CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1980 Ohio State

9–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Earle Bruce, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1980, game by game: won vs. Syracuse 31–21; won vs. Minnesota 47–0; won vs. No. 20 Arizona State 38–21; lost vs. No. 11 UCLA 0–17; won at Northwestern 63–0; won vs. Indiana 27–17; won at Wisconsin 21–0; won at Michigan State 48–16; won vs. Illinois 49–42; won at Iowa 41–7; lost vs. No. 10 Michigan 3–9; lost vs. No. 10 Penn State 19–31+63−17Won 31–21 vs. Syracuse+10SyracuseWon 47–0 vs. Minnesota+47MinnesotaWon 38–21 vs. No. 20 Arizona State+17No. 20 Arizona StateLost 0–17 vs. No. 11 UCLA-17No. 11 UCLAWon 63–0 at Northwestern+63NorthwesternWon 27–17 vs. Indiana+10IndianaWon 21–0 at Wisconsin+21WisconsinWon 48–16 at Michigan State+32Michigan StateWon 49–42 vs. Illinois+7IllinoisWon 41–7 at Iowa+34IowaLost 3–9 vs. No. 10 Michigan-6No. 10 MichiganLost 19–31 vs. No. 10 Penn State-12No. 10 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13vsSyracuseW 31–⁠2173%
Sep 20vsMinnesotaW 47–⁠078%
Sep 27vs20Arizona StateW 38–⁠2171%
Oct 4vs11UCLAL 0–⁠1768%
Oct 11atNorthwesternW 63–⁠088%
Oct 18vsIndianaW 27–⁠1769%
Oct 25atWisconsinW 21–⁠071%
Nov 1atMichigan StateW 48–⁠1675%
Nov 8vsIllinoisW 49–⁠4290%
Nov 15atIowaW 41–⁠778%
Nov 22vs10MichiganL 3–⁠958%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvs10Penn StateFiesta BowlL 19–⁠3148%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 31–⁠19 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 52nd-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: 2
  4. Wk 4: 2
  5. Wk 5: 2
  6. Wk 6: 9
  7. Wk 7: 9
  8. Wk 8: 10
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 7
  11. Wk 11: 7
  12. Wk 12: 5
  13. Wk 13: 11
  14. Wk 14: 11
  15. Wk 15: 11
  16. Final: 15

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 1980.

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 tied for 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 1
Points
387–⁠181
Coach
Earle Bruce
Elo
1677 +26 this season
SP+ rating
19.5 No. 15 of 133; offense No. 9, defense No. 39
SRS
19.3 No. 12 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Glen Mason
Defensive coordinator
Dennis Fryzel
Captains
Doug Donley, Ray Ellis, Keith Ferguson and Calvin Murray
Most valuable player
Calvin Murray

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 2Doug Donley WRDallas Cowboys
Rd 4Al Washington LBNew York Jets
Rd 4Todd Bell DBChicago Bears
Rd 4Calvin Murray RBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Keith Ferguson LBSan Diego Chargers
Rd 6Vince Skillings DBDallas Cowboys

All-Big Ten

9 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠010–⁠24
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠315
Purdue7–⁠19–⁠317
Iowa4–⁠44–⁠7
Minnesota4–⁠55–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠5
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠7
Illinois3–⁠53–⁠7–⁠1
Michigan State2–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern0–⁠90–⁠11

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