1968_Ohio_State_Buckeyes_football_team

1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football
1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Consensus national champion; Big Ten champion; Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 27–16 vs. USC
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	10–0 (7–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (18th season);
MVP	Mark Stier
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
	Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

American college football season

The 1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an American football team that represented the Ohio State University in the 1968 Big Ten Conference football season. It is considered one of the strongest in OSU history, fielding 11 All-Americans and six first-round NFL draft picks. With quarterback Rex Kern and running back Jim Otis leading a powerful OSU offense and Jack Tatum on defense, Woody Hayes' Buckeyes capped an undefeated season with a dominating 50–14 victory over archrival Michigan and a come-from-behind 27–16 victory over defending national champion USC in the 1969 Rose Bowl to secure the national title.^[1] This was also the first year the Buckeye players were awarded Buckeye pride stickers for their helmets, each one a reward for a good play. This would be Ohio State's last outright national championship until 2002. Perhaps the biggest highlight of the year for the Buckeyes was their upset of #1 Purdue in their third game.

Quick Facts Ohio State Buckeyes football, Consensus national championBig Ten championRose Bowl champion ...

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Personnel

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1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
E	`85`	Charles Aldrin	So
G	`57`	Thomas Backhus	Jr
HB	`19`	Ed Bender	Sr
HB	`48`	Jay Bombach	Sr
HB	`42`	John Brockington	So
HB	`12`	Dave Brungard	Jr
G	`75`	Dave Cheney	So
FB	`36`	Rich Cunningham	So
G	`66`	Brian Donovan	So
OT	`70`	Dave Foley (C)	Sr
HB	`11`	Ray Gillian	Jr
HB	`44`	Horatius Greene	Jr
OT	`65`	Randy Hart	Jr
HB	`22`	Leo Hayden	So
FB	`34`	Paul Huff	Jr
OT	`72`	Charles Hutchison	Jr
G	`61`	Alan Jack	Jr
E	`82`	Bruce Jankowski	So
QB	`10`	Rex Kern	So
E	`81`	Dick Kuhn	So
G	`64`	Ted Kurz	So
QB	`24`	Bill Long	Sr
QB	`18`	Ron Maciejowski	So
OT	`73`	Rufus Mayes	Sr
C	`55`	John Muhlbach	Sr
OT	`76`	Jim Opperman	So
FB	`35`	Jim Otis	Jr
C	`58`	Larry Qualls	So
C	`52`	Jim Roman	Sr
OT	`59`	Gary Roush	Sr
HB	`23`	Kevin Rusnak	Jr
E	`87`	Robert Smith	Sr
E	`92`	John Stowe	Sr
G	`62`	Phil Strickland	So
OT	`71`	Rich Troha	So
E	`80`	Jan White	So
HB	`16`	Larry Zelina	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`63`	Doug Adams	So
CB	`26`	Tim Anderson	So
DE	`86`	Dan Aston	Jr
LB	`33`	Tom Bartley	Sr
LB	`21`	Arthur Burton	Jr
CB	`47`	Jim Coburn	So
DE	`83`	Mark Debevc	So
DT	`78`	John Dombos	So
DE	`90`	Tom Ecrement	So
S	`28`	Jerry Ersham	Sr
LB	`39`	James Gentile	Jr
LB	`51`	Bill Hackett	Jr
MG	`67`	Ralph Halloway	So
DT	`77`	Brad Nielsen	Jr
CB	`15`	Mike Polaski	Jr
CB	`46`	Ted Provost	Jr
S	`43`	Rich Quilling	Jr
LB	`55`	Mike Radtke	Jr
DE	`89`	Nick Roman	Sr
DT	`74`	Paul Schmidlin	Jr
S	`3`	Mike Sensibaugh	So
DT	`50`	Butch Smith	Jr
DE	`91`	John Sobolewski	Sr
LB	`54`	Mark Stier	Sr
MG	`68`	Jim Stillwagon	So
MG	`69`	Vic Stottlemyer	Sr
LB	`32`	Jack Tatum	So
CB	`17`	Bob Trapuzzano	Jr
DT	`79`	Bill Urbanik	Jr
CB	`41`	Tim Wagner	So
DE	`88`	Dave Whitfield	Jr
LB	`56`	Dirk Worden (C)	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Woody Hayes

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Earle Bruce
George Chaump
Glenn Ellison
Hugh Hindman
Lou Holtz
Rudy Hubbard
Bill Mallory
Lou McCullough
Esco Sarkkinen
Carlin B. Carpenter (GA)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2016-Feb-12

Game summaries

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[1] [1]
OSU Football National Championships Archived 2008-10-20 at the Wayback Machine, Ohio State University Archives

[2] [2]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

[3] [3]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

[4] [4]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

[5] [5]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

[6] [6]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

[7] [7]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

[8] [8]
"Ohio State '68: All the Way to the Top." Greenberg, Steve and Larry Zelina. 1998.

[9] [9]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

[10] [10]
"Ohio St Shocks Michigan, 50-14." The Palm Beach Post. 1968 Nov 25.

[11] [11]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

[12] [12]
Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Oct-1.

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Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 28	1:30 p.m.	SMU*	No. 11	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 35–14	73,855
October 5	1:30 p.m.	Oregon*	No. 6	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 21–6	70,191
October 12	1:30 p.m.	No. 1 Purdue	No. 4	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 13–0	84,834
October 19	2:20 p.m.	Northwestern	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 45–21	83,454
October 26	2:30 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)		W 31–24	56,174
November 2	1:30 p.m.	No. 16 Michigan State	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 25–20	84,859
November 9	2:30 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 2	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 43–8	40,972
November 16	2:30 p.m.	at Iowa	No. 2	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 33–27	44,131
November 23	1:30 p.m.	No. 4 Michigan	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)		W 50–14	85,371
January 1, 1969	5:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 USC*	No. 1	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 27–16	102,063
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Statistic	OSU	ORE
Total yards
Passing yards
Rushing yards
Penalties
Turnovers	0	2
Time of possession

Statistic	OSU	ORE
Passing
Rushing
Receiving

Statistic	OSU	PUR
Total yards
Passing yards
Rushing yards
Penalties
Turnovers	0	2
Time of possession

Statistic	OSU	PUR
Passing
Rushing	Jim Otis (144)
Receiving

1968_Ohio_State_Buckeyes_football_team

1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Schedule

Personnel

Game summaries

SMU

Oregon

Purdue

Northwestern

Illinois

Michigan State

Wisconsin

Iowa

Michigan

Rose Bowl

Statistical leaders

Players in the 1969 NFL Draft

References

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1968 Ohio State Buckeyes football

Consensus national champion Big Ten champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 27–16 vs. USC
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	10–0 (7–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (18th season)
MVP	Mark Stier
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Ohio State $	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	0	–	0
No. 12 Michigan	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Purdue	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Minnesota	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Indiana	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Wisconsin	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL club
Rufus Mayes	1	14	Tackle	Chicago Bears
Dave Foley	1	26	Tackle	New York Jets
Steve Howell	10	239	Tight end	Cincinnati Bengals