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2014 Ohio State

14–⁠1 (8–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Urban Meyer, finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2014, game by game: won vs. Navy 34–17; lost vs. Virginia Tech 21–35; won vs. Kent State 66–0; won vs. Cincinnati 50–28; won at Maryland 52–24; won vs. Rutgers 56–17; won at Penn State 31–24; won vs. Illinois 55–14; won at No. 7 Michigan State 49–37; won at Minnesota 31–24; won vs. Indiana 42–27; won vs. Michigan 42–28; won vs. No. 11 Wisconsin 59–0; won vs. No. 1 Alabama 42–35; won vs. No. 3 Oregon 42–20+66−14Won 34–17 vs. Navy+17NavyLost 21–35 vs. Virginia Tech-14Virginia TechWon 66–0 vs. Kent State+66Kent StateWon 50–28 vs. Cincinnati+22CincinnatiWon 52–24 at Maryland+28MarylandWon 56–17 vs. Rutgers+39RutgersWon 31–24 at Penn State+7Penn StateWon 55–14 vs. Illinois+41IllinoisWon 49–37 at No. 7 Michigan State+12No. 7 Michigan StateWon 31–24 at Minnesota+7MinnesotaWon 42–27 vs. Indiana+15IndianaWon 42–28 vs. Michigan+14MichiganWon 59–0 vs. No. 11 Wisconsin+59No. 11 WisconsinWon 42–35 vs. No. 1 Alabama+7No. 1 AlabamaWon 42–20 vs. No. 3 Oregon+22No. 3 Oregon
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsNavyW 34–⁠1766%
Sep 6vsVirginia TechL 21–⁠3573%
Sep 13vsKent StateW 66–⁠082%
Sep 27vsCincinnatiW 50–⁠2866%
Oct 4atMarylandW 52–⁠2456%
Oct 18vsRutgersW 56–⁠1777%
Oct 25atPenn StateW 31–⁠2467%
Nov 1vsIllinoisW 55–⁠1488%
Nov 8at7Michigan StateW 49–⁠3741%
Nov 15atMinnesotaW 31–⁠2465%
Nov 22vsIndianaW 42–⁠2792%
Nov 29vsMichiganW 42–⁠2888%
Dec 6vs11WisconsinBig Ten Championship GameW 59–⁠057%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs1AlabamaSugar Bowl, CFP SemifinalW 42–⁠3549%
Jan 12Bowls & playoffvs3OregonCFP National ChampionshipW 42–⁠2046%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oregon 42–⁠20 in the CFP National Championship; No. 1 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 22
  4. Wk 4: 23
  5. Wk 5: 22
  6. Wk 6: 20
  7. Wk 7: 15
  8. Wk 8: 13
  9. Wk 9: 13
  10. Wk 10: 13
  11. Wk 11: 13
  12. Wk 12: 8
  13. Wk 13: 7
  14. Wk 14: 7
  15. Wk 15: 6
  16. Wk 16: 5
  17. Final: 1

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Big Ten champions8–⁠0 in the conference, won the Big Ten Championship Game

Heisman voteJ.T. Barrett, fifth

Led the nationDevin Smith: yards per catch (28.2)

Consensus All-AmericanJoey Bosa, DL

Broyles AwardTom Herman, coach

Record
14–⁠1
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
672–⁠330
Coach
Urban Meyer
Elo
1879 +219 this season
SP+ rating
25.8 No. 4 of 128; offense No. 2, defense No. 24, special teams No. 50
SRS
21.2 No. 5 of 128 in FBS
Returning
62% of last season’s EPA, No. 59 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 3
Offensive coordinators
Tom Herman and Ed Warinner
Defensive coordinators
Luke Fickell and Chris Ash
Captains
[[Michael Bennett, Curtis Grant, Doran Grant, Jeff Heuerman and Braxton Miller
Offense
Power spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense7th of 128
  • Defense29th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted4th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted15th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3052%1.277th of 128
Defense0.0840%1.2129th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.32 off
0.07 def		53% off
38% def		—4th off
15th 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
Offense4.2own 332% allowed
Defense3.5own 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsJ.T. Barrett QB2,834 yds
Passing touchdownsJ.T. Barrett QB34 TD
Rushing yardsEzekiel Elliott RB1,878 yds
Rushing touchdownsEzekiel Elliott RB18 TD
Receiving yardsDevin Smith WR931 yds
Receiving touchdownsDevin Smith WR12 TD
InterceptionsVonn Bell S6 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Raekwon McMillan ILB★★★★★No. 22
Damon Webb CB★★★★No. 36
Dante Booker OLB★★★★No. 52
Marshon Lattimore CB★★★★No. 55
Curtis Samuel ATH★★★★No. 56
Jamarco Jones OT★★★★No. 59
Erick Smith S★★★★No. 65
Jalyn Holmes WDE★★★★No. 76

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers34.00.937
Offensive line53.60.915
Defensive line14.00.965
Linebackers34.30.965
Defensive backs34.00.975
Athletes and specialists43.80.927
Whole class193.90.941

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 2Devin Smith WRNew York Jets
Rd 3Jeff Heuerman TEDenver Broncos
Rd 4Doran Grant CBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 6Michael Bennett DTJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 6Evan Spencer WRWashington Redskins

Roster 118

The 2014 roster

118 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠014–⁠11
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠25
Wisconsin7–⁠111–⁠313
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠4
Minnesota5–⁠38–⁠5
Maryland4–⁠47–⁠6
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠6
Rutgers3–⁠58–⁠5
Illinois3–⁠56–⁠7
Michigan3–⁠55–⁠7
Northwestern3–⁠55–⁠7
Penn State2–⁠67–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠8
Purdue1–⁠73–⁠9

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