1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1978 Big Ten Conference football season. 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. This would be Woody Hayes' last season as head coach of the team, as he was fired following an incident in the game in which he punched Clemson defender Charlie Bauman.

1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Gator Bowl, L 15–17 vs. Clemson
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record7–4–1 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPTom Cousineau
Captains
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 83,112)
1978 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 5 Michigan + 7 –1 –010 –2 –0
No. 12 Michigan State + 7 –1 –08 –3 –0
No. 13 Purdue 6 –1 –19 –2 –1
Ohio State 6 –2 –07 –4 –1
Minnesota 4 –4 –05 –6 –0
Wisconsin 3 –4 –25 –4 –2
Indiana 3 –5 –04 –7 –0
Iowa 2 –6 –02 –9 –0
Illinois 0 –6 –21 –8 –2
Northwestern 0 –8 –10 –10 –1
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 161:30 p.m.No. 5 Penn State*No. 6
ABCL 0–1988,203
September 232:30 p.m.at MinnesotaNo. 16
W 27–1055,200
September 301:30 p.m.Baylor*No. 13
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 34–2887,998
October 71:30 p.m.SMU*No. 14
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
T 35–3587,721
October 142:30 p.m.at PurdueNo. 16
L 16–2769,465
October 211:30 p.m.Iowa
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 31–787,326
October 281:30 p.m.Northwestern
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 63–2087,296
November 42:00 p.m.at Wisconsin
W 49–1479,940
November 111:30 p.m.Illinois
W 45–787,819
November 181:30 p.m.at IndianaNo. 19
W 21–1847,560
November 2512:30 p.m.No. 6 MichiganNo. 16
ABCL 3–1488,358
December 299:00 p.m.vs. No. 7 Clemson*No. 20
ABCL 15–1772,011
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Personnel
1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
OL Ernie Andria
TE Ron Barwig
RB Cliff Belmer
OL Tim Brown
RB Paul Campbell
QB Greg Castignola
WR 47 Doug Donley So
OL Keith Ferguson
G 56 Ken Fritz Jr
WR 8 Rod Gerald Sr
RB Ty Hicks
WR Chuck Hunter
RB 21 Ricky Johnson
TE Jimmy Moore
RB Calvin Murray
RB Joel Payton
OL Joe Robinson
OL Jim Savoca
QB 10 Art Schlichter Fr
RB Ron Springs (C)
QB Mike Strahine
OL Tim Vogler
RB Ricardo Volley
OL Tom Waugh
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 25 Todd Bell So
DL Byron Cato
LB 36 Tom Cousineau (C) Sr
LB Kelton Dansler
DL Gary Dunn
CB 27 Ray Ellis So
LB 65 Keith Ferguson So
DB Mike Guess
DL Luther Henson
LB 5 Jim Laughlin Jr
LB Paul Ross
DB Vince Skillings
DL Mark Sullivan
LB Al Washington
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K Bob Atha
K 13 Vlade Janakievski Jr
P 19 Tom Orosz So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Depth chart

[1]

Game summaries

Penn State
1 234Total
• Penn St 3 079 19
Ohio St 0 000 0
  • Date: September 18
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 2:48
  • Game attendance: 88,202
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 80 °F (27 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h) SW
  • Television network: ABC
Scoring summary
Q19:52PSUBahr 30 yard field goalPSU 3–0
Q34:52PSUSuhey 3 yard run (Bahr kick)PSU 10–0
Q413:12PSUBahr 41 yard field goalPSU 13–0
Q46:45PSUBahr 25 yard field goalPSU 16–0
Q42:53PSUBahr 30 yard field goalPSU 19–0

Art Schlichter started the game at quarterback while Rod Gerald, the starter for the two previous seasons, opened the game at split end.[2]

Minnesota
See also: 1978 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
Ohio State Buckeyes (0–1) at Minnesota Golden Gophers
Period 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 7 14 0627
Minnesota 0 0 077

at Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Date: September 23
  • Game time: 1:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Sunny • 71 °F (22 °C) • Wind SW 20 miles per hour (32 km/h; 17 kn)
  • Game attendance: 55,200
  • Referee: R. McVay
  • Ohio State Football Archives
Game information

[3]

Wisconsin
1 234Total
• Ohio State 7 141414 49
Wisconsin 0 707 14
Scoring summary
1OSUSchlichter 1-yard run (Janakievski kick)OSU 7-0
2OSUOtha Watson recovered blocked punt in end zone (Janakievski kick)OSU 14-0
2WISCharles 7-yard pass from Kalasmlki (Veith kick)OSU 14-7
2OSUTy Hicks 96-yard kickoff return (Janakievski kick)OSU 21-7
3OSUSkillings 61-yard interception return (Janakievski kick)OSU 28-7
3OSUMurray 14-yard run (Janakievski kick)OSU 35-7
4OSUCastignola 15-yard run (Janakievski kick)OSU 42-7
4OSUCastignola 6-yard run (Jankievski kick)OSU 49-7
4WISGreen 1-yard run (Veith kick)OSU 49-14

[4]

Illinois
See also: Illibuck
1 234Total
Illinois 0 700 7
• Ohio St 7 71021 45
Scoring summary
Q1OHSTSchlichter 7 yard run (Janakievski kick)OHST 7–0
Q2ILLPowell 2 yard run (Finzer kick)Tie 7–7
Q2OHSTSchlichter 7 yard run (Janakievski kick)OHST 14–7
Q3OHSTAtha 31 yard field goalOHST 17–7
Q3OHSTCampbell 1 yard run (Janakievski kick)OHST 24–7
Q4OHSTSchlichter 5 yard run (Janakievski kick)OHST 31–7
Q4OHSTGerald 7 yard run (Janakievski kick)OHST 38–7
Q4OHSTJohnson 8 yard run (Janakievski kick)OHST 45–7

[5]

At Indiana
See also: 1978 Indiana Hoosiers football team
Ohio State Buckeyes (6–2–1) at Indiana Hoosiers (4–5)
Period 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 7 0 7721
Indiana 7 3 0818

at Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana

  • Date: November 18, 1978
  • Game weather: Overcast • 41 °F (5 °C) • Wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn) to 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
  • Game attendance: 47,540
  • Box Score
Game information
  • Ricky Johnson played in place of the injured Ron Springs and Calvin Murray
  • Woody Hayes' last victory as Ohio State's head coach

Michigan
See also: 1978 Michigan Wolverines football team and Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry
Michigan Wolverines at Ohio State Buckeyes
Period 1 2 34Total
Michigan 7 0 7014
Ohio St 3 0 003

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: November 25, 1978
  • Game time: 12:56 p.m.
  • Game weather: Overcast, 40 °F (4 °C)
  • Game attendance: 88,358
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score
Game information

Gator Bowl (vs. Clemson)
Main article: 1978 Gator Bowl
See also: 1978 Clemson Tigers football team
Gator Bowl: #7 Clemson Tigers (10–1) vs. #20 Ohio State Buckeyes (7–3–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 0 9 0615
Clemson 0 10 7017

at Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida

  • Date: December 29, 1978
  • Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 72,011
  • Referee: Jim Artley
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score
Game information

1979 NFL draftees
PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL club
Tom Cousineau11LinebackerBuffalo Bills
Ron Springs5136Running BackDallas Cowboys
Jimmy Moore6150GuardBaltimore Colts
Joe Robinson9229TackleKansas City Chiefs

References
  1. 1979 Ohio State Football Media Guide
  2. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2015-06-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Jun-21.
  3. "Buckeyes win by run." Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Sept 24.
  4. "Buckeyes' Defense Overcomes Badgers." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 5.
  5. Palm Beach Post November 12, 1978
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