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2021 Ohio State

11–⁠2 (8–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Ryan Day, finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2021, game by game: won at Minnesota 45–31; lost vs. No. 12 Oregon 28–35; won vs. Tulsa 41–20; won vs. Akron 59–7; won at Rutgers 52–13; won vs. Maryland 66–17; won at Indiana 54–7; won vs. No. 20 Penn State 33–24; won at Nebraska 26–17; won vs. Purdue 59–31; won vs. No. 7 Michigan State 56–7; lost at No. 6 Michigan 27–42; won vs. No. 10 Utah 48–45+52−15Won 45–31 at Minnesota+14MinnesotaLost 28–35 vs. No. 12 Oregon-7No. 12 OregonWon 41–20 vs. Tulsa+21TulsaWon 59–7 vs. Akron+52AkronWon 52–13 at Rutgers+39RutgersWon 66–17 vs. Maryland+49MarylandWon 54–7 at Indiana+47IndianaWon 33–24 vs. No. 20 Penn State+9No. 20 Penn StateWon 26–17 at Nebraska+9NebraskaWon 59–31 vs. Purdue+28PurdueWon 56–7 vs. No. 7 Michigan State+49No. 7 Michigan StateLost 27–42 at No. 6 Michigan-15No. 6 MichiganWon 48–45 vs. No. 10 Utah+3No. 10 Utah
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2atMinnesotaW 45–⁠3166%
Sep 11vs12OregonL 28–⁠3574%
Sep 18vsTulsaW 41–⁠2081%
Sep 25vsAkronW 59–⁠793%
Oct 2atRutgersW 52–⁠1373%
Oct 9vsMarylandW 66–⁠1784%
Oct 23atIndianaW 54–⁠772%
Oct 30vs20Penn StateW 33–⁠2474%
Nov 6atNebraskaW 26–⁠1779%
Nov 13vsPurdueW 59–⁠3184%
Nov 20vs7Michigan StateW 56–⁠778%
Nov 27at6MichiganL 27–⁠4258%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs10UtahRose BowlW 48–⁠4556%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Utah 48–⁠45 in the Rose Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

Big Ten East champions8–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Michigan

Heisman voteC.J. Stroud, fourth

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 2
Points
594–⁠296
Coach
Ryan Day
Elo
1790 +74 this season
SP+ rating
29.3 No. 2 of 130; offense No. 1, defense No. 20
SRS
20.4 No. 2 of 130 in FBS
Returning
47% of last season’s EPA, No. 111 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 2 roster talent No. 3 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Kevin Wilson
Defensive coordinator
Kerry Coombs
Captains
Kamryn Babb, Haskell Garrett, Zach Harrison, Teradja Mitchell, Thayer Munford and Chris Olave
Offense
West Coast spread
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense2nd of 130
  • Defense27th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted1st of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted26th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3953%1.352nd of 130
Defense0.0742%1.2627th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.37 off
0.08 def		53% off
41% def		—1st off
26th 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
Offense4.9own 3011% allowed
Defense3.7own 2519% caused

CORE rating 31.0, 2nd of 130 (offense 25.8, defense -5.2).

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. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsC.J. Stroud QB4,435 yds
Passing touchdownsC.J. Stroud QB44 TD
Rushing yardsTreVeyon Henderson RB1,255 yds
Rushing touchdownsTreVeyon Henderson RB15 TD
Receiving yardsJaxon Smith-Njigba WR1,606 yds
Receiving touchdownsChris Olave WR13 TD
TacklesRonnie Hickman S98 tkl
SacksHaskell Garrett DT5.5 sacks
InterceptionsRonnie Hickman S2 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Quinn Ewers QB★★★★★No. 1
J.T. Tuimoloau DL★★★★★No. 4
Jack Sawyer DL★★★★★No. 5
Emeka Egbuka WR★★★★★No. 10
Donovan Jackson OL★★★★★No. 19
TreVeyon Henderson RB★★★★★No. 23
Kyle McCord QB★★★★★No. 28
J.K. Johnson CB★★★★No. 50

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

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks25.00.993
Running backs24.50.975
Receivers44.30.951
Offensive line44.00.910
Defensive line44.50.975
Linebackers14.00.962
Defensive backs53.80.937
Athletes and specialists23.50.871
Whole class244.20.945

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 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 1Garrett Wilson WRNew York Jets
Rd 1Chris Olave WRNew Orleans Saints
Rd 3Nicholas Petit-Frere OTTennessee Titans
Rd 3Jeremy Ruckert TENew York Jets
Rd 5Tyreke Smith DESeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Thayer Munford OTLas Vegas Raiders

Roster 129

The 2021 roster

129 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 73 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 1

The 2021 portal
Noah Ruggles K★★from North Carolina

Transfers out 5

Jameson Williams WR★★★to Alabama
Mookie Cooper WR★★★to Missouri
Tyreke Johnson CB★★★to Nebraska
Max Wray OT★★★★to Colorado
Zaid Hamdan DL★★no new school on file

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 8 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2021 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2021 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠112–⁠23
Ohio State8–⁠111–⁠26
Michigan State7–⁠211–⁠29
Iowa7–⁠210–⁠423
Wisconsin6–⁠39–⁠4
Minnesota6–⁠39–⁠4
Purdue6–⁠39–⁠4
Penn State4–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠55–⁠7
Maryland3–⁠67–⁠6
Rutgers2–⁠75–⁠8
Northwestern1–⁠83–⁠9
Nebraska1–⁠83–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠92–⁠10

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