1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

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1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten co-champion
Sugar Bowl, L 6–35 vs. Alabama
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 11
Record9–3 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorGeorge Hill
MVPDave Adkins
Captains
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 83,112)
Seasons
← 1976
1978 →
1977 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 9 Michigan + 7 1 0 10 2 0
No. 11 Ohio State + 7 1 0 9 3 0
Michigan State 6 1 1 7 3 1
Indiana 4 3 1 5 5 1
Minnesota 4 4 0 7 5 0
Purdue 3 5 0 5 6 0
Iowa 3 5 0 5 6 0
Wisconsin 3 6 0 5 6 0
Illinois 2 6 0 3 8 0
Northwestern 1 8 0 1 10 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1977 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record, including the 1978 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they lost 35–6 to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Schedule[edit]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 101:30 p.m.Miami (FL)*No. 5W 10–086,287
September 171:30 p.m.MinnesotaNo. 6
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 38–787,799
September 241:30 p.m.No. 3 Oklahoma*No. 4
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ABCL 28–2988,119
October 18:30 p.m.at SMU*No. 6W 35–751,970
October 81:30 p.m.PurdueNo. 4
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 46–087,707
October 152:30 p.m.at IowaNo. 5W 27–660,070
October 222:30 p.m.at NorthwesternNo. 4W 35–1529,563
October 291:30 p.m.WisconsinNo. 3
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 42–087,837
November 52:00 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 4W 35–066,973
November 121:30 p.m.IndianaNo. 4
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 35–787,786
November 1912:30 p.m.at No. 5 MichiganNo. 4ABCL 6–14106,024[1]
January 2, 19782:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 Alabama*No. 9ABCL 6–3576,811[2]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Roster[edit]

1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
G 69 Ernest Andria Jr
TE 82 Ronald Barwig So
OT 74 Tim Brown So
OT 76 Tim Burke Jr
G 63 Scott Burris So
QB 4 Norman Burrows Fr
FB 38 Paul Campbell So
QB 7 Greg Castignola So
OT 78 Garth Cox Sr
C 50 James DeLeone Fr
TB 47 Doug Donley Fr
G 59 Ernest Epitropoulos Fr
WR 89 Bryan Ferguson So
G 65 Keith Ferguson Fr
G 56 Kenneth Fritz So
QB 8 Rod Gerald Jr
WR 11 James Harrell Sr
TE 24 Charles Hunter So
TE 87 William Jaco Jr
RB 21 Ricky Johnson So
WR 49 Herman Jones Sr
G 51 Mark Lang Sr
G 92 Joel Laser Jr
RB 35 Felix Lee Fr
FB 34 Jeff Logan (C) Sr
OT 73 Douglas Mackie So
G 61 David Medich Fr
G 64 Nicholas Miller Fr
TE 99 Jimmy Moore Jr
RB 43 Calvin Murray Fr
WR 84 Douglas Pauley Fr
FB 30 Joel Payton Fr
OT 77 David Phillips Fr
C 53 Douglas Porter Sr
G 70 Joseph Robinson Jr
G 57 James Savoca Sr
FB 37 Michael Schneider So
RB 23 Ron Springs Jr
TE 80 Grgeory Storer Sr
QB 6 Michael Strahine Sr
QB 9 Alvin Taylor So
C 52 Tim Vogler Jr
FB 18 Ric Volley So
OT 79 Chris Ward (C) Sr
G 58 Thomas Waugh Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 94 David Adkins Sr
S 22 Joseph Allegro Sr
DE 88 David Allen Fr
MG 93 Terry Bach Fr
DT 67 Eddie Beamon Sr
DB 25 Todd Bell Fr
LB 19 Thomas Blinco So
MG 55 Aaron Brown (C) Sr
DB 41 James Caruso So
DT 71 Byron Cato Jr
LB 36 Tom Cousineau Jr
DE 96 Martin Cusick Sr
DE 32 Kelton Dansler Jr
DE 86 Joseph Dixon Sr
DT 60 Gary Dulin So
DB 27 Ray Ellis Fr
DB 39 Leon Ellison Fr
LB 33 John Epitropoulos Fr
DE 13 Michael Faler So
S 46 Duncan Griffin Jr
S 44 Ray Griffin (C) Sr
DB 12 Mike Guess So
DT 66 Tyrone Harris Sr
DT 54 Luther Henson Fr
DE 83 Joseph Hornik Jr
MG 98 Wendell Kellum Jr
DE 5 James Laughlin So
LB 95 Brian Lewis Jr
LB 90 Anthony Megaro Fr
DE 91 Ronald Miller Fr
DT 62 Ed Mills So
DB 20 Leonard Mills Jr
DB 28 Robert Murphy Fr
DE 16 Paul Ross Jr
DB 10 Keith Saunders Sr
MG 68 Tim Sawicki So
S 14 Brian Schwartz So
DB 48 Vince Skillings Fr
DT 72 Mark Sullivan Jr
LB 97 Terry Vogler Jr
LB 15 Alvin Washington Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 3 David Budd So
K 13 Vlade Janakievski Fr
K 2 Douglas McEldowney Fr
P 1 David McKee Jr
P 19 Thomas Orosz Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • George Chaump – Offense (10th year)
  • George Hill – Defensive Coordinator (7th year)
  • Dave Adolph – Defense (1st year)
  • Alex Gibbs – Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (3rd year)
  • Mickey Jackson – (4th year)
  • Bill Myles – Offensive Line (1st year)
  • Gary Tranquill – Defensive Backs (1st year)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2018-Dec-16

Depth chart[edit]

[3]

Game summaries[edit]

Miami (FL)[edit]

1 234Total
Miami (FL) 0 000 0
• Ohio St 0 1000 10
  • Date: September 10
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m. CST
  • Elapsed time: 2:29
  • Game attendance: 86,287
  • Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C); wind 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) WNW
  • Ron Springs 27 Rush, 114 Yds

[4]

Minnesota[edit]

1 234Total
Minnesota 0 070 7
• Ohio St 7 3721 38
  • Date: September 17
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m. CST
  • Elapsed time: 2:36
  • Game attendance: 87,799
  • Game weather: Mostly cloudy; 83 °F (28 °C); wind 5–15 mph (8.0–24.1 km/h) S–W
  • Ron Springs 27 Rush, 147 Yds

[5]

Oklahoma[edit]

#3 Oklahoma Sooners (2–0) at #4 Ohio State Buckeyes (2–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Oklahoma 17 3 0929
Ohio State 0 14 14028

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Game information

At SMU[edit]

1 234Total
• Ohio St 7 1477 35
SMU 0 007 7
  • Date: October 1
  • Location: Cotton Bowl
  • Game attendance: 51,970

Purdue[edit]

Purdue Boilermakers at Ohio State Buckeyes
Period 1 2 34Total
Purdue 0 0 000
Ohio St 29 10 7046

at Ohio StadiumColumbus, Ohio

  • Date: October 8
  • Game attendance: 87,707
  • Box Score
Game information

Iowa[edit]

1 234Total
• Ohio St 3 1077 27
Iowa 0 006 6

At Northwestern[edit]

#4 Ohio State Buckeyes at Northwestern Wildcats
Period 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 14 7 7735
Northwestern 3 6 0615

at Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois

  • Date: October 22
  • Game time: 12:30 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: Light rain, 53 °F (12 °C)
  • Game attendance: 29,563
  • Box Score
Game information

Wisconsin[edit]

1 234Total
Wisconsin 0 000 0
• Ohio St 7 71414 42
  • Date: October 29
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game attendance: 87,837

Illinois[edit]

1 234Total
Ohio St 0 7217 35
Illinois 0 000 0

[6]

Indiana[edit]

1 234Total
Indiana 7 000 7
• Ohio St 7 0217 35

[7]

Michigan[edit]

1 234Total
Ohio St 3 030 6
• Michigan 0 770 14

Sugar Bowl[edit]

1 234Total
Ohio St 0 006 6
• Alabama 0 13814 35

1978 NFL draftees[edit]

Player Round Pick Position NFL club
Chris Ward 1 4 Tackle New York Jets
Ray Griffin 2 35 Defensive back Cincinnati Bengals
Herman Jones 7 185 Wide receiver Chicago Bears
Jeff Logan 7 191 Running back Baltimore Colts
David Adkins 8 209 Linebacker Atlanta Falcons
Aaron C. Brown 10 252 Linebacker Tampa Bay Buccaneers

References[edit]

  1. ^ Curt Sylvester (November 20, 1977). "Ah! Everything Comes Up Roses For Bo's Gutty Wolverines, 14-6". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1D, 7D – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Tide rips Onio State 35–6 in sweet Sugar". Birmingham Post-Herald. January 3, 1978. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ 1978 Ohio State Football Media Guide
  4. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives[permanent dead link]. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  5. ^ Ohio State Football - Game Archives. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  6. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. November 6, 1977.
  7. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. November 13, 1977.