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2007 Ohio State

11–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Jim Tressel, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2007, game by game: won vs. Youngstown State 38–6; won vs. Akron 20–2; won at Washington 33–14; won vs. Northwestern 58–7; won at Minnesota 30–7; won at No. 23 Purdue 23–7; won vs. Kent State 48–3; won vs. Michigan State 24–17; won at No. 24 Penn State 37–17; won vs. Wisconsin 38–17; lost vs. Illinois 21–28; won at No. 23 Michigan 14–3; lost vs. No. 5 LSU 24–38+51−14Won 38–6 vs. Youngstown State+32Youngstown StateWon 20–2 vs. Akron+18AkronWon 33–14 at Washington+19WashingtonWon 58–7 vs. Northwestern+51NorthwesternWon 30–7 at Minnesota+23MinnesotaWon 23–7 at No. 23 Purdue+16No. 23 PurdueWon 48–3 vs. Kent State+45Kent StateWon 24–17 vs. Michigan State+7Michigan StateWon 37–17 at No. 24 Penn State+20No. 24 Penn StateWon 38–17 vs. Wisconsin+21WisconsinLost 21–28 vs. Illinois-7IllinoisWon 14–3 at No. 23 Michigan+11No. 23 MichiganLost 24–38 vs. No. 5 LSU-14No. 5 LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsYoungstown StateW 38–⁠685%
Sep 8vsAkronW 20–⁠285%
Sep 15atWashingtonW 33–⁠1469%
Sep 22vsNorthwesternW 58–⁠786%
Sep 29atMinnesotaW 30–⁠775%
Oct 6at23PurdueW 23–⁠761%
Oct 13vsKent StateW 48–⁠391%
Oct 20vsMichigan StateW 24–⁠1785%
Oct 27at24Penn StateW 37–⁠1760%
Nov 3vsWisconsinW 38–⁠1776%
Nov 10vsIllinoisL 21–⁠2888%
Nov 17at23MichiganW 14–⁠357%
Jan 7Bowls & playoffvs5LSUBCS National ChampionshipL 24–⁠3855%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to LSU 38–⁠24 in the BCS National Championship; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Butkus AwardJames Laurinaitis, LB

Consensus All-AmericanJames Laurinaitis, LB

Broyles AwardJim Heacock, coach

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 1
Points
408–⁠166
Coach
Jim Tressel
Elo
1773 +77 this season
SP+ rating
29.2 No. 3 of 120; offense No. 20, defense No. 2, special teams No. 27
SRS
16.7 No. 9 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 72
Offensive coordinator
Jim Bollman
Defensive coordinators
Jim Heacock and Luke Fickell
Captains
Kirk Barton, Dionte Johnson and James Laurinaitis
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense55th of 119
  • Defense5th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0442%0.9155th of 119
Defense-0.0632%0.985th 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
Defense-0.1own 262% 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 2007 class

Eugene Clifford S★★★★★No. 28
Devon Torrence CB★★★★No. 111
Brandon Saine RB★★★★No. 118
Nate Oliver S★★★★No. 163
James Scott CB★★★★No. 180

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

The 2007 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.940
Receivers13.00.844
Linebackers13.00.867
Defensive backs44.30.942
Whole class73.90.917

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 2008

The 2008 draft
Rd 1Vernon Gholston DENew York Jets
Rd 7Larry Grant OLBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Kirk Barton OTChicago Bears

All-Big Ten

6 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2007 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2007 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠25
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠418
Illinois6–⁠29–⁠420
Wisconsin5–⁠39–⁠424
Penn State4–⁠49–⁠4
Iowa4–⁠46–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠58–⁠5
Michigan State3–⁠57–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern3–⁠56–⁠6
Minnesota0–⁠81–⁠11

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