CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2010 Ohio State

12–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Jim Tressel, finished No. 5 in the AP poll. Officially 0–⁠1: the NCAA vacated 11 regular-season wins and the 2011 Sugar Bowl win.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “Ohio State vacated all 12 wins from 2010, including a vacated Sugar Bowl win (Arkansas, 31–⁠26) due to NCAA violations.”

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2010, game by game: won vs. Marshall 45–7; won vs. No. 12 Miami 36–24; won vs. Ohio 43–7; won vs. Eastern Michigan 73–20; won at Illinois 24–13; won vs. Indiana 38–10; lost at No. 18 Wisconsin 18–31; won vs. Purdue 49–0; won at Minnesota 52–10; won vs. Penn State 38–14; won at No. 21 Iowa 20–17; won vs. Michigan 37–7; won vs. No. 8 Arkansas 31–26+53−13Won 45–7 vs. Marshall+38MarshallWon 36–24 vs. No. 12 Miami+12No. 12 MiamiWon 43–7 vs. Ohio+36OhioWon 73–20 vs. Eastern Michigan+53Eastern MichiganWon 24–13 at Illinois+11IllinoisWon 38–10 vs. Indiana+28IndianaLost 18–31 at No. 18 Wisconsin-13No. 18 WisconsinWon 49–0 vs. Purdue+49PurdueWon 52–10 at Minnesota+42MinnesotaWon 38–14 vs. Penn State+24Penn StateWon 20–17 at No. 21 Iowa+3No. 21 IowaWon 37–7 vs. Michigan+30MichiganWon 31–26 vs. No. 8 Arkansas+5No. 8 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsMarshallW 45–⁠7vacated83%
Sep 11vs12MiamiW 36–⁠24vacated72%
Sep 18vsOhioW 43–⁠7vacated84%
Sep 25vsEastern MichiganW 73–⁠20vacated95%
Oct 2atIllinoisW 24–⁠13vacated74%
Oct 9vsIndianaW 38–⁠10vacated88%
Oct 16at18WisconsinL 18–⁠3159%
Oct 23vsPurdueW 49–⁠0vacated82%
Oct 30atMinnesotaW 52–⁠10vacated83%
Nov 13vsPenn StateW 38–⁠14vacated71%
Nov 20at21IowaW 20–⁠17vacated50%
Nov 27vsMichiganW 37–⁠7vacated85%
Jan 4Bowls & playoffvs8ArkansasSugar BowlW 31–⁠26vacated57%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Arkansas 31–⁠26 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 14th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 2
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 2
  5. Wk 5: 2
  6. Wk 6: 2
  7. Wk 7: 1
  8. Wk 8: 11
  9. Wk 9: 10
  10. Wk 10: 8
  11. Wk 11: 8
  12. Wk 12: 8
  13. Wk 13: 8
  14. Wk 14: 6
  15. Wk 15: 6
  16. Final: 5
Record
12–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 1
Points
504–⁠186
Coach
Jim Tressel
Elo
1790 +105 this season
SP+ rating
30.0 No. 2 of 120; offense No. 10, defense No. 2, special teams No. 25
SRS
17.9 No. 8 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 18
Offensive coordinator
Jim Bollman
Defensive coordinators
Jim Heacock and Luke Fickell
Captains
Cameron Heyward, Brian Rolle, Brandon Saine, Bryant Browning, Dane Sanzenbacher and Ross Homan
Most valuable player
Dane Sanzenbacher
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense22nd of 120
  • Defense7th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted26th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted5th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1145%0.8722nd of 120
Defense-0.0435%0.987th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
-0.02 def		45% off
36% def		—26th off
5th 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
Offense0.0own 352% allowed
Defense-0.5own 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 2010 class

Rod Smith RB★★★★No. 45
Andrew Norwell OT★★★★No. 78
Corey Brown ATH★★★★No. 115
Christian Bryant CB★★★★No. 133
James Louis WR★★★★No. 138
Jamel Turner SDE★★★★No. 196
Darryl Baldwin SDE★★★★No. 216
Carlos Hyde RB★★★★No. 301

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

The 2010 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.880
Running backs24.00.938
Receivers24.00.917
Offensive line14.00.965
Defensive line43.80.904
Linebackers14.00.895
Defensive backs33.00.860
Athletes and specialists33.30.876
Whole class173.60.898

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 2011

The 2011 draft
Rd 1Cameron Heyward DEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Chimdi Chekwa CBOakland Raiders
Rd 5Jermale Hines SSt. Louis Rams
Rd 6Brian Rolle OLBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 6Ross Homan OLBMinnesota Vikings

Roster 120

The 2010 roster

120 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2010 line; 42 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

9 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2010 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2010 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠112–⁠15
Wisconsin7–⁠111–⁠27
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠214
Iowa4–⁠48–⁠5
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠47–⁠6
Michigan3–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern3–⁠57–⁠6
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Minnesota2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠75–⁠7

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