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2006 Ohio State

12–⁠1 (8–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Jim Tressel, finished No. 2 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2006, game by game: won vs. Northern Illinois 35–12; won at No. 2 Texas 24–7; won vs. Cincinnati 37–7; won vs. No. 24 Penn State 28–6; won at No. 13 Iowa 38–17; won vs. Bowling Green 35–7; won at Michigan State 38–7; won vs. Indiana 44–3; won vs. Minnesota 44–0; won at Illinois 17–10; won at Northwestern 54–10; won vs. No. 2 Michigan 42–39; lost vs. No. 4 Florida 14–41+44−27Won 35–12 vs. Northern Illinois+23Northern Illino…Won 24–7 at No. 2 Texas+17No. 2 TexasWon 37–7 vs. Cincinnati+30CincinnatiWon 28–6 vs. No. 24 Penn State+22No. 24 Penn StateWon 38–17 at No. 13 Iowa+21No. 13 IowaWon 35–7 vs. Bowling Green+28Bowling GreenWon 38–7 at Michigan State+31Michigan StateWon 44–3 vs. Indiana+41IndianaWon 44–0 vs. Minnesota+44MinnesotaWon 17–10 at Illinois+7IllinoisWon 54–10 at Northwestern+44NorthwesternWon 42–39 vs. No. 2 Michigan+3No. 2 MichiganLost 14–41 vs. No. 4 Florida-27No. 4 Florida
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsNorthern IllinoisW 35–⁠1272%
Sep 9at2TexasW 24–⁠735%
Sep 16vsCincinnatiW 37–⁠787%
Sep 23vs24Penn StateW 28–⁠672%
Sep 30at13IowaW 38–⁠1757%
Oct 7vsBowling GreenW 35–⁠788%
Oct 14atMichigan StateW 38–⁠778%
Oct 21vsIndianaW 44–⁠393%
Oct 28vsMinnesotaW 44–⁠089%
Nov 4atIllinoisW 17–⁠1092%
Nov 11atNorthwesternW 54–⁠1084%
Nov 18vs2MichiganW 42–⁠3966%
Jan 8Bowls & playoffvs4FloridaBCS National ChampionshipL 14–⁠4163%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida 41–⁠14 in the BCS National Championship; No. 2 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 12th-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: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 1
  7. Wk 7: 1
  8. Wk 8: 1
  9. Wk 9: 1
  10. Wk 10: 1
  11. Wk 11: 1
  12. Wk 12: 1
  13. Wk 13: 1
  14. Wk 14: 1
  15. Final: 2

Big Ten champions8–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman TrophyTroy Smith, QB; also the Walter Camp and Davey O’Brien

Bronko Nagurski TrophyJames Laurinaitis, LB

Wuerffel TrophyJoel Penton, DT

3 consensus All-AmericansTroy Smith, QB; Quinn Pitcock, DT; James Laurinaitis, LB

Record
12–⁠1
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 2 peak No. 1
Points
450–⁠166
Coach
Jim Tressel
Elo
1794 +117 this season
SP+ rating
27.0 No. 4 of 119; offense No. 9, defense No. 10, special teams No. 4
SRS
20.3 No. 3 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 25
Offensive coordinator
Jim Bollman
Defensive coordinators
Jim Heacock and Luke Fickell
Captains
Troy Smith, Quinn Pitcock, David Patterson and Doug Datish
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense7th of 119
  • Defense24th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1444%0.977th of 119
Defense-0.0038%0.9024th of 119
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 342% allowed
Defense0.0own 263% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2006 class

Beanie Wells RB★★★★★No. 7
Robert Rose SDE★★★★★No. 31
Connor Smith OG★★★★No. 42
Thaddeus Gibson OLB★★★★No. 113
Mark Johnson ILB★★★★No. 118
Kurt Coleman CB★★★★No. 126
Ray Small WR★★★★No. 137
Ross Homan OLB★★★★No. 180

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2006 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.872
Running backs24.50.958
Receivers24.00.926
Offensive line23.50.931
Defensive line15.00.985
Linebackers34.00.939
Defensive backs23.50.888
Whole class133.90.929

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2007

The 2007 draft
Rd 1Ted Ginn Jr. WRMiami Dolphins
Rd 1Anthony Gonzalez WRIndianapolis Colts
Rd 3Quinn Pitcock DTIndianapolis Colts
Rd 4Antonio Pittman RBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 5Jay Richardson DEOakland Raiders
Rd 5Roy Hall WRIndianapolis Colts
Rd 5Troy Smith QBBaltimore Ravens
Rd 6Doug Datish CAtlanta Falcons

All-Big Ten

10 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2006 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2006 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠012–⁠12
Wisconsin7–⁠112–⁠17
Michigan7–⁠111–⁠28
Penn State5–⁠39–⁠424
Purdue5–⁠38–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠7
Indiana3–⁠55–⁠7
Iowa2–⁠66–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠64–⁠8
Michigan State1–⁠74–⁠8
Illinois1–⁠72–⁠10

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