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2012 Ohio State

12–⁠0 (8–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Urban Meyer, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2012, game by game: won vs. Miami (OH) 56–10; won vs. UCF 31–16; won vs. California 35–28; won vs. UAB 29–15; won at No. 20 Michigan State 17–16; won vs. No. 21 Nebraska 63–38; won at Indiana 52–49; won vs. Purdue 29–22; won at Penn State 35–23; won vs. Illinois 52–22; won at Wisconsin 21–14; won vs. No. 20 Michigan 26–21+46Won 56–10 vs. Miami (OH)+46Miami (OH)Won 31–16 vs. UCF+15UCFWon 35–28 vs. California+7CaliforniaWon 29–15 vs. UAB+14UABWon 17–16 at No. 20 Michigan State+1No. 20 Michigan StateWon 63–38 vs. No. 21 Nebraska+25No. 21 NebraskaWon 52–49 at Indiana+3IndianaWon 29–22 vs. Purdue+7PurdueWon 35–23 at Penn State+12Penn StateWon 52–22 vs. Illinois+30IllinoisWon 21–14 at Wisconsin+7WisconsinWon 26–21 vs. No. 20 Michigan+5No. 20 Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsMiami (OH)W 56–⁠1072%
Sep 8vsUCFW 31–⁠1665%
Sep 15vsCaliforniaW 35–⁠2870%
Sep 22vsUABW 29–⁠1586%
Sep 29at20Michigan StateW 17–⁠1640%
Oct 6vs21NebraskaW 63–⁠3856%
Oct 13atIndianaW 52–⁠4977%
Oct 20vsPurdueW 29–⁠2280%
Oct 27atPenn StateW 35–⁠2345%
Nov 3vsIllinoisW 52–⁠2290%
Nov 17atWisconsinW 21–⁠1445%
Nov 24vs20MichiganW 26–⁠2165%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan 26–⁠21; No. 3 in the final AP poll; first in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 32nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

Big Ten Leaders champions8–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteBraxton Miller, fifth

Record
12–⁠0
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
446–⁠274
Coach
Urban Meyer
Elo
1742 +177 this season
SP+ rating
23.8 No. 9 of 124; offense No. 16, defense No. 18, special teams No. 40
SRS
12.3 No. 19 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 5
Offensive coordinators
Tom Herman and Ed Warinner
Defensive coordinators
Luke Fickell and Everett Withers
Captains
John Simon, Zach Boren, Etienne Sabino, Garrett Goebel and Jordan Hall
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple

How good, play by play

  • Offense29th of 124
  • Defense27th of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted34th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1145%0.9229th of 124
Defense0.0137%0.9527th of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.03 def		44% off
38% def		—32nd off
34th 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-0.2own 302% allowed
Defense-0.7own 292% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsBraxton Miller QB2,039 yds
Passing touchdownsBraxton Miller QB15 TD
Rushing yardsBraxton Miller QB1,271 yds
Rushing touchdownsCarlos Hyde RB16 TD
Receiving yardsCorey Brown WR669 yds
Receiving touchdownsDevin Smith WR6 TD
InterceptionsTravis Howard CB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Noah Spence WDE★★★★★No. 5
Adolphus Washington WDE★★★★★No. 19
Tommy Schutt DT★★★★No. 83
Se’Von Pittman WDE★★★★No. 89
Bri’onte Dunn RB★★★★No. 94
Armani Reeves CB★★★★No. 122
Joshua Perry OLB★★★★No. 133
Taylor Decker OT★★★★No. 163

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs24.00.940
Receivers33.00.879
Offensive line53.60.897
Defensive line54.40.961
Linebackers43.80.913
Defensive backs34.00.922
Athletes and specialists13.00.880
Whole class233.80.918

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 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 2Johnathan Hankins DTNew York Giants
Rd 4John Simon DEBaltimore Ravens
Rd 7Reid Fragel OTCincinnati Bengals

Roster 108

The 2012 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠012–⁠03
Nebraska7–⁠110–⁠425
Penn State6–⁠28–⁠4
Michigan6–⁠28–⁠524
Northwestern5–⁠310–⁠317
Wisconsin4–⁠48–⁠6
Michigan State3–⁠57–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠56–⁠7
Minnesota2–⁠66–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠64–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠64–⁠8
Illinois0–⁠82–⁠10

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