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1953 Ohio State

6–⁠3 (4–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Woody Hayes.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1953, game by game: won vs. Indiana 36–12; won at California 33–19; lost vs. Illinois 20–41; won at Pennsylvania 12–6; won at Wisconsin 20–19; won vs. Northwestern 27–13; lost vs. No. 5 Michigan State 13–28; won vs. Purdue 21–6; lost at Michigan 0–20+24−21Won 36–12 vs. Indiana+24IndianaWon 33–19 at California+14CaliforniaLost 20–41 vs. Illinois-21IllinoisWon 12–6 at Pennsylvania+6PennsylvaniaWon 20–19 at Wisconsin+1WisconsinWon 27–13 vs. Northwestern+14NorthwesternLost 13–28 vs. No. 5 Michigan State-15No. 5 Michigan StateWon 21–6 vs. Purdue+15PurdueLost 0–20 at Michigan-20Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vsIndianaW 36–⁠1276%
Oct 3atCaliforniaW 33–⁠1943%
Oct 10vsIllinoisL 20–⁠4166%
Oct 17atPennsylvaniaW 12–⁠650%
Oct 24atWisconsinW 20–⁠1938%
Oct 31vsNorthwesternW 27–⁠1374%
Nov 7vs5Michigan StateL 13–⁠2844%
Nov 14vsPurdueW 21–⁠676%
Nov 21atMichiganL 0–⁠2048%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan 20–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 89th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 7
  2. Wk 2: 6
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 17
  5. Wk 7: 16

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 1953.

Record
6–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠3 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 3
Points
182–⁠164
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1575 +3 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
11.5 No. 22 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
George Jacoby and Robert Joslin
Most valuable player
George Jacoby

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 6George Jacoby OTNew York Giants

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State5–⁠19–⁠13
Illinois5–⁠17–⁠1–⁠17
Wisconsin4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠115
Ohio State4–⁠36–⁠3
Michigan3–⁠36–⁠320
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠19
Minnesota3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue2–⁠42–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7
Northwestern0–⁠63–⁠6

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