1998 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

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1998 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Buckeyes logo.svg
Big Ten co-champion
Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 24–14 vs. Texas A&M
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
1998 record11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
  • John Cooper (11th season)
Offensive coordinatorMike Jacobs (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorFred Pagac (3rd season)
MVPJoe Germaine
Captains
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 89,841)
Seasons
← 1997
1999 →
1998 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 Ohio State %+   7 1     11 1  
No. 6 Wisconsin $+   7 1     11 1  
No. 12 Michigan +   7 1     10 3  
No. 24 Purdue   6 2     9 4  
No. 17 Penn State   5 3     9 3  
Michigan State   4 4     6 6  
Minnesota   2 6     5 6  
Indiana   2 6     4 7  
Illinois   2 6     3 8  
Iowa   2 6     3 8  
Northwestern   0 8     3 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head football 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 the Big Ten Conference with the Wisconsin Badgers and the Michigan Wolverines and played in one of the premiere Bowl Championship Series bowl games, the 1999 Sugar Bowl.

Led by senior quarterback Joe Germaine, the Buckeyes were the preseason number one team and remained top-ranked throughout the majority of the season. The Buckeyes only loss came late in the season to the Michigan State Spartans. The team blew a 15-point lead late in the game to fall 28–24.

Because of the late loss, Ohio State was kept out of the National Championship Game, the 1999 Fiesta Bowl. Their regular season "miss" of not playing fellow tri-champion Wisconsin also cost the Buckeyes a trip to the 1999 Rose Bowl because Ohio State was the last to play in the Rose Bowl in 1997, Wisconsin last played in 1994.[1]

The Buckeyes beat Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl to finish second in both polls behind the Tennessee Volunteers after their victory over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.[2]

Schedule[]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 58:00 p.m.at No. 11 West Virginia*No. 1
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
CBSW 34–1768,409[3]
September 1212:30 p.m.Toledo*No. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ESPNW 49–093,149[3]
September 193:30 p.m.No. 21 Missouri*No. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ABCW 35–1493,269[3]
October 312:00 p.m.No. 7 Penn StateNo. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH (rivalry) (College GameDay)
ABCW 28–993,479[3]
October 1012:00 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 1
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ESPN+W 41–046,390[3]
October 1712:00 p.m.MinnesotadaggerNo. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ESPN+W 45–1593,138[3]
October 2412:00 p.m.at NorthwesternNo. 1
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
ESPN2W 36–1047,130[3]
October 313:30 p.m.at IndianaNo. 1
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Bloomington, IN
ABCW 38–752,049[3]
November 73:30 p.m.Michigan StateNo. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ABCL 24–2893,595[3]
November 143:30 p.m.at IowaNo. 7
ABCW 45–1469,473[3]
November 2112:00 p.m.No. 11 MichiganNo. 7
ABCW 31–1694,339[3]
January 1, 19998:30 p.m.vs. No. 8 Texas A&M*No. 3
ABCW 24–1476,503[3]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries[]

West Virginia[]

#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at #11 West Virginia Mountaineers
1 2 34Total
Ohio State 10 10 7734
West Virginia 3 7 0717

at Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, West Virginia

  • Date: September 5, 1998
  • Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 76°, Clear & Mild, wind 5 S
  • Game attendance: 68,409
  • Referee: Dick Honig
  • Box Score

Toledo[]

Toledo Rockets at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
1 2 34Total
Toledo 0 0 000
Ohio State 21 21 7049

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: September 12, 1998
  • Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 85°, Clear & Sunny, wind 7 W
  • Game attendance: 93,149
  • Referee: D. Witvoet
  • Box Score

Missouri[]

#21 Missouri Tigers at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
1 2 34Total
Missouri 0 14 0014
Ohio State 7 6 81435

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: September 19, 1998
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 80°, Sunny, wind 5 S
  • Game attendance: 93,269
  • Referee: J. Kemerling
  • Box Score

Penn State[]

#7 Penn State Nittany Lions at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
1 2 34Total
Penn State 0 3 609
Ohio State 0 14 14028

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: October 3, 1998
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 60°, Overcast Rain, wind 5-10 SSW
  • Game attendance: 93,479
  • Referee: Dick Honig
  • Box Score

Illinois[]

#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at Illinois Fighting Illini
1 2 34Total
Ohio State 10 14 01741
Illinois 0 0 000

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

  • Date: October 10, 1998
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 64°, Sunny, wind 7 SW
  • Game attendance: 46,390
  • Referee: J. Kemerling
  • Box Score

Minnesota[]

Minnesota Golden Gophers at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
1 2 34Total
Minnesota 3 10 0215
Ohio State 14 17 7745

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: October 17, 1998
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 70°, Sunny, wind 5-10 S
  • Game attendance: 93,183
  • Referee: D. Witvoet
  • Box Score

Northwestern[]

#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at Northwestern Wildcats
1 2 34Total
Ohio State 17 6 6736
Northwestern 7 3 0010

at Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois

  • Date: October 24, 1998
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 52°, Sunny, wind 9 SW
  • Game attendance: 47,130
  • Referee: J. Teitz
  • Box Score

Indiana[]

#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at Indiana Hoosiers
1 2 34Total
Ohio State 14 7 71038
Indiana 0 7 007

at Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana

  • Date: October 31, 1998
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 63°, Partly Cloudy, wind 10-15 NW
  • Game attendance: 52,049
  • Referee: J. Kemerling
  • Box Score

Michigan State[]

Michigan State Spartans at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
1 2 34Total
Michigan State 3 6 91028
Ohio State 17 0 7024

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: November 7, 1998
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 48°, Clear, wind 5-10 W
  • Game attendance: 93,595
  • Referee: D. Witvoet
  • Box Score

Iowa[]

#7 Ohio State Buckeyes at Iowa Hawkeyes
1 2 34Total
Ohio State 14 14 71045
Iowa 7 7 0014

at Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa

  • Date: November 14, 1998
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 61°, Clear wind 17-20 NW
  • Game attendance: 69,473
  • Box Score

Michigan[]

#11 Michigan Wolverines at #7 Ohio State Buckeyes
1 2 34Total
Michigan 0 10 3316
Ohio State 14 7 10031

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: November 21, 1998
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 38 °F (3 °C)
  • Game attendance: 94,339
  • Referee: Bill LeMonnier
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score

Ohio State secured a share of its 28th Big Ten title as the fans stormed the field with less than 30 seconds to play. Joe Germaine completed 19-of-24 passes for 330 yards, his seventh career 300-yard game, and his favorite target was David Boston, who finished with 10 receptions for 217 yards, most ever by a Michigan opponent. Boston also broke his own single-season reception mark and moved past Cris Carter on the school's all-time yardage list.[5]

Texas A&M[]

#8 Texas A&M Aggies vs. #3 Ohio State Buckeyes
1 2 34Total
Texas A&M 7 0 7014
Ohio State 21 3 0024

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Date: January 1, 1999
  • Game time: 7:30 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: None (indoors)
  • Game attendance: 76,502
  • Referee: A. Ford
  • Box Score

Coaching staff[]

  • John Cooper - Head Coach - 11th year
  • Bill Conley - Tight Ends, Recruiting Coordinator (12th year)
  • Jim Heacock - Defensive Tackles (3rd year)
  • Mike Jacobs - Offensive Coordinator, Offensive Line (4th year)
  • Fred Pagac - Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers (17th year)
  • Tim Salem - Quarterbacks (2nd year)
  • Shawn Simms - Defensive Ends (2nd year)
  • Tim Spencer - Running Backs (5th year)
  • Chuck Strobart - Wide Receivers (4th year)
  • Jon Tenuta - Defensive Backs (3rd year)

Depth chart[]

Q[6]

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ 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 Final 
AP 1 (30) 1 (39) 1 (57) 1 (64) 1 (58) 1 (66) 1 (64) 1 (64) 1 (64) 1 (63) 7 7 5 5 3 2 
Coaches Poll 1 (31) 1 (38) 1 (52) 1 (53) 1 (45) 1 (54) 1 (59) 1 (58) 1 (55) 1 (54) 7 6 5 (1) 5 (1) 3 (1) 2 
BCS Not released 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 Not released

1999 NFL draftees[]

Player Round Pick Position NFL Club
David Boston 1 8 Wide Receiver Arizona Cardinals
Antoine Winfield 1 23 Defensive Back Buffalo Bills
Andy Katzenmoyer 1 28 Linebacker New England Patriots
Joe Montgomery 2 49 Running Back New York Giants
Joe Germaine 4 101 Quarterback St. Louis Rams
Damon Moore 4 128 Defensive Back Philadelphia Eagles
Brent Bartholomew 6 192 Punter Miami Dolphins
6 196 Wide Receiver Green Bay Packers

References[]

  1. ^ Thomaselli, Rich (1998). "Big Ten". The Sporting News. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
  2. ^ "A Case for No. 1". CNN. January 9, 1999. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2014-Sep-02.
  5. ^ "Michigan vs. Ohio State". USA Today. November 21, 1998.
  6. ^ 1986 Ohio State Football Media Guide

Box Scores for each of the 1998 games

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