CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1970 Ohio State

9–⁠1 (7–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Woody Hayes, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1970, game by game: won vs. Texas A&M 56–13; won vs. Duke 34–10; won at Michigan State 29–0; won vs. Minnesota 28–8; won at Illinois 48–29; won vs. No. 20 Northwestern 24–10; won at Wisconsin 24–7; won at Purdue 10–7; won vs. No. 4 Michigan 20–9; lost vs. No. 12 Stanford 17–27+43−10Won 56–13 vs. Texas A&M+43Texas A&MWon 34–10 vs. Duke+24DukeWon 29–0 at Michigan State+29Michigan StateWon 28–8 vs. Minnesota+20MinnesotaWon 48–29 at Illinois+19IllinoisWon 24–10 vs. No. 20 Northwestern+14No. 20 NorthwesternWon 24–7 at Wisconsin+17WisconsinWon 10–7 at Purdue+3PurdueWon 20–9 vs. No. 4 Michigan+11No. 4 MichiganLost 17–27 vs. No. 12 Stanford-10No. 12 Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vsTexas A&MW 56–⁠1374%
Oct 3vsDukeW 34–⁠1081%
Oct 10atMichigan StateW 29–⁠071%
Oct 17vsMinnesotaW 28–⁠878%
Oct 24atIllinoisW 48–⁠2987%
Oct 31vs20NorthwesternW 24–⁠1084%
Nov 7atWisconsinW 24–⁠782%
Nov 14atPurdueW 10–⁠771%
Nov 21vs4MichiganW 20–⁠960%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs12StanfordRose BowlL 17–⁠2765%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Stanford 27–⁠17 in the Rose Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 37th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 1
  2. Wk 2: 1
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 1
  7. Wk 7: 1
  8. Wk 8: 2
  9. Wk 9: 3
  10. Wk 10: 3
  11. Wk 11: 5
  12. Wk 12: 2
  13. Wk 13: 2
  14. Wk 14: 2
  15. Final: 5

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 1970.

National championsa title the school claims

Big Ten champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteRex Kern, fifth

Outland TrophyJim Stillwagon, DT; also the Lombardi

2 consensus All-AmericansJim Stillwagon, DT; Jack Tatum, DB

Record
9–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 1
Points
290–⁠120
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1722 +77 this season
SP+ rating
24.7 No. 8 of 117; offense No. 16, defense No. 7
SRS
27.4 No. 5 of 123 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Doug Adams, Rex Kern, Jim Stillwagon and Jan White
Most valuable player
Jim Stillwagon
Offense
Heavy run
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1971

The 1971 draft
Rd 1John Brockington RBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 1Jack Tatum DBOakland Raiders
Rd 1Tim Anderson DBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 1Leo Hayden RBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 2Jan White TEBuffalo Bills
Rd 5Jim Stillwagon LBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Doug Adams LBDenver Broncos

All-Big Ten

8 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1970 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1970 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠09–⁠15
Michigan6–⁠19–⁠19
Northwestern6–⁠16–⁠4
Iowa3–⁠3–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Wisconsin3–⁠44–⁠5–⁠1
Michigan State3–⁠44–⁠6
Minnesota2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Purdue2–⁠54–⁠6
Illinois1–⁠63–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠61–⁠9

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