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1985 Ohio State

9–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Earle Bruce, finished No. 14 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1985, game by game: won vs. Pittsburgh 10–7; won at Colorado 36–13; won vs. Washington State 48–32; lost at Illinois 28–31; won vs. Indiana 48–7; won vs. Purdue 41–27; won at No. 20 Minnesota 23–19; won vs. No. 1 Iowa 22–13; won at Northwestern 35–17; lost vs. Wisconsin 7–12; lost at No. 6 Michigan 17–27; won vs. No. 9 BYU 10–7+41−10Won 10–7 vs. Pittsburgh+3PittsburghWon 36–13 at Colorado+23ColoradoWon 48–32 vs. Washington State+16Washington StateLost 28–31 at Illinois-3IllinoisWon 48–7 vs. Indiana+41IndianaWon 41–27 vs. Purdue+14PurdueWon 23–19 at No. 20 Minnesota+4No. 20 MinnesotaWon 22–13 vs. No. 1 Iowa+9No. 1 IowaWon 35–17 at Northwestern+18NorthwesternLost 7–12 vs. Wisconsin-5WisconsinLost 17–27 at No. 6 Michigan-10No. 6 MichiganWon 10–7 vs. No. 9 BYU+3No. 9 BYU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14vsPittsburghW 10–⁠769%
Sep 21atColoradoW 36–⁠1371%
Sep 28vsWashington StateW 48–⁠3276%
Oct 5atIllinoisL 28–⁠3161%
Oct 12vsIndianaW 48–⁠780%
Oct 19vsPurdueW 41–⁠2776%
Oct 26at20MinnesotaW 23–⁠1963%
Nov 2vs1IowaW 22–⁠1353%
Nov 9atNorthwesternW 35–⁠1784%
Nov 16vsWisconsinL 7–⁠1281%
Nov 23at6MichiganL 17–⁠2736%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs9BYUCitrus BowlW 10–⁠735%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat BYU 10–⁠7 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 14 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 53rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 15
  8. Wk 8: 11
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 8
  11. Wk 11: 4
  12. Wk 12: 3
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 19
  15. Wk 15: 17
  16. Wk 16: 17
  17. Final: 14

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 1985.

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 14 peak No. 3
Points
325–⁠212
Coach
Earle Bruce
Elo
1676 +57 this season
SP+ rating
19.9 No. 14 of 106; offense No. 17, defense No. 22
SRS
15.2 No. 16 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Glen Mason
Defensive coordinator
Gary Blackney
Captains
Keith Byars, Mike Lanese and Pepper Johnson
Most valuable player
Jim Karsatos

Drafted in 1986

The 1986 draft
Rd 1Keith Byars RBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 2Pepper Johnson LBNew York Giants
Rd 7Byron Lee LBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Larry Kolic LBMiami Dolphins

All-Big Ten

6 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1985 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa7–⁠110–⁠210
Michigan6–⁠1–⁠110–⁠1–⁠12
Illinois5–⁠2–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Ohio State5–⁠39–⁠314
Michigan State5–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Wisconsin2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠7
Northwestern1–⁠73–⁠8

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