1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Gator Bowl, L 17-15 vs. Clemson
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1978 record	7-4-1 (6-2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes
MVP	Tom Cousineau
Captain	Byron Cato
Captain	Tom Cousineau
Captain	Ron Springs
Captain	Tim Vogler
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 83,112)
Seasons

1978 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#5/5 Michigan §	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#12/NR Michigan State §	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
#13/13 Purdue	6	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	2			5	–	4	–	2
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Illinois	0	–	6	–	2			1	–	8	–	2
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	1			0	–	10	–	1
§ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll

The 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the college football season of 1978-1979. The Buckeyes compiled a 7–4–1 record, including the 1978 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, where they lost 17–15 to the Clemson Tigers.

Schedule

Date	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 16*	#5 Penn State	#6	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	L 0-19	88,203
September 23	at Minnesota	#16	Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, MN	W 27-10	55,200
September 30*	Baylor	#13	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 34-28	87,998
October 7*	SMU	#14	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	T 35-35	87,721
October 14	at Purdue	#16	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	L 16-27	69,465
October 21	Iowa		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 31-7	87,326
October 28	Northwestern		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 63-20	87,296
November 4	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	W 49-14	79,940
November 11	Illinois		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	W 45-7	87,819
November 18	at Indiana	#19	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	W 21-18	47,560
November 25	#6 Michigan	#16	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	L 3-14	88,358
December 29*	vs. #7 Clemson	#20	Gator Bowl Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	L 15-17	72,011
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll.

Depth Chart

Defensive Starters FS Todd Bell ⋅ WLB ILB ILB SLB Paul Ross Al Washington Tom Cousinea Kelton Dansler ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ SS Vince Skillings ⋅ CB Mike Guess ⋅ DE NT DE Byron Cato Mark Sullivan Gary Dulin ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ CB Ray Ellis ⋅ Offensive Starters SE Rod Gerald ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Keith Ferguson Ken Fritz Tim Vogler Jim Savoca Joe Robinson ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Jimmy Moore ⋅ FL Doug Conley ⋅ QB Art Schlichter Greg Castignola FB Paul Campbell Ricardo Volley Special Teams PK Vlade Janakievski RB Ron Springs Ricky Johnson

Coaching staff

• Woody Hayes - Head Coach (28th year)
• George Chaump - Offense (10th year)
• George Hill - Defensive Coordinator (7th year)
• Glen Mason - Outside Linebackers and Offensive Line Coach (1st year)
• Dave Adolph - Defense (2nd year)
• Alex Gibbs - Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (4th year)
• Mickey Jackson - (5th year)
• Bill Myles - Offensive Line (2nd year)
• Gary Tranquill - Defensive Backs (2nd year)

Game notes

Wisconsin

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 7 14 14 14 49 Wisconsin 0 7 0 7 14 Date: November 4 Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI Game attendance: 79,940 Scoring summary 1 OSU Schlichter 1 yard run (Janakievski kick) OSU 7-0 2 OSU Otha Watson recovered blocked punt in end zone (Janakievski kick) OSU 14-0 2 WIS Charles 7 yard pass from Kalasmlki (Veith kick) OSU 14-7 2 OSU Ty Hicks 96 yard kickoff return (Janakievski kick) OSU 21-7 3 OSU Skillings 61 yard interception return (Janakievski kick) OSU 28-7 3 OSU Murray 14 yard run (Janakievski kick) OSU 35-7 4 OSU Castignola 15 yard run (Janakievski kick) OSU 42-7 4 OSU Castignola 6 yard run (Jankievski kick) OSU 49-7 4 WIS Green 1 yard run (Veith kick) OSU 49-14

1979 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Tom Cousineau	1	1	Linebacker	Buffalo Bills
Ron Springs	5	136	Running Back	Dallas Cowboys
Jimmy Moore	6	150	Guard	Baltimore Colts
Joe Robinson	9	229	Tackle	Kansas City Chiefs

References

Win/Loss statistics

• Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players