CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1990 Ohio State

7–⁠4–⁠1 (5–⁠2–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by John Cooper.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1990, game by game: won vs. Texas Tech 17–10; won at Boston College 31–10; lost vs. No. 18 USC 26–35; lost vs. No. 13 Illinois 20–31; tied at No. 22 Indiana 27–27; won at Purdue 42–2; won vs. Minnesota 52–23; won vs. Northwestern 48–7; won at No. 6 Iowa 27–26; won at Wisconsin 35–10; lost vs. No. 15 Michigan 13–16; lost vs. Air Force 11–23+41−12Won 17–10 vs. Texas Tech+7Texas TechWon 31–10 at Boston College+21Boston CollegeLost 26–35 vs. No. 18 USC-9No. 18 USCLost 20–31 vs. No. 13 Illinois-11No. 13 IllinoisTied 27–27 at No. 22 Indiana0No. 22 IndianaWon 42–2 at Purdue+40PurdueWon 52–23 vs. Minnesota+29MinnesotaWon 48–7 vs. Northwestern+41NorthwesternWon 27–26 at No. 6 Iowa+1No. 6 IowaWon 35–10 at Wisconsin+25WisconsinLost 13–16 vs. No. 15 Michigan-3No. 15 MichiganLost 11–23 vs. Air Force-12Air Force
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsTexas TechW 17–⁠1053%
Sep 15atBoston CollegeW 31–⁠1063%
Sep 29vs18USCL 26–⁠3547%
Oct 6vs13IllinoisL 20–⁠3154%
Oct 13at22IndianaT 27–⁠2733%
Oct 20atPurdueW 42–⁠267%
Oct 27vsMinnesotaW 52–⁠2363%
Nov 3vsNorthwesternW 48–⁠786%
Nov 10at6IowaW 27–⁠2641%
Nov 17atWisconsinW 35–⁠1082%
Nov 24vs15MichiganL 13–⁠1642%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsAir ForceLiberty BowlL 11–⁠2362%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Air Force 23–⁠11 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 90th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 17
  2. Wk 2: 18
  3. Wk 3: 17
  4. Wk 4: 16
  5. Wk 5: 15
  6. Wk 6: 20
  7. Wk 12: 21
  8. Wk 13: 19
  9. Wk 14: 25
  10. Wk 15: 24

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 1990.

Record
7–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠2–⁠1 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 15
Points
349–⁠220
Coach
John Cooper
Elo
1575 +27 this season
SP+ rating
10.5 No. 32 of 104; offense No. 31, defense No. 37
SRS
11.6 No. 22 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jim Colletto
Defensive coordinator
Bill Young
Captains
Jeff Graham, Dan Beatty, Bo Pelini, Vinnie Clark and Greg Frey
Most valuable player
Jeff Graham
Offense
Singleback
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1991

The 1991 draft
Rd 1Vinnie Clark DBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 2Jeff Graham WRPittsburgh Steelers

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1990 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1990 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠37
Michigan State6–⁠28–⁠3–⁠116
Iowa6–⁠28–⁠418
Illinois6–⁠28–⁠425
Ohio State5–⁠2–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota5–⁠36–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠4–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Northwestern1–⁠72–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠72–⁠9
Wisconsin0–⁠81–⁠10

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