1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten co-champion Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 27–10 vs. Colorado
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 6
Record	9–2–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (26th season)
MVP	Bob Brudzinski
Captains	Bill Lukens Tom Skladany Ed Thompson
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium

1976 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–2–1 record, including the 1977 Orange Bowl in Miami, where they won, 27–10, against the Colorado.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	1:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 4	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 49–21	86,509
September 18	3:30 p.m.	at No. 7 Penn State*	No. 2	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 12–7	62,503
September 25	1:30 p.m.	Missouri*	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		L 21–22	87,936
October 2	1:30 p.m.	No. 4 UCLA*	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	T 10–10	87,969
October 9	2:30 p.m.	at Iowa	No. 10	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 34–14	59,170
October 16	2:30 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 9	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 30–20	79,579
October 23	1:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 9	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 24–3	87,898
October 30	2:30 p.m.	at Indiana	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		W 47–7	39,663–49,254
November 6	1:30 p.m.	Illinois	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 42–10	87,564
November 13	2:00 p.m.	at Minnesota	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 9–3	53,190
November 20	12:30 p.m.	No. 4 Michigan	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)	ABC	L 0–22	88,250
January 1, 1977	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 12 Colorado*	No. 11	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	W 27–10	65,537
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Depth chart

Defense
FS Joe Allegro Duncan Griffin		WLB SLB Ed Thompson Tom Cousineau ⋅ Dave Adkins					SS Ray Griffin ⋅
CB Mike Guess Lenny Mills		DE DT NT DT DE Bob Brudzinski Nick Buonamici Aaron Brown Eddie Beamon Kelton Dansler ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅						CB Tom Roche Bruce Ruhl
Offense
SE Herman Jones Bob Hyatt		LT LG C RG RT Chris Ward Jim Savoca Mark Lang Bill Lukens Lou Pietrini Garth Cox Ron Ayers ⋅ ⋅ Doug Mackie					TE Greg Storer Joe Robinson	WB Jim Harrell ⋅
				QB Rod Gerald Jim Pacenta
				FB Pete Johnson Paul Campbell			Special teams PK Tom Skladany P Tom Skladany
				RB Jeff Logan Ron Springs

Coaching staff

• Woody Hayes – Head Coach (26th year)
• George Chaump – Offense (9th year)
• George Hill (American football) – Defensive Coordinator (6th year)
• Alex Gibbs – Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (2nd year)
• Mickey Jackson – (3rd year)
• John Mummey – Quarterbacks (8th year)
• Ralph Staub – (7th year)
• Dick Walker – Defensive Backs (8th year)

Game summaries

Missouri

Missouri Tigers (1–1) at #2 Ohio State Buckeyes (2–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri	0	7	7	8	22
Ohio St	0	21	0	0	21

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

• Date: September 25, 1976
• Game time: 1:30 p.m.
• Game weather: Sunny, 70 °F (21 °C)
• Game attendance: 87,936
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter OSU – Pete Johnson 2-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 14:25. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards, 4:34. UM – Joe Stewart 31-yard pass from Pete Woods (Tim Gibbons kick), 11:56. Tie 7–7. Drive: 8 plays, 79 yards, 2:22. OSU – Pete Johnson 2-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 9:47. Ohio St 14–7. Drive: 6 plays, 77 yards, 2:02. OSU – Pete Johnson 3-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 7:33. Ohio St 21–7. Drive: 2 plays, 12 yards, 0:22. Third quarter UM – Curtis Brown 4-yard run (Tim Gibbons kick), 9:00. Ohio St 21–14. Drive: 8 plays, 36 yards, 2:50. Fourth quarter UM – Leo Lewis 2-yard pass from Pete Woods (run good), 0:12. Missouri 22–21. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 4:30. Top passers UM – Pete Woods – 9/19, 113 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT OSU – Rod Gerald – 1/8, 9 yards, INT Top rushers UM – Curtis Brown – 20 rushes, 108 yards, TD OSU – Pete Johnson – 23 rushes, 119 yards, 3 TD Top receivers UM – Joe Stewart – 3 receptions, 65 yards, TD OSU – Herman Jones – 1 reception, 9 yards

The loss snapped 25-game home win streak

External videos
Game highlights (part 1)
Game highlights (part 2)
Game highlights (part 3)
Game film (silent)

UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total UCLA 0 0 3 7 10 Ohio St 0 7 0 3 10 Date: October 2 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Scoring summary 2 OSU Johnson 4-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 7-0 3 UCLA Corral 47-yard field goal OSU 7-3 4 UCLA Dankworth 1-yard run (Corral kick) UCLA 10-7 4 OSU Skladany 25-yard field goal Tied 10-10

At Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 21 3 10 0 34 Iowa 0 0 0 14 14 Date: October 9 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 59,170

Scoring summary 1 OSU Gerald 17-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 7-0 1 OSU Johnson 1-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 14-0 1 OSU Johnson 1-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 21-0 2 OSU Skaladany 26-yard field goal OSU 24-0 3 OSU Skladany 46-yard field goal OSU 27-0 3 OSU Johnson 3-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 34-0 4 IOWA Sheeler 5-yard run (Quartaro kick) OSU 34-7 4 IOWA Caldwell 3-yard run (Quartaro kick) OSU 34-14

At Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 3 6 0 0 9 Minnesota 0 3 0 0 3 Date: November 13 Location: Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, Minnesota

Scoring summary 1 OHST Skladany 39-yard field goal Ohio St 3-0 2 MINN Rogind 49-yard field goal Tie 3-3 2 OHST Pacenta 4-yard run (kick blocked) Ohio St 9-3

Ohio State clinches at least a share of Big Ten title for record fifth straight year.

Orange Bowl (vs Colorado)

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 10 0 0 0 10 • Ohio State 7 10 3 7 27 Date: January 1 Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida Game attendance: 65,537

Scoring summary 1 CU Zetterberg 26-yard field goal CU 3-0 1 CU Morehead 11-yard pass from Knapple (Zetterberg kick) CU 10-0 1 OSU Logan 36-yard run (Skladany kick) CU 10-7 2 OSU Skaldany 28-yard field goal Tied 10-10 2 OSU Johnson 3-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 17-10 3 OSU Skladany 20-yard field goal OSU 20-10 4 OSU Rod Gerald 4-yard run (Skladany kick) OSU 27-10

1977 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL club
Bob Brudzinski	1	23	Linebacker	Los Angeles Rams
Tom Skladany	2	46	Punter	Cleveland Browns
Pete Johnson	2	49	Running back	Cincinnati Bengals
Ed Thompson	8	210	Linebacker	New York Jets
Nick Buonamici	9	238	Defensive tackle	Chicago Bears