1954 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1954 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season. The team was led by quarterback Dave Leggett and captains John Borton and Dick Brubaker. They were the second national title team in Ohio State football history. They were coached by Hall of Fame coach Woody Hayes. The Buckeyes were awarded the title by the AP Poll and represented the Big Ten Conference in the Rose Bowl.

1954 Ohio State Buckeyes football
AP Poll national champion
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 20–7 vs. USC
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 1
1954 record10–0 (7–0 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive schemeHeavy run
Defensive coordinatorLyal Clark
Base defenseMulti
MVPHoward Cassady
CaptainJohn Borton, Dick Brubaker
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 78,677)
1954 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Ohio State $ 7 –0 –0  10 –0 –0
No. 9 Wisconsin 5 –2 –0  7 –2 –0
No. 15 Michigan 5 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Minnesota 4 –2 –0  7 –2 –0
Iowa 4 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Purdue 3 –3 –0  5 –3 –1
Indiana 2 –4 –0  3 –6 –0
Michigan State 1 –5 –0  3 –6 –0
Northwestern 1 –5 –0  2 –7 –0
Illinois 0 –6 –0  1 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The Buckeyes finished the 1953 season with a record of 6–3. They were ranked #20 in the preseason AP Poll, but dropped out of the first in-season poll, which was issued before their season opener.[1] However, six weeks later, the Buckeyes had risen to the top of the AP Poll. Their rise from unranked to #1 in six weeks stood as an AP Poll record for 60 years until being broken by Mississippi State in 2014.[2] The Buckeyes defeated six ranked teams to capture their first league title under fourth year Coach Hayes.

Led by their powerful defense, the Bucks beat the #2 Wisconsin Badgers and their eventual Heisman Trophy winner Alan Ameche on an 88-yard interception return by Howard "Hopalong" Cassady, who won the award the following year. The Buckeye defense forced 35 turnovers during the season and allowed only two teams to score more than one touchdown

In their game against the Michigan Wolverines, the Bucks held a goal-line stand and then drove 99 yards for a touchdown. The AP Poll declared the Bucks to be number one while the UPI Coaches Poll opted for the 9–0, Pacific Coast Conference champion the UCLA Bruins. However, because of the "no repeat rule" the Bruins were locked out of the Rose Bowl leaving the Buckeyes to play second place USC.

The 1955 Rose Bowl was played during a rainstorm in poor field conditions. However, Ohio State managed to gain 304 yards and hold the Trojans to only six first downs. USC's only score came on an 86-yard punt return. The team finished 10–0 for the first time in school history.

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 25Indiana
W 28–072,703
October 2No. 18 California*No. 14
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 21–1379,524
October 9at IllinoisNo. 10
W 40–769,567
October 16No. 13 IowaNo. 4
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 20–1482,141
October 23No. 2 WisconsinNo. 4
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 31–1482,636
October 30at NorthwesternNo. 1
W 14–741,650
November 6No. 20 Pittsburgh*No. 2
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 26-080,886
November 13at PurdueNo. 2
W 28–651,000
November 20No. 12 MichiganNo. 1
W 21–778,447
January 1, 1955vs. No. 17 USC*No. 1
NBCW 20–789,191
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game Summaries

Michigan

Southern California

Coaching staff
Dean Dugger in 1952
Team co-captain John Borton (20) and Tad Weed in 1952

All-Americans

All-Big Ten

1955 NFL Draft|1955 NFL draftees
PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Club
Bobby Watkins223HalfbackChicago Bears
Dean Dugger446EndPhiladelphia Eagles
Dave Leggett774QuarterbackChicago Cardinals
Jerry Krisher13153CenterPhiladelphia Eagles
John Borton13157QuarterbackCleveland Browns
Dick Brubaker15170EndChicago Cardinals
Bob Myers28328Defensive tackleBaltimore Colts
Dave Williams28330GuardPittsburgh Steelers

References
  1. "September 20, 1954 AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  2. "Mississippi State No. 1 in AP poll". ESPN. Associated Press. October 12, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1112_guide_7history.pdf%5B%5D

Lindy's (2002), A Championship Season...and the Battle for #1, p. 75.

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