1Location: Rose Bowl
Rankings [ ]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll
Pre
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Final
AP
9
9
10
8
7
4
3 (1)
2 (24)
2 (7)
2 (4)
2 (4)
2 (5)
2 (17)
2 (7)
6
5
4
2 (1½)
Coaches Poll
10
10
9
7
6
4 (2)
3 (5)
2 (20)
3 (2)
3 (1)
3 (4)
3 (4)
2 (16)
2 (9)
6
5
4
2 (4)
Roster [ ]
1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Pos.
#
Name
Class
WR
9
David Boston
So
G
57
LeShun Daniels
Sr
WR
82
Mike Furrey
Fr
QB
7
Joe Germaine
So
WR
15
Dee Miller
So
RB
33
Joe Montgomery
So
G
56
Rob Murphy
Fr
T
75
Orlando Pace
Jr
WR
6
Jimmy Redmond
Fr
C
77
Tyson Walter
Fr
RB
5
Michael Wiley
Fr
Defense
Special teams
Pos.
#
Name
Class
P
41
Brent Bartholomew
So
LS
87
Kevin Houser
Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Roster
Coaching staff [ ]
John Cooper - Head Coach - 9th year
Bill Conley - Defensive Ends, Recruiting Coordinator (10th year)
Walt Harris - Quarterbacks (2nd year)
Jim Heacock - Defensive Line (1st year)
Joe Hollis - Offensive Coordinator (6th year)
Mike Jacobs - Offensive Line (2nd year)
Fred Pagac - Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers (15th year)
Tim Spencer - Running Backs (3rd year)
Chuck Strobart - Wide Receivers (2nd year)
Jon Tenuta - Defensive Backs (1st year)
Depth chart [ ]
Defense
FS
34 Rob Kelly
26 Anthony Gwinn
WLB
MLB
SLB
43 Ryan Miller
45 Andy Katzenmoyer
30 Greg Bellisari
35 Jerry Rudzinski
51 Roedell Dupree
52 Kevin Johnson
SS
13 Damon Moore
18 Che Bryant
DE
DT
DT
DE
94 Mike Vrabel
99 Luke Fickell
68 Winfield Garnett
92 Matt Finkes
⋅
62 Shane Clark
97 John Day
⋅
Offense
SE
9 David Boston
12 Buster Tillman
LT
LG
C
RG
RT
75 Orlando Pace
56 Rob Murphy
65 Juan Porter
57 LeShun Daniels
50 Eric Gohlstin
⋅
⋅
⋅
⋅
⋅
FL
3 Dimitrious Stanley
15 Dee Miller
Key Reserves
23 Matt Keller (FB)
FB
37 Nicky Sualua
39 Matt Calhoun
Special Teams
PK 4 Josh Jackson
P 41 Brent Bartholomew
RB
29 Pepe Pearson
25 Jermon Jackson
Q[3]
Awards and honors [ ]
Andy Katzenmoyer , Big Ten Freshman of the Year
1997 NFL draftees [ ]
Player
Round
Pick
Position
NFL Club
Orlando Pace
1
1
Tackle
St. Louis Rams
Shawn Springs
1
3
Defensive Back
Seattle Seahawks
Rob Kelly
2
33
Defensive Back
New Orleans Saints
Ty Howard
3
84
Defensive Back
Arizona Cardinals
Mike Vrabel
3
91
Defensive End
Pittsburgh Steelers
Nicky Sualua
4
129
Running Back
Dallas Cowboys
Matt Finkes
6
189
Defensive End
Carolina Panthers
[4]
References [ ]
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Park, Jack (2003). The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia . Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-58261-695-7 .
^ USA Today
^ 1986 Ohio State Football Media Guide
^ "Archived copy" . Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-03 .{{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link )
Buckeye Sports Bulletin (1997), Rose Bowl Championship Yearbook
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