1978 Ohio State
7–4–1 (6–2 Big Ten), coached by Woody Hayes. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Northwestern 63–20Oct 28
By 43 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16 | vs 5Penn State | L 0–19 | 51% |
| Sep 23 | at Minnesota | W 27–10 | 55% |
| Sep 30 | vs Baylor | W 34–28 | 75% |
| Oct 7 | vs SMU | T 35–35 | 76% |
| Oct 14 | at Purdue | L 16–27 | 58% |
| Oct 21 | vs Iowa | W 31–7 | 83% |
| Oct 28 | vs Northwestern | W 63–20 | 92% |
| Nov 4 | at Wisconsin | W 49–14 | 65% |
| Nov 11 | vs Illinois | W 45–7 | 89% |
| Nov 18 | at Indiana | W 21–18 | 68% |
| Nov 25 | vs 6Michigan | L 3–14 | 47% |
| Dec 29Bowls & playoff | vs 7ClemsonGator Bowl | L 15–17 | 42% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Lost to Clemson 17–15 in the Gator Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.
In program history: The 68th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).
AP poll, week by week
- Wk 1: 7
- Wk 2: 6
- Wk 3: 16
- Wk 4: 13
- Wk 5: 14
- Wk 6: 16
- Wk 11: 19
- Wk 12: 16
- Wk 13: 20
- Wk 14: 20
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 1978.
- Record
- 7–4–1
- Conference
- 6–2 4th in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked peak No. 6
- Points
- 339–216
- Coach
- Woody Hayes
- Elo
- 1632 −8 this season
- SP+ rating
- 11.4 No. 35 of 133; offense No. 22, defense No. 63
- SRS
- 14.8 No. 19 of 138 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Offensive coordinator
- Alex Gibbs
- Defensive coordinator
- George Hill
- Captains
- Byron Cato, Tom Cousineau, Ron Springs and Tim Vogler
- Most valuable player
- Tom Cousineau
Drafted in 1979
The 1979 draft| Rd 1 | Tom Cousineau LB | Buffalo Bills |
| Rd 5 | Ron Springs RB | Dallas Cowboys |
| Rd 6 | Jim Moore OT | Baltimore Colts |
All-Big Ten
8 first team, 2 second teamFirst team
Ken FritzOGAP-1; UPI-1- Joe RobinsonOTAP-1
- Kelton DanslerDL
- Byron CatoDL
Tom CousineauLBAP-1; UPI-1- Vince SkillingsDBAP-1; UPI-2
- Mike GuessDBUPI-1
- Tom OroszPAP-1; UPI-2
Second team
- Jimmy MooreTEUPI-2
- Keith FergusonOTUPI-2
From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1978 Big Ten standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 7–1 | 10–2 | 5 |
 Michigan State | 7–1 | 8–3 | 12 |
| Purdue | 6–1–1 | 9–2–1 | 13 |
| Ohio State | 6–2 | 7–4–1 | |
| Minnesota | 4–4 | 5–6 | |
| Wisconsin | 3–4–2 | 5–4–2 | |
| Indiana | 3–5 | 4–7 | |
| Iowa | 2–6 | 2–9 | |
| Illinois | 0–6–2 | 1–8–2 | |
| Northwestern | 0–8–1 | 0–10–1 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.