1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

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1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 16–17 vs. USC
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 4
Record11–1 (8–0 Big Ten)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorDennis Fryzel (1st season)
MVPJim Laughlin
Captains
  • Ken Fritz
  • Mike Guess
  • Jim Laughlin
  • Tom Waugh
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 83,112)
Seasons
← 1978
1980 →
1979 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Ohio State $ 8 0 0 11 1 0
No. 10 Purdue 7 1 0 10 2 0
No. 18 Michigan 6 2 0 8 4 0
No. 19 Indiana 5 3 0 8 4 0
Iowa 4 4 0 5 6 0
Minnesota 3 5 1 4 6 1
Michigan State 3 5 0 5 6 0
Wisconsin 3 5 0 4 7 0
Illinois 1 6 1 2 8 1
Northwestern 0 9 0 1 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled an 11–1 record, including the 1980 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where they lost, 17–16, to the USC Trojans.

Schedule[edit]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 81:30 p.m.Syracuse*W 31–886,205
September 152:30 p.m.at MinnesotaNo. 15W 21–1743,926
September 221:30 p.m.Washington State*No. 16
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 45–2987,495
September 294:00 p.m.at No. 17 UCLA*No. 14ABCW 17–1347,228
October 61:30 p.m.NorthwesternNo. 8
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 16–787,406
October 131:30 p.m.IndianaNo. 8
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 47–687,521
October 201:30 p.m.WisconsinNo. 6
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 59–087,585
October 271:30 p.m.Michigan StatedaggerNo. 4
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 42–087,747
November 32:00 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 5W 44–741,870
November 101:00 p.m.IowaNo. 3
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 34–787,835
November 1712:30 p.m.at No. 13 MichiganNo. 2ABCW 18–15106,255
January 1, 19805:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 USC*No. 1NBCL 16–17105,526
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Roster[edit]

1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 47 Doug Donley Jr
G 56 Ken Fritz Sr
QB 10 Art Schlichter So
RB 46 Tim Spencer Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
CB 25 Todd Bell Jr
CB 27 Ray Ellis Jr
LB 65 Keith Ferguson Jr
LB 5 Jim Laughlin Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 13 Vlade Janakievski Sr
P 19 Tom Orosz Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Depth chart[edit]

[1]

Coaching staff[edit]

  • Earle Bruce - Head Coach (1st year)
  • Pete Carroll - Defensive Backs (1st year)
  • Dennis Fryzel - Defensive Coordinator (1st year)
  • Glen Mason - Offensive Line / Defensive Inside Linebackers (2nd year)
  • Bill Myles - Offensive Line (3rd year)
  • Wayne Stanley - Running Backs (1st year)
  • Steve Szabo - Defensive Line (1st year)
  • Bob Tucker - Defensive Outside Linebackers (1st year)
  • Fred Zechman - Quarterbacks/Receivers (1st year)

1980 NFL draftees[edit]

Player Round Pick Position NFL club
Jim Laughlin 4 91 Linebacker Atlanta Falcons
Mike Guess 6 156 Defensive Back Chicago Bears
Ken Fritz 10 277 Guard Pittsburgh Steelers

[2]

Game summaries[edit]

Syracuse[edit]

1 234Total
Syracuse 0 080 8
• Ohio St 7 1437 31
  • Date: September 8
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:46
  • Game attendance: 86,205
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy; 67 °F (19 °C); wind 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) N

[3]

Minnesota[edit]

1 234Total
• Ohio St 7 068 21
Minnesota 14 300 17
  • Date: September 15
  • Location: Memorial Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:36
  • Game attendance: 43,926
  • Game weather: Sunny; 68 °F (20 °C); wind 8 mph (13 km/h) SE
  • Referee: Otho Kertz

[4]

Washington State[edit]

1 234Total
Wash St 3 01016 29
• Ohio St 7 17714 45
  • Date: September 22
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:46
  • Game attendance: 87,495
  • Game weather: Overcast; 64 °F (18 °C); wind 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) NE

[5]

The longest pass in school history to date, an 86-yard bomb from Art Schlichter to Calvin Murray, helped propel Ohio State to a 45-29 win over Washington State. The previous record was an 80-yard pass from Joe Sparma to Bob Klein in 1961 versus Michigan.[6]

UCLA[edit]

1 234Total
• Ohio St 0 737 17
UCLA 10 003 13
  • Date: September 29
  • Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:46
  • Game attendance: 47,228
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 71 °F (22 °C); light wind SW
  • Referee: Bill Love

[7]

Northwestern[edit]

1 234Total
Northwestern 0 007 7
• Ohio St 10 303 16
  • Date: October 6
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:41
  • Game attendance: 87,406
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy; 58 °F (14 °C); wind 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) SW

[8]

[9]

Indiana[edit]

1 234Total
Indiana 0 060 6
• Ohio St 9 17147 47
  • Date: October 13
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:48
  • Game attendance: 87,251
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 44 °F (7 °C); wind 15 mph (24 km/h) NW

[10]

Wisconsin[edit]

1 234Total
Wisconsin 0 000 0
• Ohio St 14 141021 59
  • Date: October 20
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:48
  • Game attendance: 87,585
  • Game weather: Sunny; 77 °F (25 °C); wind 15–20 mph (24–32 km/h) S

[11]

Michigan State[edit]

1 234Total
Michigan St 0 000 0
• Ohio St 14 1477 42
  • Date: October 27
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:35
  • Game attendance: 87,747
  • Game weather: Mostly sunny; 53 °F (12 °C); wind 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) S

[12]

Illinois[edit]

1 234Total
• Ohio St 3 141017 44
Illinois 0 070 7
  • Date: November 3
  • Location: Memorial Stadium
  • Game attendance: 41,870
  • Game weather: Clear; 51 °F (11 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h) NW

[13]

Iowa[edit]

1 234Total
Iowa 0 007 7
• Ohio St 13 1407 34
  • Date: November 10
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:51
  • Game attendance: 87,835
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 41 °F (5 °C); wind 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) NW

[14]

At Michigan[edit]

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes at #13 Michigan Wolverines
Period 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 0 6 6618
Michigan 0 7 8015

at Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, Michigan

  • Date: November 17
  • Game weather: Sunny • 55 °F (13 °C) • Wind 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) SW
  • Game attendance: 106,255
  • TV: ABC
  • Ohio State Football - Archives
Game information

Ohio State clinched the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl with an 18-15 victory over their archrivals. The Buckeyes had not beaten nor scored a touchdown against Michigan since 1975, the last time they had gone to Pasadena.[15]

Rose Bowl[edit]

1980 Rose Bowl
1 234Total
• USC 3 707 17
Ohio St 0 1033 16
  • Date: January 1
  • Location: Rose Bowl
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 105,526
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen, O.J. Simpson

[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ 1980 Ohio State Football Media Guide
  2. ^ "1980 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.
  3. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Aug-14.
  4. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2014-09-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Aug-14.
  5. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ Ocala Star-Banner. 1979 Sept 23.
  7. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2014-09-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Aug-16.
  8. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  9. ^ "Buckeyes Win in Struggle." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Oct 7.
  10. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  11. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  12. ^ "1979-08-Michigan State" (PDF). Ohio State Official Athletic Site. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  13. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  14. ^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Aug-23.
  15. ^ "Woody's successor takes Bucks to Pasadena." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Nov 18.
  16. ^ "Ohio State Spring Football Media Guide" (PDF). 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 28, 2020.