1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten co-champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 20–17 vs. Arizona State
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
Record11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJoe Hollis (5th season)
Defensive coordinatorFred Pagac (1st season)
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 89,841)
1996 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 2 Ohio State +  7 –1   11 –1  
No. 15 Northwestern +  7 –1   9 –3  
No. 7 Penn State  6 –2   11 –2  
No. 18 Iowa  6 –2   9 –3  
No. 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 Conference 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

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 712:00 p.m.Rice*No. 10
ESPN PlusW 70–793,479
September 2112:30 p.m.Pittsburgh*No. 7
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ESPNW 72–093,959
September 282:30 p.m.at No. 5 Notre Dame*No. 4
NBCW 29–1659,075
October 53:30 p.m.No. 4 Penn StateNo. 3
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH (rivalry, College GameDay)
ABCW 38–794,241
October 123:30 p.m.WisconsinNo. 2
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ABCW 17–1494,215
October 193:30 p.m.at PurdueNo. 2
ABCW 42–1460,172
October 263:30 p.m.at No. 20 IowaNo. 2
ABCW 38–2670,397
November 212:30 p.m.MinnesotaNo. 2
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
ESPN2W 45–093,588
November 912:30 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 2
ESPNW 48–054,412
November 163:30 p.m.at IndianaNo. 2
ABCW 27–1749,271
November 2312:00 p.m.No. 21 MichiganNo. 2
ABCL 9–1394,676
January 1, 19974:30 p.m.vs. No. 2 Arizona State*No. 4
ABCW 20–17100,635
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[1]

Game summaries

Rice

1 234Total
Rice 0 700 7
• Ohio St 21 21217 70
  • Date: September 7
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
  • Game attendance: 93,479
  • Television network: ESPN+
Scoring summary
1OHSTLumpkin 2 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick)Ohio St 7–0
1OHSTPearson 8 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)Ohio St 14–0
1OHSTPearson 22 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)Ohio St 21–0
2OHSTStanley 15 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick)Ohio St 28–0
2RICEPerry 5 yard run (Ruff kick)Ohio St 28–7
2OHSTBoston 58 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick)Ohio St 35–7
2OHSTWiley 49 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)Ohio St 42–7
3OHSTPearson 25 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)Ohio St 49–7
3OHSTWiley 51 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick)Ohio St 56–7
3OHSTWiley 60 yard pass from Germaine (Stamp kick)Ohio St 63–7
4OHSTJe Jackson 3 yard run (Stamp kick)Ohio St 70–7

[2]

Pittsburgh

1 234Total
Pittsburgh 0 000 0
• Ohio St 21 31137 72

Notre Dame

1 234Total
• Ohio St 12 1070 29
Notre Dame 7 036 16

Penn State

1 234Total
Penn St 0 007 7
• Ohio St 10 1477 38

Wisconsin

1 234Total
Wisconsin 0 707 14
• Ohio St 0 377 17

Purdue

1 234Total
• Ohio St 7 71414 42
Purdue 14 000 14

Iowa

1 234Total
• Ohio St 17 1470 38
Iowa 3 3614 26

Minnesota

1 234Total
Minnesota 0 000 0
• Ohio St 0 102114 45

Illinois

1 234Total
• Ohio St 0 28200 48
Illinois 0 000 0

Indiana

1 234Total
• Ohio St 0 7020 27
Indiana 0 377 17

Michigan

1 234Total
• Michigan 0 0103 13
Ohio St 3 600 9

Rose Bowl

1 234Total
• Ohio St 7 076 20
Arizona St 0 737 17

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP99108743 (1)2 (24)2 (7)2 (4)2 (4)2 (5)2 (17)2 (7)6542 (1½)
Coaches Poll10109764 (2)3 (5)2 (20)3 (2)3 (1)3 (4)3 (4)2 (16)2 (9)6542 (4)

Roster

1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 9 David Boston So
G 57 LeShun Daniels Sr
WR 82 Mike Furrey Fr
QB 7 Joe Germaine So
WR 15 Dee Miller So
RB 33 Joe Montgomery So
G 56 Rob Murphy Fr
OT 75 Orlando Pace Jr
WR 6 Jimmy Redmond Fr
C 77 Tyson Walter Fr
RB 5 Michael Wiley Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 30 Greg Bellisari Sr
S 1 Gary Berry Fr
DT 73 Joe Brown Fr
LB 32 Na'il Diggs Fr
DT 99 Luke Fickell Sr
DT 68 Winfield Garrett Jr
CB 2 Ty Howard Sr
LB 45 Andy Katzenmoyer Fr
S 34 Rob Kelly Sr
CB 20 Central McClellion So
LB 43 Ryan Miller Sr
SS 13 Damon Moore So
CB 19 Ahmed Plummer Fr
CB 24 Shawn Springs Jr
LB 94 Mike Vrabel Sr
CB 11 Antoine Winfield So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 41 Brent Bartholomew So
LS 87 Kevin Houser Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Coaching staff

  • John Cooper - Head Coach - 9th year
  • Bill Conley - Defensive Ends, Recruiting Coordinator (10th 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, Linebackers (15th year)
  • Tim Spencer - Running Backs (3rd year)
  • Chuck Strobart - Wide Receivers (2nd year)
  • Jon Tenuta - Defensive Backs (1st year)

Depth chart

Q[3]

Awards and honors

1997 NFL draftees

PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL club
Orlando Pace11TackleSt. Louis Rams
Shawn Springs13Defensive BackSeattle Seahawks
Rob Kelly233Defensive BackNew Orleans Saints
Ty Howard384Defensive BackArizona Cardinals
Mike Vrabel391Defensive EndPittsburgh Steelers
Nicky Sualua4129Running BackDallas Cowboys
Matt Finkes6189Defensive EndCarolina Panthers

[4]

References

  1. ↑ Park, Jack (2003). The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-58261-695-7.
  2. ↑ USA Today
  3. ↑ 1986 Ohio State Football Media Guide
  4. ↑ "1984 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
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