1951 Ohio State

4–⁠3–⁠2 (2–⁠2–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Woody Hayes.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1951, game by game: won vs. SMU 7–0; lost vs. No. 1 Michigan State 20–24; tied at Wisconsin 6–6; lost vs. Indiana 10–32; won vs. Iowa 47–21; won vs. Northwestern 3–0; won at Pittsburgh 16–14; tied vs. No. 3 Illinois 0–0; lost at Michigan 0–7+26−22Won 7–0 vs. SMU+7SMULost 20–24 vs. No. 1 Michigan State-4No. 1 Michigan StateTied 6–6 at Wisconsin0WisconsinLost 10–32 vs. Indiana-22IndianaWon 47–21 vs. Iowa+26IowaWon 3–0 vs. Northwestern+3NorthwesternWon 16–14 at Pittsburgh+2PittsburghTied 0–0 vs. No. 3 Illinois0No. 3 IllinoisLost 0–7 at Michigan-7Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 29vsSMUW 7–⁠066%
Oct 6vs1Michigan StateL 20–⁠2450%
Oct 13atWisconsinT 6–⁠650%
Oct 20vsIndianaL 10–⁠3278%
Oct 27vsIowaW 47–⁠2169%
Nov 3vsNorthwesternW 3–⁠058%
Nov 10atPittsburghW 16–⁠1471%
Nov 17vs3IllinoisT 0–⁠041%
Nov 24atMichiganL 0–⁠747%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan 7–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 93rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 7
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 17
  5. Wk 7: 20

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1951.

Record
4–⁠3–⁠2
Conference
2–⁠2–⁠2 5th in Western Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 3
Points
109–⁠104
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1570 −38 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
11.4 No. 23 of 116 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Robert C. Heid
Most valuable player
Vic Janowicz

Drafted in 1952

The 1952 draft
Rd 3Joe Campanella OTCleveland Browns
Rd 7Vic Janowicz RBWashington Redskins

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Sonny GandeeEUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1951 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1951 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Illinois5–⁠0–⁠19–⁠0–⁠14
Purdue4–⁠15–⁠4
Wisconsin5–⁠1–⁠17–⁠1–⁠18
Michigan4–⁠24–⁠5
Ohio State2–⁠2–⁠24–⁠3–⁠2
Northwestern2–⁠45–⁠4
Minnesota1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7
Iowa0–⁠5–⁠12–⁠5–⁠2

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.