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1952 Ohio State

6–⁠3 (5–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Woody Hayes, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1952, game by game: won vs. Indiana 33–13; lost vs. Purdue 14–21; won vs. No. 1 Wisconsin 23–14; won vs. Washington State 35–7; lost at Iowa 0–8; won at Northwestern 24–21; lost vs. Pittsburgh 14–21; won at Illinois 27–7; won vs. No. 12 Michigan 27–7+28−8Won 33–13 vs. Indiana+20IndianaLost 14–21 vs. Purdue-7PurdueWon 23–14 vs. No. 1 Wisconsin+9No. 1 WisconsinWon 35–7 vs. Washington State+28Washington StateLost 0–8 at Iowa-8IowaWon 24–21 at Northwestern+3NorthwesternLost 14–21 vs. Pittsburgh-7PittsburghWon 27–7 at Illinois+20IllinoisWon 27–7 vs. No. 12 Michigan+20No. 12 Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 27vsIndianaW 33–⁠1370%
Oct 4vsPurdueL 14–⁠2163%
Oct 11vs1WisconsinW 23–⁠1441%
Oct 18vsWashington StateW 35–⁠768%
Oct 25atIowaL 0–⁠870%
Nov 1atNorthwesternW 24–⁠2154%
Nov 8vsPittsburghL 14–⁠2165%
Nov 15atIllinoisW 27–⁠730%
Nov 22vs12MichiganW 27–⁠755%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan 27–⁠7; No. 17 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 77th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 4: 16
  4. Wk 5: 14
  5. Final: 17

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 1952.

Led the nationJohnny Borton: passing touchdowns (15 TD)

Record
6–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠2 3rd in Western Conference
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 14
Points
197–⁠119
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1608 +62 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
15.9 No. 16 of 113 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Bernie Skvarka
Most valuable player
Fred Bruney

All-Big Ten

4 first team

First team

  • George JacobyOTAP-1
  • James ReichenbachOGAP-1
  • Tony CurcilloLBAP-1
  • Fred BruneyDBAP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1952 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1952 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠3–⁠111
Purdue4–⁠1–⁠14–⁠3–⁠218
Ohio State5–⁠26–⁠317
Michigan4–⁠25–⁠4
Minnesota3–⁠1–⁠24–⁠3–⁠2
Illinois2–⁠54–⁠5
Northwestern2–⁠52–⁠6–⁠1
Iowa2–⁠52–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7

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