1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten Co-Champions Rose Bowl Champions
Rose Bowl, W 20–17 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#2
AP	#2
1996 record	11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Cooper
Offensive coordinator	Joe Hollis
Defensive coordinator	Fred Pagac
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 89,841)

1996 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#2 Ohio State +		7	–	1					11	–	1
#15 Northwestern +		7	–	1					9	–	3
#7 Penn State		6	–	2					11	–	2
#18 Iowa		6	–	2					9	–	3
#20 Michigan		5	–	3					8	–	4
Michigan State		5	–	3					6	–	6
Wisconsin		3	–	5					8	–	5
Purdue		2	–	6					3	–	8
Minnesota		1	–	7					4	–	7
Indiana		1	–	7					3	–	8
Illinois		1	–	7					2	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was John Cooper. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a win-loss record of 11–1, and a Big Ten Conference record of 7–1. They were co-champions of Big Ten Conference with the Northwestern Wildcats and played in the 1997 Rose Bowl against Pacific-10 Confernece champion the Arizona State Sun Devils. Ohio State did not play Northwestern during the regular season and were selected to play in the Rose Bowl due to their better overall record of 10–1 (the Wildcats were 9–2). Northwestern had played in the previous Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes used two quarterbacks throughout the year, junior Stanley Jackson, and sophomore Joe Germaine, the Buckeyes were dominant throughout the majority of the season, outscoring their opponents by a score of 455–131. The Buckeyes only loss came late in the season to their rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, by a score of 13–9.

Because of the late loss, Ohio State fell from second to fourth in the polls. Due to the Big Ten and Pac-10 not being involved in the Bowl Alliance agreement as the two champions were contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State was set to play #2 Arizona State, while #1 Florida State and #3 Florida played for the National Championship in the 1997 Sugar Bowl.

Ohio State went into the 1997 Rose Bowl with high hopes and Germaine came off the bench and threw a late touchdown pass to David Boston to steal a come-from-behind victory. With the Buckeyes dramatic upset victory over the Sun Devils, Buckeye fans hoped for a share of the national title. However, Florida would later avenge a late season loss to their rivals, and beat the Seminoles by a score of 52–20. Florida finished first and Ohio State second in both polls, followed by Florida State and Arizona State.

The Rose Bowl appearance was the Buckeyes first since 1985. The Rose Bowl victory was the sixth in school history, the first since 1974. Germaine was named Rose Bowl MVP.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	12:00 PM	Rice*	#10	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ESPN+	W 70–7	93,479[1]
September 21	12:30 PM	Pittsburgh*	#7	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ESPN	W 72–0	93,959[1]
September 28	2:30 PM	at #5 Notre Dame*	#4	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN	NBC	W 29–16	59,075[1]
October 5	3:30 PM	#4 Penn State	#3	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	W 38–7	94,241[1]
October 12	3:30 PM	Wisconsin	#2	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ESPN	W 17-14	94,215[1]
October 19	3:30 PM	at Purdue	#2	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ABC	W 42–14	60,172[1]
October 26	3:30 PM	at #20 Iowa	#2	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA	ABC	W 38–26	70,397[1]
November 2	12:30 PM	Minnesota	#2	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ESPN2	W 45–0	93,588[1]
November 9	12:30 PM	at Illinois	#2	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	ESPN	W 48–0	54,412[1]
November 16	3:30 PM	at Indiana	#2	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	ABC	W 27–17	49,271[1]
November 23	12:00 PM	#21 Michigan	#2	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (The Game)	ABC	L 9–13	94,676[1]
January 1	4:30 PM	vs. #2 Arizona State*	#4	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	ABC	W 20–17	100,635[1]
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

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Game notes

Rice

1 2 3 4 Total Rice 0 7 0 0 7 • Ohio St 21 21 21 7 70 Date: September 7 Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 93,479 Television network: ESPN+

Scoring summary 1 OHST Lumpkin 2 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 7–0 1 OHST Pearson 8 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 14–0 1 OHST Pearson 22 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 21–0 2 OHST Stanley 15 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 28–0 2 RICE Perry 5 yard run (Ruff kick) Ohio St 28–7 2 OHST Boston 58 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 35–7 2 OHST Wiley 49 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 42–7 3 OHST Pearson 25 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 49–7 3 OHST Wiley 51 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 56–7 3 OHST Wiley 60 yard pass from Germaine (Stamp kick) Ohio St 63–7 4 OHST Je Jackson 3 yard run (Stamp kick) Ohio St 70–7

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Pittsburgh

1 2 3 4 Total Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 • Ohio St 21 31 13 7 72 Date: September 21 Location: Ohio Stadium

Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 12 10 7 0 29 Notre Dame 7 0 3 6 16 Date: September 28 Location: Notre Dame Stadium

Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total Penn St 0 0 0 7 7 • Ohio St 10 14 7 7 38 Date: October 5 Location: Ohio Stadium

Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total Wisconsin 0 7 0 7 14 • Ohio St 0 3 7 7 17 Date: October 12 Location: Ohio Stadium

Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 7 7 14 14 42 Purdue 14 0 0 0 14 Date: October 19 Location: Ross-Ade Stadium

Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 17 14 7 0 38 Iowa 3 3 6 14 26 Date: October 26 Location: Kinnick Stadium

Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 • Ohio St 0 10 21 14 45 Date: November 2 Location: Ohio Stadium

Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 0 28 20 0 48 Illinois 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 9 Location: Memorial Stadium

Indiana

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 0 7 0 20 27 Indiana 0 3 7 7 17 Date: November 16 Location: Memorial Stadium

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 0 0 10 3 13 Ohio St 3 6 0 0 9 Date: November 23 Location: Ohio Stadium

Rose Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 7 0 7 6 20 Arizona St 0 7 3 7 17 Date: January 1 Location: Rose Bowl

Coaching staff

• John Cooper - Head Coach - 9th year
• Bill Conley - Recruiting Coordinator (9th year)
• Walt Harris - Quarterbacks (2nd year)
• Jim Heacock - Defensive Line (1st year)
• Joe Hollis - Offensive Coordinator (6th year)
• Mike Jacobs - Offensive Line (2nd year)
• Fred Pagac - Defensive Coordinator (15th year)
• Tim Spencer - Running Backs (3rd year)
• Chuck Strobart - Offensive Coordinator (2nd year)
• Jon Tenuta - Defensive Backs (1st year)

Awards and honors

• Andy Katzenmoyer, Big Ten Freshman of the Year

1997 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Orlando Pace	1	1	Tackle	St. Louis Rams
Shawn Springs	1	3	Defensive Back	Seattle Seahawks
Rob Kelly	2	33	Defensive Back	New Orleans Saints
Ty Howard	3	84	Defensive Back	Arizona Cardinals
Mike Vrabel	3	91	Defensive End	Pittsburgh Steelers
Nicky Sualua	4	129	Running Back	Dallas Cowboys
Matt Finkes	6	189	Defensive End	Carolina Panthers

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References

1. Park, Jack (2003). The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-58261-695-7.
2. http://cfreference.net/cfr/school.s?id=227&season=1996
3. USA Today
4. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1997.htm

Buckeye Sports Bulletin (1997), Rose Bowl Championship Yearbook

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players