American Football Database
Register
Advertisement
1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football
National Football Foundation National Champions
Big Ten Champions
Rose Bowl, L 27-17 vs. Stanford
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 5
1970 record9-1 (7-0 Big Ten)
Head coachWoody Hayes
Offensive schemeHeavy Run
CaptainDoug Adams
CaptainRex Kern
CaptainJim Stillwagon
CaptainJan White
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 81,455)
Seasons
← 1969
1971 →
1970 Big Ten football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#5/2 Ohio State 7 0 0     9 1 0
#9/7 Michigan 6 1 0     9 1 0
Northwestern 6 1 0     6 4 0
Iowa 3 3 1     3 6 1
Wisconsin 3 4 0     4 5 1
Michigan State 3 4 0     4 6 0
Minnesota 2 4 1     3 6 1
Purdue 2 5 0     4 6 0
Illinois 1 6 0     3 7 0
Indiana 1 6 0     1 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll

The 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1970 college football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–0 regular season record to attain a #2 ranking. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference title and a berth in the 1971 Rose Bowl in Pasadena against the Stanford Indians, ranked #12 and champions of the Pac-8.

This was the last year Ohio State played a nine-game regular season schedule. Many major colleges added an 11th game in 1970, although no Big Ten school did so until the following season.

Schedule[]

Date Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 26* Texas A&M #1 Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH W 56-13   85,657
October 3* Duke #1 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 34-10   86,123
October 10 at Michigan State #1 Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI W 29-0   75,511
October 17 Minnesota #1 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 28-8   86,667
October 24 at Illinois #1 Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL W 48-29   46,208
October 31 #20 Northwestern #2 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 24-10   86,673
November 7 at Wisconsin #3 Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI W 24-7   72,578
November 14 at Purdue #3 Ross-Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN W 10-7   68,157
November 21 #4 Michigan #5 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH W 20-9   87,331
January 1* vs. #12 Stanford #2 Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) NBC L 17-27   103,839
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll.

Depth Chart[]

Defensive Starters


FS
Mike Sensibaugh


WLB SLB
Stan White Doug Adams
SS
Jack Tatum
CB
Tim Anderson


DE DT NT DT DE
Ken Luttner Dan Cutillo Jim Stillwagon George Hasenhorl Tom Marendt
CB
Harry Howard
Offensive Starters
SE
Bruce Jankowski
LT LG C RG RT
Dave Cheney Dick Kuhn Tom DeLeone Phil Strickland John Hicks
TE
Jan White
WB
Larry Zelina
QB
Rex Kern
Ron Maciejowski
FB
John Brockington
Special Teams





RB
Leo Hayden
Rick Galbos


[1]

Coaching staff[]

  • Woody Hayes - Head Coach (20th year)
  • Earle Bruce - Offense (5th year)
  • George Chaump - Offense (3rd year)
  • Rudy Hubbard - Running Backs (3rd year)
  • David McClain - (2nd year)
  • Lou McCullough - Defensive Coordinator (3rd year)
  • John Mummey - Quarterbacks (2nd year)
  • Ralph Staub - (1st year)
  • Dick Walker - Defensive Backs (2nd year)

Game notes[]

Texas A&M[]

Top-ranked Ohio State rolled up 513 yards of offense and scored touchdowns off five Texas A&M turnovers in a 56-13 rout. Fullback John Brockington scored twice and six other players accounted for touchdowns. The Buckeyes' defense forced three fumbles and an interception which led to four scores in an eight-minute span in the third quarter even though head coach Woody Hayes pulled the starters a little after halftime. [2]


Duke[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Duke 3 0 0 7 10
Ohio St 0 6 21 7 34

[3]



Northwestern[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Northwestern 7 3 0 0 10
Ohio State 0 3 14 7 24

[4]


Wisconsin[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Ohio State 3 7 14 0 24
Wisconsin 0 7 0 0 7

[5]


Purdue[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Ohio State 7 0 0 3 10
Purdue 7 0 0 0 7

Woody Hayes received a congratulatory phone call from President Richard Nixon after the game and then asked to speak to Fred Schram, who made the game-winning field goal. Fullback John Brockington carried the ball 24 times for 138 yards and Leo Hayden added 64 yards on 16 carries. [6]


Michigan[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Michigan 0 3 6 0 9
Ohio State 3 7 0 10 20

[7]


New Year's Day[]

In the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, top-ranked and defending national champion Texas was upset 24-11 by #6 Notre Dame, ending the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak.

Heavily-favored Ohio State could claim their second national title in three years that afternoon with a Rose Bowl victory over Stanford in Pasadena. Stanford (8-3) was led by quarterback Jim Plunkett, the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner. The Indians had climbed to a 6-0 conference record and 8-1 overall, but lost their final two regular season games, to Sugar Bowl-bound Air Force and arch-rival California. Stanford lost earlier in the season at home to Purdue, a team OSU defeated on the road.

The Buckeyes led Stanford by four points after three quarters, but were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter and lost 27-17. Later that night, #3 Nebraska won the Orange Bowl 17-12 over #5 LSU in Miami to claim the top spot in the AP writers poll.

1971 NFL draftees[]

Player Round Pick Position NFL Club
John Brockington 1 9 Running Back Green Bay Packers
Jack Tatum 1 19 Defensive Back Oakland Raiders
William Anderson 1 23 Defensive Back San Francisco 49ers
Leo Hayden 1 24 Running Back Minnesota Vikings
Jan White 2 29 Tight End Buffalo Bills
Jim Stillwagon 5 124 Linebacker Green Bay Packers
Doug Adams 7 165 Linebacker Denver Broncos
Mike Sensibaugh 8 191 Defensive Back Kansas City Chiefs
Larry Zelina 8 196 Running Back Cleveland Browns
Bruce Jankowski 10 250 Wide Receiver Kansas City Chiefs
Rex Kern 10 260 Defensive Back Baltimore Colts
Ron Maciejowski 15 376 Quarterback Chicago Bears
Mark Debevc 16 405 Linebacker Cincinnati Bengals

References[]

  1. 2010 Ohio State football record book
  2. Eugene Register-Guard. 1970 September 26.
  3. Palm Beach Post. 1970 October 4.
  4. Ocala Star-Banner. 1970 Nov 1.
  5. Ocala Star-Banner. 1970 Nov 8.
  6. "Notre Dame, Ohio State Survive 10-7 Heartstoppers." Palm Beach Post. 1970 Nov 15.
  7. "Revenge and Roses: Buckeyes win, 20-9." Palm Beach Post. 1970 Nov 22.
Win/Loss statistics
Draft data
Advertisement