1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten Co-Champions
Sugar Bowl, L 35–6 vs. Alabama
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#12
AP	#11
1977 record	9–3 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes
Defensive coordinator	George Hill
MVP	Dave Adkins
Captain	Aaron Brown
Captain	Ray Griffin
Captain	Jeff Logan
Captain	Chris Ward
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 83,112)

1977 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#9 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#11 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Indiana	4	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Illinois	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	8	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record, including the 1978 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they lost 35–6 to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	1:30 PM	Miami (FL)*	#5	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 10–0	86,287
September 17	1:30 PM	Minnesota	#6	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 38–7	87,799
September 24	1:30 PM	#3 Oklahoma*	#4	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	L 28–29	88,119
October 1	8:30 PM	at SMU*	#6	Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX		W 35–7	51,970
October 8	1:30 PM	Purdue	#4	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 46–0	87,707
October 15	2:30 PM	at Iowa	#5	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA		W 27–6	60,070
October 22	2:30 PM	at Northwestern	#4	Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL		W 35–15	29,563
October 29	1:30 PM	Wisconsin	#3	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 42–0	87,837
November 5	2:00 PM	at Illinois	#4	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)		W 35–0	66,973
November 12	1:30 PM	Indiana	#4	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 35–7	87,786
November 19	12:30 PM	at #5 Michigan	#4	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (The Game)	ABC	L 6–14	106,024
January 2	2:00 PM	vs. #3 Alabama*	#9	Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 6–35	76,811
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Depth chart

Defense FS Joe Allegro Brian Schwartz ⋅ WLB SLB Dave Adkins Tom Cousineau Terry Vogler Tom Blinco ⋅ ⋅ SS Ray Griffin Todd Bell Duncan Griffin CB Mike Guess Vince Skillings ⋅ DE DT NT DT DE Kelton Dansler Gary Dulin Aaron Brown Byron Cato Paul Ross ⋅ Eddie Beamon Mark Sullivan Luther Henson Jim Laughlin ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ CB Len Mills Tom Roche Ray Ellis Offense SE Herman Jones Doug Donley ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Chris Ward Mark Lang Tim Vogler Ken Fritz Joe Robinson Garth Cox Ernie Andria Doug Porter Tom Waugh Doug Mackie ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Bill Jaco Jimmy Moore Greg Storer WB Jim Harrell ⋅ ⋅ QB Rod Gerald Greg Castignola Mike Strahine FB Jeff Logan Paul Campbell Ricardo Volley Special Teams PK Vlade Janakievski P Dave McKee RB Ron Springs Joel Payton Ray Griffin

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Coaching staff

• Woody Hayes - Head Coach (27th year)
• George Chaump - Offense (10th year)
• George Hill (American football coach) - Defensive Coordinator (7th year)
• Dave Adolph - Defense (1st year)
• Alex Gibbs - Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (3rd year)
• Mickey Jackson - (4th year)
• Bill Myles - Offensive Line (1st year)
• Gary Tranquill - Defensive Backs (1st year)

Game summaries

Miami (FL)

1 2 3 4 Total Miami (FL) 0 0 0 0 0 • Ohio St 0 10 0 0 10 Date: September 10 Location: Ohio Stadium Game start: 1:30 p.m. Game attendance: 86,287 Game weather: 78°F; wind 10–15 WNW

Scoring summary Q2 10:40 OSU Janakievski 31 yard field goal OSU 3–0 Q2 4:56 OSU Springs 21 yard run (Janakievski kick) OSU 10–0

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Oklahoma

European Soccer style kicker drilled a 50+ yard field goal to give the Sooners the win as time expired

SMU

Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total Purdue 0 0 0 0 0 • Ohio St 29 10 7 0 46 Date: October 8 Location: Ohio Stadium • Columbus, Ohio Game weather: 87,707

Scoring summary 1 OHST Guess 65-yard interception return (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 7-0 1 OHST Payton 1-yard run (Payton run) Ohio St 15-0 1 OHST Payton 1-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 22-0 1 OHST Payton 10-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 29-0 2 OHST Springs 66-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 36-0 2 OHST Janakievski 26-yard field goal Ohio St 39-0 3 OHST Payton 2-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 46-0

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Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 0 7 21 7 35 Illinois 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 5 Location: Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois Game attendance: 66,973

Scoring summary 2 OHST Campbell 1-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 7-0 3 OHST Payton 1-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 14-0 3 OHST Springs 15-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 21-0 3 OHST Harrell 5-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 28-0 4 OHST Johnson 15-yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 35-0

^[4]

Indiana

1 2 3 4 Total Indiana 7 0 0 0 7 • Ohio St 7 0 21 7 35 Date: November 12 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 87,786

Scoring summary 1 IND Calvin 2 yard pass from Arnett (Freud kick) IND 7–0 1 OHST Payton 3 yard run (Janakievski kick) Tie 7–7 3 OHST Harrell 29 yard pass from Gerald (Janakievski kick) OHST 14–7 3 OHST Gerald 8 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 21–7 3 OHST Springs 1 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 28–7 4 OHST Campbell 1 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 35–7

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1978 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Chris Ward	1	4	Tackle	New York Jets
Ray Griffin	2	35	Defensive Back	Cincinnati Bengals
Herman Jones	7	185	Wide Receiver	Chicago Bears
Jeff Logan	7	191	Running Back	Baltimore Colts
David Adkins	8	209	Linebacker	Atlanta Falcons
Aaron C. Brown	10	252	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

References

1. 1978 Ohio State Football Media Guide
2. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved 2015-Sep-11.
3. "Payton TDs Lead Ohio State Rout." Palm Beach Post. 1977 Oct 9.
4. Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Nov 6.
5. Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Nov 13.

Win/Loss statistics

• Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players