1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1975 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled an 11–1 record, including the 1976 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where they lost, 23–10, to the UCLA Bruins.

1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 10–23 vs. UCLA
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
1975 record	11–1 (8–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (25th season)
MVP	Cornelius Greene
Captains	Brian Baschnagel Tim Fox Archie Griffin Ken Kuhn
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 83,112)

1975 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. 8 Michigan	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	2
Michigan State	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Indiana	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

In 1975, Archie Griffin became college football's only two-time Heisman trophy winner. Griffin won four Big Ten Conference titles with the Ohio State Buckeyes and became the only player ever to start in four Rose Bowls.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 13	4:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Michigan State	No. 3	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 21–0	80,383
September 20	1:30 p.m.	No. 7 Penn State*	No. 3	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)		W 17–9	88,093
September 27	1:30 p.m.	North Carolina*	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 32–7	87,750
October 4	9:00 p.m.	at No. 13 UCLA*	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 41–20	55,482
October 11	1:30 p.m.	Iowa	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 49–0	87,826
October 18	1:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 56–0	87,820
October 25	2:30 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 1	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 35–6	69,405
November 1	1:30 p.m.	Indiana	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 24–14	87,835
November 8	2:00 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)		W 40–3	67,751
November 15	1:30 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 1	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 38–6	87,817
November 22	1:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Michigan	No. 1	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (The Game)		W 21–14	105,543
January 1, 1976	5:00 p.m.	vs. No. 11 UCLA*	No. 1	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	L 10–23	105,464
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Cornelius Greene RB Archie Griffin Sr FB Pete Johnson QB 8 Rod Gerald Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Tim Fox DB Ray Griffin	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Tom Klaban	Head coach Woody Hayes Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Depth chart

Defense FS Tim Fox Duncan Griffin ⋅ WLB SLB Ed Thompson Ken Kuhn Dave Adkins Tom Cousineau ⋅ ⋅ SS Ray Griffin Joe Allegro ⋅ CB Craig Cassady Max Midlam ⋅ DE DT NT DT DE Bob Brudzinski Nick Buonamici Aaron Brown Eddie Beamon Pat Curto Kelton Dansler Mark Sullivan Mark Lang Byron Cato ⋅ ⋅ Tyrone Harris ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ CB Bruce Ruhl Lenny Mills ⋅ Offense SE Lenny Willis Herman Jones ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Chris Ward Ted Smith Rick Applegate Bill Lukens Scott Dannelley Lou Pietrini Jim Savoca Ron Ayers ⋅ Garth Cox ⋅ ⋅ Doug Porter ⋅ ⋅ TE Larry Kain Jimmy Moore Greg Storer WB Brian Baschnagel Jimmy Harrell ⋅ QB Cornelius Greene Rod Gerald Jim Pacenta FB Pete Johnson Lou Williott ⋅ Special Teams PK Tom Klaban P Tom Skladany P Mike Keeton KR Lenny Willis RB Archie Griffin Jeff Logan Woody Roach

[1]

Coaching staff

• Woody Hayes - Head Coach (25th year)
• George Chaump - Offense (8th year)
• George Hill - Defensive Coordinator (5th year)
• Charles Clausen - Defense (5th year)
• Alex Gibbs - Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (1st year)
• Mickey Jackson - (2nd year)
• John Mummey - Quarterbacks (7th year)
• Ralph Staub - (6th year)
• Dick Walker - Defensive Backs (7th year)
• Jeff Kaplan - 'brain coach' & counselor (3rd year)

Game summaries

Michigan State

Ohio State Buckeyes (0–0) at Michigan State Spartans

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	0	7	7	7	21
Michigan St	0	0	0	0	0

at Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, Michigan

• Date: September 13
• Game weather: Partly sunny • Mid 50s • Wind W–NW 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn) to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h; 17 kn)
• Game attendance: 80,383
• Ohio State Football Archives

Game information
Ohio St Greene 3/7, 85 Yds, TD, INT Griffin 29 Rush, 108 Yds Willis 2 Rec, 82 Yds, TD Michigan St Baggett 5/9, 67 Yds, 3 INT Jackson 20 Rush, 58 Yds Fortney 3 Rec, 35 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP OSU MSU 2 1:16 8 57 Ohio St Johnson 6-yard touchdown run, Klaban kick good 7 0 3 6:52 6 76 Ohio St Willis 64-yard touchdown reception from Grenne, Klaban kick good 14 0 4 14:56 4 30 Ohio St Johnson 9-yard touchdown run, Klaban kick good 21 0 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 21 0

Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total Penn St 3 3 3 0 9 • Ohio St 10 0 0 7 17 Date: September 20 Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 88,093

Scoring summary 1 OHST Johnson 1 yard run (Klaban kick) Ohio St 7–0 1 PSU Bahr 55 yard field goal Ohio St 7–3 1 OHST Klaban 45 yard field goal Ohio St 10–3 2 PSU Bahr 31 yard field goal Ohio St 10–6 3 PSU Bahr 25 yard field goal Ohio St 10–9 4 5:05 OHST Johnson 11 yard run (Klaban kick) Ohio St 17–9

[2]

UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 7 21 10 3 41 UCLA 7 0 7 6 20 Date: October 5 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Game attendance: 55,482

Scoring summary 1 UCLA Sarpy 13-yard pass from Sciarra (White kick) UCLA 7-0 1 OSU Greene 2-yard run (Klaban kick) Tied 7-7 2 OSU Johnson 3-yard run (Klaban kick) OSU 14-7 2 OSU Johnson 2-yard run (Klaban kick) OSU 21-7 2 OSU Greene 17-yard run (Klaban kick) OSU 28-7 3 OSU A. Griffin 17-yard run (Klaban kick) OSU 35-7 3 OSU Klaban 34-yard field goal OSU 38-7 3 UCLA Ayers 2-yard run (White kick) OSU 38-14 4 UCLA Ayers 1-yard run (kick failed) OSU 38-20 4 OSU Klaban 42-yard field goal OSU 41-20

[3]

Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 14 7 7 7 35 Purdue 3 3 0 0 6 Date: October 25 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN

Scoring summary 1 OSU Pete Johnson 60-yard run (Tom Klaban kick) OSU 7-0 1 PUR Steve Schmidt 22-yard field goal OSU 7-3 1 OSU Pete Johnson 3-yard run (Tom Klaban kick) OSU 14-3 2 PUR Steve Schmidt 27-yard field goal OSU 14-6 2 OSU Brian Baschnagel 22-yard pass from Cornelius Greene (Tom Klaban kick) OSU 21-6 3 OSU Lenny Willis 41-yard pass from Cornelius Green (Tom Klaban kick) OSU 28-6 4 OSU Cornelius Greene 28-yard run (Tom Klaban kick) OSU 35-6

Archie Griffin broke Cornell's Ed Marinaro NCAA career rushing record with a 23-yard run up the middle in the fourth quarter. [4]

Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 0 6 0 6 • Ohio St 3 14 0 21 38 Date: November 15 Location: Ohio Stadium Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 87,817

Scoring summary Q1 OHST Klaban 29 yard field goal OHST 3–0 Q2 OHST Greene 14 yard run (Klaban kick) OHST 10–0 Q2 OHST Griffin 19 yard run (Klaban kick) OHST 17–0 Q3 MINN Barlow 5 yard pass from Dungy (pass failed) OHST 17–6 Q4 OHST Johnson 8 yard run (Klaban kick) OHST 24–6 Q4 OHST Greene 31 yard run (Klaban kick) OHST 31–6 Q4 OHST Baschnagel 21 yard run (Klaban kick) OHST 38–6

[5]

Michigan

Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Wolverines

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	7	0	0	14	21
Michigan	0	7	0	7	14

at Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

• Date: November 22, 1975
• Game weather: Clear, 36 °F (2 °C)
• Game attendance: 105,543
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter OSU – Pete Johnson 7-yard pass from Cornelius Greene (Tom Klaban kick), 4:43. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 15 plays, 63 yards. Second quarter MICH – Jim Smith 11-yard pass from Gordon Bell (Bob Wood kick), 0:24. Tie 7–7. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards. Fourth quarter MICH – Rick Leach 1-yard run (Bob Wood kick), 7:11. Michigan 14–7. Drive: 10 plays, 43 yards. OSU – Pete Johnson 1-yard run (Tom Klaban kick), 3:18. Tie 14–14. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards. OSU – Pete Johnson 3-yard run (Tom Klaban kick), 2:19. Ohio St 21–14. Drive: 1 play, 3 yards. Top passers OSU – Cornelius Greene – 7/16, 84 yards, TD, 2 INT MICH – Rick Leach – 7/20, 102 yards, 3 INT Top rushers OSU – Pete Johnson – 18 rushes, 52 yards, 2 TD MICH – Gordon Bell – 21 rushes, 124 yards Top receivers OSU – Lenny Willis – 2 receptions, 32 yards MICH – Jim Smith – 3 receptions, 31 yards, TD

Awards and honors

• Archie Griffin, Heisman Trophy[6]

1976 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Tim Fox	1	21	Defensive Back	New England Patriots
Archie Griffin	1	24	Running Back	Cincinnati Bengals
Brian Baschnagel	3	66	Wide Receiver	Chicago Bears
Leonard Willis	4	118	Wide Receiver	Minnesota Vikings
Ken Kuhn	7	205	Linebacker	Cincinnati Bengals
Craig Cassady	8	213	Defensive Back	New Orleans Saints
Tom Klaban	10	287	Kicker	Cincinnati Bengals
Cornelius Greene	11	317	Quarterback	Dallas Cowboys
Larry Kain	13	375	Tight End	Pittsburgh Steelers
Pat Curto	16	441	Linebacker	Atlanta Falcons
Scott Dannelley	17	482	Guard	Cincinnati Bengals

References

1. 1976 Ohio State Football Media Guide
2. "246-Pound Fullback Keys Buckeye Triumph." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Sept 21.
3. "Griffin Gets 100 Yards in 41-20 Buckeye Win." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Oct 5.
4. "Griffin tops mark; Illinois stops Sparts." Eugene Register-Guard. 1975 Oct 26.
5. Palm Beach Post. 1975 Nov 16. Retrieved 2016-Jul-30.
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Win/Loss statistics

• Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players