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2025 Ohio State

12–⁠2 (9–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Ryan Day, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2025, game by game: won vs. No. 1 Texas 14–7; won vs. Grambling 70–0; won vs. Ohio 37–9; won at Washington 24–6; won vs. Minnesota 42–3; won at No. 17 Illinois 34–16; won at Wisconsin 34–0; won vs. Penn State 38–14; won at Purdue 34–10; won vs. UCLA 48–10; won vs. Rutgers 42–9; won at No. 15 Michigan 27–9; lost vs. No. 2 Indiana 10–13; lost vs. No. 10 Miami 14–24+70−10Won 14–7 vs. No. 1 Texas+7No. 1 TexasWon 70–0 vs. Grambling+70GramblingWon 37–9 vs. Ohio+28OhioWon 24–6 at Washington+18WashingtonWon 42–3 vs. Minnesota+39MinnesotaWon 34–16 at No. 17 Illinois+18No. 17 IllinoisWon 34–0 at Wisconsin+34WisconsinWon 38–14 vs. Penn State+24Penn StateWon 34–10 at Purdue+24PurdueWon 48–10 vs. UCLA+38UCLAWon 42–9 vs. Rutgers+33RutgersWon 27–9 at No. 15 Michigan+18No. 15 MichiganLost 10–13 vs. No. 2 Indiana-3No. 2 IndianaLost 14–24 vs. No. 10 Miami-10No. 10 Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vs1TexasW 14–⁠767%
Sep 6vsGramblingW 70–⁠096%
Sep 13vsOhioW 37–⁠978%
Sep 27atWashingtonW 24–⁠663%
Oct 4vsMinnesotaW 42–⁠383%
Oct 11at17IllinoisW 34–⁠1668%
Oct 18atWisconsinW 34–⁠087%
Nov 1vsPenn StateW 38–⁠1482%
Nov 8atPurdueW 34–⁠1093%
Nov 15vsUCLAW 48–⁠1093%
Nov 22vsRutgersW 42–⁠991%
Nov 29at15MichiganW 27–⁠966%
Dec 6vs2IndianaBig Ten ChampionshipL 10–⁠1365%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs10MiamiCotton Bowl, CFP QuarterfinalL 14–⁠2467%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Miami 24–⁠14 in the Cotton Bowl, CFP Quarterfinal; No. 5 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

Heisman voteJulian Sayin, fourth

Jim Thorpe AwardCaleb Downs, S

4 consensus All-AmericansJeremiah Smith, WR; Kayden McDonald, DL; Arvell Reese, LB; Caleb Downs, S

Record
12–⁠2
Conference
9–⁠0 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 1
Points
468–⁠130
Coach
Ryan Day
Elo
1834 +77 this season
SP+ rating
30.1 No. 2 of 136; offense No. 13, defense No. 1, special teams No. 65
SRS
26.6 No. 2 of 136 in FBS
Returning
31% of last season’s EPA, No. 73 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 4 roster talent No. 3 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Brian Hartline and Keenan Bailey
Defensive coordinators
Matt Patricia and Tim Walton
Captains
Caleb Downs, Brandon Inniss, Austin Siereveld and Sonny Styles
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense8th of 136
  • Defense6th of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted7th of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted4th of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2751%1.168th of 136
Defense-0.0737%1.066th of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.26 off
-0.09 def		51% off
34% def		—7th off
4th def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense61%8.7 yds15%3.2016%
Defense42%7.0 yds10%2.7020%
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. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.8own 2911% allowed
Defense2.6own 2616% caused

CORE rating 39.4, 1st of 136 (offense 13.9, defense -25.4).

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 yardsJulian Sayin QB3,610 yds
Passing touchdownsJulian Sayin QB32 TD
Rushing yardsBo Jackson RB1,090 yds
Rushing touchdownsC.J. Donaldson RB10 TD
Receiving yardsJeremiah Smith WR1,243 yds
Receiving touchdownsJeremiah Smith WR12 TD
TacklesSonny Styles LB83 tkl
SacksCaden Curry DE11 sacks
InterceptionsCaleb Downs S2 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

Tavien St. Clair QB★★★★★No. 7
Devin Sanchez CB★★★★★No. 8
Quincy Porter WR★★★★★No. 23
Riley Pettijohn LB★★★★No. 42
Faheem Delane S★★★★No. 55
Carter Lowe OT★★★★No. 74
Zion Grady DE★★★★No. 81
Anthony Rogers RB★★★★No. 97

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

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks24.00.919
Running backs33.70.920
Receivers54.20.924
Offensive line34.00.919
Defensive line53.80.916
Linebackers33.70.933
Defensive backs63.70.909
Athletes and specialists14.00.908
Whole class283.90.919

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 2026

The 2026 draft
Rd 1Carnell Tate WRTennessee Titans
Rd 1Arvell Reese LBNew York Giants
Rd 1Sonny Styles LBWashington Commanders
Rd 1Caleb Downs SDallas Cowboys
Rd 2Kayden McDonald DTHouston Texans
Rd 2Max Klare TELos Angeles Rams
Rd 2Davison Igbinosun CBBuffalo Bills
Rd 3Will Kacmarek TEMiami Dolphins
Rd 5Lorenzo Styles Jr. SNew Orleans Saints
Rd 6Caden Curry DEIndianapolis Colts
Rd 7Ethan Onianwa OTAtlanta Falcons

Roster 120

The 2025 roster

120 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 11

The 2025 portal
Max Klare TE★★★★from Purdue
Beau Atkinson DE★★★★from North Carolina
Ethan Onianwa OT★★★★from Rice
Phillip Daniels OT★★★★from Minnesota
C.J. Donaldson RB★★★from West Virginia
Justin Terry OT★★★from West Virginia
Logan George DE★★★from Idaho State
Eli Brickhandler QB★★★from Houston Christian
Ty Howard LB★★★from Duquesne
Grant Mills LSfrom North Carolina
Jackson Courville Kfrom Ball State

Transfers out 15

Hero Kanu DL★★★to Texas
Calvin Simpson-Hunt CB★★★to Baylor
Devin Brown QB★★★to California
Gabe Powers LB★★★to Kansas State
George Fitzpatrick OT★★★to Kansas State
Mitchell Melton DE★★★to Virginia
Zen Michalski OT★★★to Indiana
Jayden Ballard WR★★★to Wisconsin
Jayden Bonsu S★★★to Pittsburgh
Kojo Antwi WR★★★to Colorado State
Miles Walker OT★★★to Boise State
Patrick Gurd TE★★★to Cincinnati

And 3 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-Big Ten

9 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2025 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2025 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Indiana9–⁠016–⁠01
Ohio State9–⁠012–⁠25
Oregon8–⁠113–⁠24
Michigan7–⁠29–⁠421
USC7–⁠29–⁠420
Iowa6–⁠39–⁠417
Illinois5–⁠49–⁠4
Washington5–⁠49–⁠4
Minnesota5–⁠48–⁠5
Nebraska4–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern4–⁠57–⁠6
Penn State3–⁠67–⁠6
UCLA3–⁠63–⁠9
Rutgers2–⁠75–⁠7
Wisconsin2–⁠74–⁠8
Michigan State1–⁠84–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠84–⁠8
Purdue0–⁠92–⁠10

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