CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1975 Ohio State

11–⁠1 (8–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Woody Hayes, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1975, game by game: won at No. 11 Michigan State 21–0; won vs. No. 7 Penn State 17–9; won vs. North Carolina 32–7; won at No. 13 UCLA 41–20; won vs. Iowa 49–0; won vs. Wisconsin 56–0; won at Purdue 35–6; won vs. Indiana 24–14; won at Illinois 40–3; won vs. Minnesota 38–6; won at No. 4 Michigan 21–14; lost vs. No. 11 UCLA 10–23+56−13Won 21–0 at No. 11 Michigan State+21No. 11 Michigan StateWon 17–9 vs. No. 7 Penn State+8No. 7 Penn StateWon 32–7 vs. North Carolina+25North CarolinaWon 41–20 at No. 13 UCLA+21No. 13 UCLAWon 49–0 vs. Iowa+49IowaWon 56–0 vs. Wisconsin+56WisconsinWon 35–6 at Purdue+29PurdueWon 24–14 vs. Indiana+10IndianaWon 40–3 at Illinois+37IllinoisWon 38–6 vs. Minnesota+32MinnesotaWon 21–14 at No. 4 Michigan+7No. 4 MichiganLost 10–23 vs. No. 11 UCLA-13No. 11 UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13at11Michigan StateW 21–⁠058%
Sep 20vs7Penn StateW 17–⁠958%
Sep 27vsNorth CarolinaW 32–⁠783%
Oct 4at13UCLAW 41–⁠2060%
Oct 11vsIowaW 49–⁠094%
Oct 18vsWisconsinW 56–⁠086%
Oct 25atPurdueW 35–⁠683%
Nov 1vsIndianaW 24–⁠1494%
Nov 8atIllinoisW 40–⁠378%
Nov 15vsMinnesotaW 38–⁠689%
Nov 22at4MichiganW 21–⁠1446%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11UCLARose BowlL 10–⁠2373%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCLA 23–⁠10 in the Rose Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1975.

Big Ten champions8–⁠0 in the conference

Led the nationPete Johnson: rushing touchdowns (25 TD), points (150 pts), points per game (13.6)

Heisman TrophyArchie Griffin, RB; also the Maxwell and Walter Camp

3 consensus All-AmericansTed Smith, OG; Archie Griffin, RB; Tim Fox, DB

Eddie Robinson Coach of the YearWoody Hayes, coach

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 1
Points
384–⁠102
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1777 +106 this season
SP+ rating
27.3 No. 3 of 132; offense No. 7, defense No. 6
SRS
26.7 No. 2 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Alex Gibbs
Defensive coordinator
George Hill
Captains
Brian Baschnagel, Tim Fox, Archie Griffin and Ken Kuhn
Most valuable player
Cornelius Greene

Drafted in 1976

The 1976 draft
Rd 1Tim Fox DBNew England Patriots
Rd 1Archie Griffin RBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 3Brian Baschnagel WRChicago Bears
Rd 4Leonard Willis WRMinnesota Vikings
Rd 7Ken Kuhn LBCincinnati Bengals

All-Big Ten

11 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

  • Bill LukensOGAP-2
  • Pat CurtoDEUPI-2
  • Greg SchaumDTUPI-2
  • Ed BeamonDTAP-2
  • Aaron BrownNGUPI-2
  • Craig CassadyDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1975 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1975 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠011–⁠14
Michigan7–⁠18–⁠2–⁠28
Michigan State4–⁠47–⁠4
Illinois4–⁠45–⁠6
Purdue4–⁠44–⁠7
Wisconsin3–⁠4–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠5
Iowa3–⁠53–⁠8
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠8
Indiana1–⁠6–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1

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