1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football

Gator Bowl, L 17–15 vs. Clemson
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1978 record	7–4–1 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes
MVP	Tom Cousineau
Captain	Byron Cato
Captain	Tom Cousineau
Captain	Ron Springs
Captain	Tim Vogler
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 83,112)

	Conf					Overall
1978 Big Ten football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#5 Michigan §	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
#12 Michigan State §	7	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
#13 Purdue	6	–	1	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	2	5	–	4	–	2
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Illinois	0	–	6	–	2	1	–	8	–	2
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	1	0	–	10	–	1

§ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the college football season of 1978-1979. The Buckeyes compiled a 7–4–1 record, including the 1978 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, where they lost 17–15 to the Clemson Tigers.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 16	1:30 PM	#5 Penn State*	#6	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	L 0–19	88,203
September 23	2:30 PM	at Minnesota	#16	Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, MN		W 27–10	55,200
September 30	1:30 PM	Baylor*	#13	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 34–28	87,998
October 7	1:30 PM	SMU*	#14	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		T 35–35	87,721
October 14	2:30 PM	at Purdue	#16	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN		L 16–27	69,465
October 21	1:30 PM	Iowa		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 31–7	87,326
October 28	1:30 PM	Northwestern		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 63–20	87,296
November 4	2:00 PM	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI		W 49–14	79,940
November 11	1:30 PM	Illinois		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 45–7	87,819
November 18	1:30 PM	at Indiana	#19	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN		W 21–18	47,560
November 25	12:30 PM	#6 Michigan	#16	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (The Game)	ABC	L 3–14	88,358
December 29	9:00 PM	vs. #7 Clemson*	#20	Gator Bowl Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	L 15–17	72,011
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Depth Chart

Defense

FS
Vince Skillings
Bob Murphy

WLB	ILB	ILB	SLB
Paul Ross	Al Washington	Tom Cousineau	Kelton Dansler
Jim Laughlin	Tony Megaro	Terry Vogler	⋅

ROV
Todd Bell
Duncan Griffin

CB
Mike Guess
⋅

DE	NT	DE
Byron Cato	Mark Sullivan	Gary Dulin
Joe Hornik	⋅	⋅

CB
Ray Ellis
Lenny Mills

Offense

SE
Rod Gerald
⋅

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Keith Ferguson	Ken Fritz	Tim Vogler	Jim Savoca	Joe Robinson
Tim Burke	Scott Burris	Tom Waugh	⋅	Tim Brown

TE
Jimmy Moore
Jim Houston

FL
Doug Donley
⋅

QB
Art Schlichter
Greg Castignola

FB
Paul Campbell
Ricardo Volley

Special Teams
PK Vlade Janakievski
PK Bob Atha
P Tom Orosz

RB
Ron Springs
Ricky Johnson

^[1]

Coaching staff

Woody Hayes - Head Coach (28th year)
George Chaump - Offense (10th year)
George Hill - Defensive Coordinator (7th year)
Glen Mason - Outside Linebackers and Offensive Line Coach (1st year)
Dave Adolph - Defense (2nd year)
Alex Gibbs - Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (4th year)
Mickey Jackson - (5th year)
Bill Myles - Offensive Line (2nd year)
Gary Tranquill - Defensive Backs (2nd year)

Game notes

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	7	14	0	6	27
Minnesota	0	3	0	7	10

Date: September 23
Location: Memorial Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Game attendance: 55,200

Scoring summary

1	OHST	Schlichter 3 yard run (Janakievski kick)	Ohio St 7–0

2	OHST	Payton 1 yard run (Janakievski kick)	Ohio St 14–0

2	OHST	Schlichter 1 yard run (Janakievski kick)	Ohio St 21–0

2	MINN	Rogind 39 yard field goal	Ohio St 21–3

4	OHST	Springs 3 yard run (kick failed)	Ohio St 27–3

4	MINN	Dilulo 15 yard pass from Carlson (Rogind kick)	Ohio St 27–10

^[2]

Purdue

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	7	14	14	14	49
Wisconsin	0	7	0	7	14

Date: November 4
Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI
Game attendance: 79,940

Scoring summary

1	OSU	Schlichter 1-yard run (Janakievski kick)	OSU 7-0

2	OSU	Otha Watson recovered blocked punt in end zone (Janakievski kick)	OSU 14-0

2	WIS	Charles 7-yard pass from Kalasmlki (Veith kick)	OSU 14-7

2	OSU	Ty Hicks 96-yard kickoff return (Janakievski kick)	OSU 21-7

3	OSU	Skillings 61-yard interception return (Janakievski kick)	OSU 28-7

3	OSU	Murray 14-yard run (Janakievski kick)	OSU 35-7

4	OSU	Castignola 15-yard run (Janakievski kick)	OSU 42-7

4	OSU	Castignola 6-yard run (Jankievski kick)	OSU 49-7

4	WIS	Green 1-yard run (Veith kick)	OSU 49-14

^[3]

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Illinois	0	7	0	0	7
• Ohio St	7	7	10	21	45

Date: November 11
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
Game attendance: 87,719

Scoring summary

Q1	OHST	Schlichter 7 yard run (Janakievski kick)	OHST 7–0

Q2	ILL	Powell 2 yard run (Finzer kick)	Tie 7–7

Q2	OHST	Schlichter 7 yard run (Janakievski kick)	OHST 14–7

Q3	OHST	Atha 31 yard field goal	OHST 17–7

Q3	OHST	Campbell 1 yard run (Janakievksi kick)	OHST 24–7

Q4	OHST	Schlichter 5 yard run (Janakievski kick)	OHST 31–7

Q4	OHST	Gerald 7 yard run (Janakievski kick)	OHST 38–7

Q4	OHST	Johnson 8 yard run (Janakievski kick)	OHST 45–7

^[4]

1979 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Tom Cousineau	1	1	Linebacker	Buffalo Bills
Ron Springs	5	136	Running Back	Dallas Cowboys
Jimmy Moore	6	150	Guard	Baltimore Colts
Joe Robinson	9	229	Tackle	Kansas City Chiefs

References

↑ 1979 Ohio State Football Media Guide
↑ "Buckeyes win by run." Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Sept 24.
↑ "Buckeyes' Defense Overcomes Badgers." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 5.
↑ Palm Beach Post November 12, 1978

Win/Loss statistics

Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

Ohio State Drafted Players

Ohio State Buckeyes football

Venues	Recreation Park (1890–1897) Ohio Field (1898–1921) Ohio Stadium (1922–present) Woody Hayes Athletic Center (practice)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Michigan (The Ten Year War) Penn State

Culture & lore	History Brutus Buckeye "Across the Field" "Buckeye Battle Cry" "Carmen Ohio" Neutron Man The Ohio State University Marching Band "Holy Buckeye" "Game of the Century" Block O "Hang On Sloopy" WBNS-TV WBNS WBNS-FM Ohio State IMG Sports Network

People	Head coaches All-Century Team Yearly statistical leaders NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

National championship seasons in bold