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1954 Ohio State

10–⁠0 (7–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Woody Hayes, finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1954, game by game: won vs. Indiana 28–0; won vs. No. 18 California 21–13; won at Illinois 40–7; won vs. No. 13 Iowa 20–14; won vs. No. 2 Wisconsin 31–14; won at Northwestern 14–7; won vs. No. 20 Pittsburgh 26–0; won at Purdue 28–6; won vs. No. 12 Michigan 21–7; won vs. No. 17 USC 20–7+33Won 28–0 vs. Indiana+28IndianaWon 21–13 vs. No. 18 California+8No. 18 CaliforniaWon 40–7 at Illinois+33IllinoisWon 20–14 vs. No. 13 Iowa+6No. 13 IowaWon 31–14 vs. No. 2 Wisconsin+17No. 2 WisconsinWon 14–7 at Northwestern+7NorthwesternWon 26–0 vs. No. 20 Pittsburgh+26No. 20 PittsburghWon 28–6 at Purdue+22PurdueWon 21–7 vs. No. 12 Michigan+14No. 12 MichiganWon 20–7 vs. No. 17 USC+13No. 17 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 25vsIndianaW 28–⁠076%
Oct 2vs18CaliforniaW 21–⁠1358%
Oct 9atIllinoisW 40–⁠744%
Oct 16vs13IowaW 20–⁠1464%
Oct 23vs2WisconsinW 31–⁠1450%
Oct 30atNorthwesternW 14–⁠777%
Nov 6vs20PittsburghW 26–⁠081%
Nov 13atPurdueW 28–⁠656%
Nov 20vs12MichiganW 21–⁠771%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs17USCRose BowlW 20–⁠764%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat USC 20–⁠7 in the Rose Bowl; No. 1 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 30th-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 3: 14
  3. Wk 4: 10
  4. Wk 5: 4
  5. Wk 6: 4
  6. Wk 7: 1
  7. Wk 8: 2
  8. Wk 9: 2
  9. Wk 10: 1
  10. Wk 11: 1
  11. Final: 1

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 1954.

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Big Ten champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteHopalong Cassady, third

Consensus All-AmericanHopalong Cassady, RB

Record
10–⁠0
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
249–⁠75
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1745 +195 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
27.2 No. 1 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
John Borton and Dick Brubaker
Most valuable player
Hopalong Cassady
Offense
Heavy run
Defense
Multiple

Drafted in 1955

The 1955 draft
Rd 2Bobby Watkins BChicago Bears
Rd 4Dean Dugger EPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Dave Leggett BChicago Cardinals

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jim ReichenbachOGAP-2; UP-2
  • Dave LeggettQBAP-2; UP-2
  • Hubert BoboFBAP-2; UP-2; INS-2; Ed-2

From Wikipedia’s 1954 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1954 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠010–⁠01
Wisconsin5–⁠27–⁠29
Michigan5–⁠26–⁠315
Minnesota4–⁠27–⁠2
Iowa4–⁠35–⁠4
Purdue3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠1
Indiana2–⁠43–⁠6
Michigan State1–⁠53–⁠6
Northwestern1–⁠52–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠61–⁠8

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