1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football
NFF co-national champion Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 17–27 vs. Stanford
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 5
Record	9–1 (7–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (20th season)
Offensive scheme	Heavy run
Base defense	5–2
MVP	Jim Stillwagon
Captains	Doug Adams Rex Kern Jim Stillwagon Jan White
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
Seasons ← 1969 1971 →

1970 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Ohio State $	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Michigan	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
Northwestern	6	–	1	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Iowa	3	–	3	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
Michigan State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Purdue	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Indiana	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the Big Ten Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Buckeyes won all nine games in the regular season and were ranked second in both major polls. Ohio State won the Big Ten title and a berth in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on New Year's Day against the Stanford Indians, ranked No. 12 and champions of the Pac-8. The Buckeyes were upset, 27–17, and finished with a 9–1 record.

This was the last year Ohio State played a nine-game regular-season schedule (the Big Ten first allowed a 10th regular season game in 1965). Many major colleges added an eleventh game in 1970, although no Big Ten school did so until the following season.

The Buckeyes were recognized as co-national champions, along with Texas, by the National Football Foundation at the end of the regular season. The teams were jointly awarded the MacArthur Bowl.^[1]

This was the fifth and last national title that head coach Woody Hayes won for the Buckeyes; they did not win another national championship until 2002.

Both Ohio State and Texas would go on to lose their bowl games; the 11–0–1 Nebraska Cornhuskers won the AP national championship when they finished No. 1 in final post-bowl AP Poll.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	1:30 p.m.	Texas A&M*	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 56–13	85,657
October 3	1:30 p.m.	Duke*	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 34–10	86,123	[2]
October 10	1:30 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 1	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 29–0	75,511
October 17	1:30 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 28–8	86,667
October 24	2:30 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)		W 48–29	46,208
October 31	1:30 p.m.	No. 20 Northwestern	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 24–10	86,673
November 7	2:00 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 3	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 24–7	72,578
November 14	1:00 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 3	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ABC	W 10–7	68,157
November 21	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Michigan	No. 5	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)	ABC	W 20–9	87,331
January 1, 1971	5:00 p.m.	vs. No. 12 Stanford*	No. 2	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	L 17–27	103,839
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 34 John Bledsoe OL 58 Chuck Bonica HB 42 John Brockington Sr WR 24 Tom Campana OL 75 Dave Cheney RB 47 James Coburn OL 52 Tom DeLeone OL 53 Brian Donovan QB 33 Richard Galbos TE 58 Jimmie Harris HB 22 Leo Hayden Sr OL 65 John Hicks WR 82 Bruce Jankowski Sr QB 10 Rex Kern (C) Sr DL 57 Dick Kuhn QB 18 Ron Maciejowski QB Ross Moore OL 62 Phil Strickland TE 80 Jan White (C) Sr WR 16 Larry Zelina	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 63 Doug Adams (C) Sr CB 26 Tim Anderson Sr DL 83 Tom Debevc DL 70 George Hasenohrl DL 67 Ralph Holloway DB 28 Mike Vladich DL 87 Ken Luttner S 3 Mike Sensibaugh Sr DB 14 Bruce Smith MG 68 Jim Stillwagon (C) Sr S 32 Jack Tatum Sr LB 88 Stan White DL 79 Shad Williams	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 1 Fred Schram	Head coach Woody Hayes (20th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Earle Bruce George Chaump Rudy Hubbard (RB) Dave McClain Lou McCullough (DC) John Mummey (QB) Ralph Staub Dick Walker (DB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:^[3]

Depth chart

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Game summaries

Texas A&M

Top-ranked Ohio State rolled up 513 yards of offense and scored touchdowns off five Texas A&M turnovers in a 56–13 rout. Fullback John Brockington scored twice and six other players accounted for touchdowns. The Buckeyes' defense forced three fumbles and an interception which led to four scores in an eight-minute span in the third quarter even though head coach Woody Hayes pulled the starters a little after halftime.^[5]

Duke

1 2 3 4 Total Duke 3 0 0 7 10 • Ohio St 0 6 21 7 34 Date: October 3 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:27 Game attendance: 86,123 Game weather: Sunny; 63 °F (17 °C); wind 18 to 30 mph (29 to 48 km/h) W–NW

Scoring summary Q1 2:04 DUKE Pugh 38-yard field goal DUKE 3–0 Q2 :13 OHST Luttner 45-yard blocked punt return (kick blocked) OHST 6–3 Q3 10:52 OHST Zelina 11-yard pass from Kern (Schram kick) OHST 13–3 Q3 4:24 OHST Kern 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 20–3 Q3 1:27 OHST Brockington 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 27–3 Q4 5:51 OHST Galbos 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 34–3 Q4 1:23 DUKE Jones 2-yard run (Pugh kick) OHST 34–10

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Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 9 0 7 13 29 Michigan St 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 10 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:33 Game attendance: 75,511 Game weather: Partly sunny; 50 °F (10 °C); wind 15 mph (24 km/h) SSW Referee: Howard Wirtz

Scoring summary Q1 8:17 OHST Brockington 2-yard run (kick failed) OHST 6–0 Q1 1:36 OHST Schram 33-yard field goal OHST 9–0 Q3 5:15 OHST Maciejowski 2-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 16–0 Q4 7:46 OHST Maciejowski 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 23–0 Q4 4:39 OHST Brockington 25-yard run (kick failed) OHST 29–0

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Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 0 0 8 8 • Ohio St 21 7 0 0 28 Date: October 17 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:30 Game attendance: 86,667 Game weather: Sunny; 52 °F (11 °C); wind 12 mph (19 km/h) W

Scoring summary Q1 11:14 OHST Kern 7-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 7–0 Q1 5:00 OHST Brockington 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 14–0 Q1 1:57 OHST Brockington 62-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 21–0 Q2 8:40 OHST Kern 10-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 28–0 Q4 6:09 MINN Hamm 12-yard pass from Curry (Cook pass from Curry) OHST 28–8

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Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 7 7 13 21 48 Illinois 7 13 3 6 29 Date: October 24 Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:39 Game attendance: 46,208 Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C); wind 4 to 10 mph (6.4 to 16.1 km/h) SE Referee: Dwight Wilkey

Scoring summary Q1 10:12 OHST Brockington 2-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 7–0 Q1 4:17 ILL Lewis 18-yard run (Wells kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 12:10 ILL Dieken 11-yard pass from Wells (Wells kick) ILL 14–7 Q2 11:53 OHST Kern 76-yard run (Schram kick) Tie 14–14 Q2 2:34 ILL Robinson 1-yard run (kick failed) ILL 20–14 Q3 11:48 OHST White 43-yard pass from Kern (Schram kick) OHST 21–20 Q3 6:27 ILL Wells 30-yard field goal ILL 23–21 Q3 3:59 OHST Brockington 5-yard run (kick failed) OHST 27–23 Q4 14:56 OHST Brockington 11-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 34–23 Q4 9:30 OHST Hayden 31-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 41–23 Q4 4:19 OHST Coburn 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 48–23 Q4 :37 ILL Dieken 4-yard pass from Wells (pass failed) OHST 48–29

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Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 7 3 0 0 10 • Ohio St 0 3 14 7 24 Date: October 31 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH Game start: 1:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:31 Game attendance: 86,673 Game weather: Sunny; 60 °F (16 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h) SW

Scoring summary Q1 2:58 NW Adamle 1-yard run (Planisek kick) NW 7–0 Q2 12:13 OHST Schram 32-yard field goal NW 7–3 Q2 1:22 NW Planisek 29-yard field goal NW 10–3 Q3 11:27 OHST Kern 6-yard run (Schram kick) Tie 10–10 Q3 4:01 OHST Brockington 8-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 17–10 Q4 4:14 OHST Kern 3-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 24–10

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Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 3 7 14 0 24 Wisconsin 0 7 0 0 7 Date: November 7 Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI Game start: 1:00 p.m. Elapsed time: 2:33 Game attendance: 72,758 Game weather: Sunny; 45 °F (7 °C); wind 5 to 10 mph (8.0 to 16.1 km/h) W Referee: Dwight Wilkey

Scoring summary Q1 3:00 OHST Schram 23-yard field goal OHST 3–0 Q2 14:27 OHST Brockington 11-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 10–0 Q2 1:17 WIS Mialik 15-yard pass from Graff (Jaeger kick) OHST 10–7 Q3 8:31 OHST Brockington 4-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 17–7 Q3 5:58 OHST Brockington 1-yard run (Schram kick) OHST 24–7

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Purdue

Woody Hayes received a congratulatory phone call from President Richard Nixon after the game and then asked to speak to Fred Schram, who made the game-winning field goal. John Brockington carried the ball for 136 yards and Leo Hayden added 64 yards on 16 carries.^[16]

Michigan

Ohio State clinched a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl berth and some measure of revenge for the 1969 upset.

Stanford

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio State 7 7 3 0 17 • Stanford 10 0 3 14 27 Date: January 1, 1971 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA Game start: 2:05p.m. PST Elapsed time: 2:59 Game attendance: 103,839 Game weather: Clear, 70 °F (21 °C) TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy, Kyle Rote

Scoring summary Q1 10:20 STAN Brown 4 yard run (Horowitz kick) STAN 7–0 Q1 6:50 STAN Horowitz 37 yard field goal STAN 10–0 Q1 3:45 OSU Brockington 1 yard run (Schram kick) STAN 10–7 Q2 14:24 OSU Brockington 1 yard run (Schram kick) OSU 10–14 Q3 12:29 STAN Horowitz 48 yard field goal OSU 13–14 Q3 8:33 OSU Schram 32 yard field goal OSU 13–17 Q4 10:03 STAN Brown 1 yard run (Horowitz kick) STAN 20–14 Q4 8:18 STAN Plunkett 10 yard pass to Vataha (Horowitz kick) STAN 27–14

New Year's Day

In the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, top-ranked and defending national champion Texas was upset 24–11 by #6 Notre Dame, ending the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak.

Heavily favored Ohio State could claim their second outright national title in three years that afternoon with a Rose Bowl victory over Stanford in Pasadena. Stanford (8–3) was led by quarterback Jim Plunkett, the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner. The Indians had climbed to a 6–0 conference record and 8–1 overall, but lost their final two regular season games, to Sugar Bowl-bound Air Force and arch-rival California. Stanford lost earlier in the season at home to Purdue, a team OSU defeated on the road.

The Buckeyes led Stanford by four points after three quarters, but were outscored 14–0 in the fourth quarter and lost 27–17. Later that night, #3 Nebraska won the Orange Bowl 17–12 over #5 LSU in Miami to claim the top spot in the AP writers poll.

1971 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL club
John Brockington	1	9	Running Back	Green Bay Packers
Jack Tatum	1	19	Defensive Back	Oakland Raiders
William Anderson	1	23	Defensive Back	San Francisco 49ers
Leo Hayden	1	24	Running Back	Minnesota Vikings
Jan White	2	29	Tight End	Buffalo Bills
Jim Stillwagon	5	124	Linebacker	Green Bay Packers
Doug Adams	7	165	Linebacker	Denver Broncos
Mike Sensibaugh	8	191	Defensive Back	Kansas City Chiefs
Larry Zelina	8	196	Running Back	Cleveland Browns
Bruce Jankowski	10	250	Wide Receiver	Kansas City Chiefs
Rex Kern	10	260	Defensive Back	Baltimore Colts
Ron Maciejowski	15	376	Quarterback	Chicago Bears
Mark Debevc	16	405	Linebacker	Cincinnati Bengals

References