1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football
National Champions Big Ten Champions Rose Bowl Champions
Rose Bowl, W 27-16 vs. USC
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
1968 record	10-0 (7-0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes
Offensive scheme	Heavy Run
Base defense	Multi
Captain	Dave Foley
Captain	Mark Stier
Captain	Dirk Worden
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
Seasons

1968 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#1/1 Ohio State †	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	0
#12/15 Michigan	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
#10/11 Purdue	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
#NR/18 Minnesota	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Indiana	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Wisconsin	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	10	–	0
† – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll

The 1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team is considered one of the strongest in OSU history, fielding 11 All-Americans and six first-round NFL draft picks. With quarterback Rex Kern and running back Jim Otis leading a powerful OSU offense and Jack Tatum on defense, Woody Hayes' Buckeyes capped an undefeated season with a dominating 50–14 victory over archrival Michigan and a come-from-behind 27–16 victory over Southern California in the 1969 Rose Bowl to secure the national title. This was also the first year the Buckeye players were awarded Buckeye pride stickers for their helmets, each one a reward for a good play. OSU was the first team to have such a program.

Schedule

Date	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 28*	Southern Methodist	#11	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 35-14	73,855
October 5*	Oregon	#6	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 21-6	70,919
October 12	#1 Purdue	#4	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 13-0	84,834
October 19†	Northwestern	#2	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 45-21	83,454
October 26	at Illinois	#2	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	W 31-24	56,174
November 2	#16 Michigan State	#2	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 25-20	84,859
November 9	at Wisconsin	#2	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	W 43-8	40,972
November 16	at Iowa	#2	Iowa Stadium • Iowa City, IA	W 33-27	44,131
November 23	#4 Michigan	#2	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 50-14	85,371
January 1*	vs. #2 USC	#1	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 27-16	102,063
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll.

Depth Chart

Defensive Starters FS Mike Sensibaugh ⋅ WLB SLB Doug Adams Mark Stier ⋅ Phil Strickland SS Jack Tatum ⋅ CB Tim Anderson ⋅ DE DT NT DT DE Mark Debevc Brad Nielsen Jim Stillwagon Paul Schmidlin Dick Whitfield ⋅ Bill Urbanik ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ CB Ted Provost ⋅ Offensive Starters SE Bruce Jankowski ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Dave Foley Thomas Backhus Jim Muhlbach Alan Jack Rufus Mayes ⋅ ⋅ Brian Donovan ⋅ Charles Hutchison TE Jan White ⋅ WB Larry Zelina ⋅ QB Rex Kern Ron Maciejowski FB Jim Otis John Brockington Special Teams RB Leo Hayden Ray Gillian

Coaching staff

• Woody Hayes - Head Coach (18th year)
• George Chaump - Quarterbacks Coach (1st year)
• Earle Bruce - Offensive Line Coach (3rd year)
• Hugh Hindman - (6th year)
• Lou Holtz - Defensive Back Coach (1st year)
• Rudy Hubbard - Running Backs (1st year)
• Bill Mallory - (3rd year)
• Esco Sarkkinen - (23rd year)

Game notes

Iowa

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 6 6 14 7 33 Iowa 0 0 6 21 27 Date: Saturday, November 16 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 44,131 Game weather: Rain Scoring summary 1 Ohio St Otis 7 yard run (kick failed) Ohio St 6-0 2 Ohio St Kern 3 yard run (pass failed) Ohio St 12-0 3 Ohio St Otis 1 yard run (Roman kick) Ohio St 19-0 3 Iowa Lawrence 1 yard run (kick failed) Ohio St 19-6 3 Ohio St Kern 1 yard run (Zelina kick) Ohio St 26-6 4 Iowa Podolak 3 yard run (Melendez kick) Ohio St 26-13 4 Ohio St Brockington 22 yard run (Roman kick) Ohio St 33-13 4 Iowa Manning 12 yard pass from Lawrence (Melendez kick) Ohio St 33-20 4 Iowa Reardon 9 yard pass from Lawrence (Melendez kick) Ohio St 33-27

Michigan

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 7 7 0 0 14 • Ohio State 7 14 6 23 50 Date: Saturday, November 23 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 85,371 Scoring summary 1 Michigan Johnson 1 yard run (Killian kick) Michigan 7-0 1 Ohio St Jim Otis 5 yard run (Roman kick) Tie 7-7 2 Ohio St Rex Kern 5 yard run (Roman kick) Ohio St 14-7 2 Michigan Johnson 1 yard run (Killian kick) Tie 14-14 2 Ohio St Jim Otis 2 yard run (Roman kick) Ohio St 21-14 3 Ohio St Larry Zelina 6 yard run (kick failed) Ohio St 27-14 4 Ohio St Roman 32 yard field goal Ohio St 30-14 4 Ohio St Rex Kern 3 yard run (Roman kick) Ohio St 37-14 4 Ohio St Jim Otis 2 yard run (Roman kick) Ohio St 44-14 4 Ohio St Jim Otis 1 yard run (pass failed) Ohio St 50-14

Statistical leaders

• Scoring-Jim Otis
• Rushing-Jim Otis
• Passing-Rex Kern
• Receiving-Bruce Jankowski

1969 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Rufus Mayes	1	14	Tackle	Chicago Bears
Dave Foley	1	26	Tackle	New York Jets
Steve Howell	10	239	Tight End	Cincinnati Bengals

References

Win/Loss statistics

• Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players