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2009 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 2009, game by game: won vs. Navy 31–27; lost vs. No. 3 USC 15–18; won vs. Toledo 38–0; won vs. Illinois 30–0; won at Indiana 33–14; won vs. Wisconsin 31–13; lost at Purdue 18–26; won vs. Minnesota 38–7; won vs. New Mexico State 45–0; won at No. 11 Penn State 24–7; won vs. No. 15 Iowa 27–24; won at Michigan 21–10; won vs. No. 7 Oregon 26–17+45−8Won 31–27 vs. Navy+4NavyLost 15–18 vs. No. 3 USC-3No. 3 USCWon 38–0 vs. Toledo+38ToledoWon 30–0 vs. Illinois+30IllinoisWon 33–14 at Indiana+19IndianaWon 31–13 vs. Wisconsin+18WisconsinLost 18–26 at Purdue-8PurdueWon 38–7 vs. Minnesota+31MinnesotaWon 45–0 vs. New Mexico State+45New Mexico StateWon 24–7 at No. 11 Penn State+17No. 11 Penn StateWon 27–24 vs. No. 15 Iowa+3No. 15 IowaWon 21–10 at Michigan+11MichiganWon 26–17 vs. No. 7 Oregon+9No. 7 Oregon
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsNavyW 31–⁠2777%
Sep 12vs3USCL 15–⁠1849%
Sep 19vsToledoW 38–⁠082%
Sep 26vsIllinoisW 30–⁠080%
Oct 3atIndianaW 33–⁠1474%
Oct 10vsWisconsinW 31–⁠1370%
Oct 17atPurdueL 18–⁠2681%
Oct 24vsMinnesotaW 38–⁠779%
Oct 31vsNew Mexico StateW 45–⁠094%
Nov 7at11Penn StateW 24–⁠737%
Nov 14vs15IowaW 27–⁠2466%
Nov 21atMichiganW 21–⁠1080%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7OregonRose BowlW 26–⁠1751%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oregon 26–⁠17 in the Rose Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 18th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 6
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 11
  4. Wk 4: 13
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 9
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 18
  9. Wk 9: 17
  10. Wk 10: 15
  11. Wk 11: 10
  12. Wk 12: 9
  13. Wk 13: 9
  14. Wk 14: 8
  15. Wk 15: 8
  16. Final: 5

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 5
Points
377–⁠163
Coach
Jim Tressel
Elo
1777 +103 this season
SP+ rating
21.0 No. 12 of 120; offense No. 48, defense No. 7, special teams No. 48
SRS
14.6 No. 8 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 5
Offensive coordinator
Jim Bollman
Defensive coordinators
Jim Heacock and Luke Fickell
Captains
Kurt Coleman, Austin Spitler and Doug Worthington
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense62nd of 120
  • Defense8th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted67th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted9th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0440%0.9362nd of 120
Defense-0.0436%0.828th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.04 off
-0.02 def		41% off
36% def		—67th off
9th def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 342% allowed
Defense-0.1own 283% 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.

Player leaders are hidden for this season: our source’s player stats for Ohio State are missing players (they add up to less than 85% of the team’s passing or rushing yards).

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Dorian Bell OLB★★★★★No. 20
Jaamal Berry RB★★★★No. 35
Jamie Wood S★★★★No. 82
Duron Carter WR★★★★No. 83
Melvin Fellows SDE★★★★No. 101
C.J. Barnett CB★★★★No. 105
Corey Brown CB★★★★No. 106
Marcus Hall OT★★★★No. 109

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.853
Running backs43.80.914
Receivers24.00.939
Offensive line43.80.923
Defensive line24.00.939
Linebackers24.00.940
Defensive backs34.00.956
Whole class183.80.928

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 4Thaddeus Gibson OLBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Doug Worthington DEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Kurt Coleman SPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Austin Spitler OLBMiami Dolphins

Roster 113

The 2009 roster

113 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2009 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2009 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠25
Iowa6–⁠211–⁠27
Penn State6–⁠211–⁠29
Wisconsin5–⁠310–⁠316
Northwestern5–⁠38–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠7
Purdue4–⁠45–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠63–⁠9
Michigan1–⁠75–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠8

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