CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1977 Ohio State

9–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Woody Hayes, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1977, game by game: won vs. Miami 10–0; won vs. Minnesota 38–7; lost vs. No. 3 Oklahoma 28–29; won at SMU 35–7; won vs. Purdue 46–0; won at Iowa 27–6; won at Northwestern 35–15; won vs. Wisconsin 42–0; won at Illinois 35–0; won vs. Indiana 35–7; lost at No. 5 Michigan 6–14; lost vs. No. 3 Alabama 6–35+46−29Won 10–0 vs. Miami+10MiamiWon 38–7 vs. Minnesota+31MinnesotaLost 28–29 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma-1No. 3 OklahomaWon 35–7 at SMU+28SMUWon 46–0 vs. Purdue+46PurdueWon 27–6 at Iowa+21IowaWon 35–15 at Northwestern+20NorthwesternWon 42–0 vs. Wisconsin+42WisconsinWon 35–0 at Illinois+35IllinoisWon 35–7 vs. Indiana+28IndianaLost 6–14 at No. 5 Michigan-8No. 5 MichiganLost 6–35 vs. No. 3 Alabama-29No. 3 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vsMiamiW 10–⁠083%
Sep 17vsMinnesotaW 38–⁠778%
Sep 24vs3OklahomaL 28–⁠2959%
Oct 1atSMUW 35–⁠772%
Oct 8vsPurdueW 46–⁠081%
Oct 15atIowaW 27–⁠675%
Oct 22atNorthwesternW 35–⁠1590%
Oct 29vsWisconsinW 42–⁠081%
Nov 5atIllinoisW 35–⁠080%
Nov 12vsIndianaW 35–⁠788%
Nov 19at5MichiganL 6–⁠1444%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs3AlabamaSugar BowlL 6–⁠3544%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 35–⁠6 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 41st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1977.

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Michigan

2 consensus All-AmericansChris Ward, OT; Tom Cousineau, LB

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 3
Points
343–⁠120
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1711 +47 this season
SP+ rating
22.7 No. 12 of 140; offense No. 22, defense No. 6
SRS
23.6 No. 8 of 145 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Alex Gibbs
Defensive coordinator
George Hill
Captains
Aaron Brown, Ray Griffin, Jeff Logan and Chris Ward
Most valuable player
Dave Adkins

Drafted in 1978

The 1978 draft
Rd 1Chris Ward OTNew York Jets
Rd 2Ray Griffin DBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 7Herman Jones WRChicago Bears
Rd 7Jeff Logan RBBaltimore Colts

All-Big Ten

13 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jim HarrellWRAP-2
  • Mark LangOGUPI-2
  • Joe RobinsonOTAP-2
  • Vlade JanakievskiKAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1977 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1977 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠29
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠311
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Indiana4–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Iowa3–⁠54–⁠7
Wisconsin3–⁠65–⁠6
Illinois2–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern1–⁠81–⁠10

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