# 1988 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1988 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the first season for head coach John Cooper. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a win–loss record of 4–6–1, and a Big Ten Conference record of 2–5–1.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 10 | 3:30 p.m. | Syracuse* | | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | ABC | W 26–9 | 89,768 |
| September 17 | 7:00 p.m. | at Pittsburgh* | No. 18 | Pitt StadiumPittsburgh, PA | ESPN | L 10–42 | 56,500 |
| September 24 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 7 LSU* | | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | ABC | W 36–33 | 90,584 |
| October 1 | 1:30 p.m. | Illinois | | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy) | | L 12–31 | 90,274 |
| October 8 | 3:30 p.m. | at Indiana | | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN | ABC | L 7–41 | 52,133 |
| October 15 | 1:30 p.m. | Purdue | | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | L 26–31 | 90,970 |
| October 22 | 8:00 p.m. | Minnesota | | Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeMinneapolis, MN | | W 13–6 | 44,221 |
| October 29 | 12:00 p.m. | at Michigan State | | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI | | L 10–20 | 77,111 |
| November 5 | 1:30 p.m. | Wisconsin | | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 34–12 | 90,032 |
| November 12 | 12:00 p.m. | at Iowa | | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | | T 24–24 | 67,700 |
| November 19 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 12 Michigan | | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH (rivalry) | ABC | L 31–34 | 90,176 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Syracuse

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Syracuse | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| • Ohio St | 0 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 26 |

### Pittsburgh

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio St | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Pittsburgh | 14 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 42 |

### LSU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| LSU | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 33 |
| • Ohio St | 0 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 36 |

### Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Illinois | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 31 |
| Ohio St | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 |

### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio St | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| • Indiana | 14 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 41 |

### Purdue

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Purdue | 0 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 31 |
| Ohio St | 7 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 26 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: October 15
* Game time: 1:30 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: Partly sunny, 62 °F (17 °C)
* Game attendance: 90,970
* Referee: Jim Kemerling
* TV: WCMH
Game information :
First quarter
OSU – Carlos Snow 58-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 9:32. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 68 yards, 1:30.
Second quarter
OSU – Greg Frey 1-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 13:18. Ohio St 14–0. Drive: 12 plays, 86 yards, 5:13.
PUR – Lance Scheib 46-yard pass from Brian Fox (Larry Sullivan kick), 10:52. Ohio St 14–7. Drive: 6 plays, 82 yards, 2:17.
OSU – Pat O'Morrow 35-yard field goal, 0:48. Ohio St 17–7. Drive: 7 plays, 12 yards, 3:52.
Third quarter
OSU – Pat O'Morrow 24-yard field goal, 10:22. Ohio St 20–7. Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards, 3:10.
PUR – Ernie Schramayr 5-yard pass from Brian Fox (Larry Sullivan kick), 6:23. Ohio St 20–14. Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards, 3:54.
PUR – Brian Fox 3-yard run (Larry Sullivan kick), 4:59. Purdue 21–20. Drive: 4 plays, 16 yards, 1:14.
Fourth quarter
PUR – Ernie Schramayr 7-yard pass from Brian Fox (Larry Sullivan kick), 14:56. Purdue 28–20. Drive: 8 plays, 63 yards, 3:29.
OSU – James Bryant 5-yard run (pass failed), 12:12. Purdue 28–26. Drive: 6 plays, 66 yards, 2:38.
PUR – Larry Sullivan 49-yard field goal, 6:28. Purdue 31–26. Drive: 12 plays, 42 yards, 5:39.
Top passers
PUR – Brian Fox – 19/27, 223 yards, 3 TD
OSU – Greg Frey – 10/21, 193 yards, 2 INT
Top rushers
PUR – Jarrett Scales – 21 rushes, 62 yards
OSU – Carlos Snow – 20 rushes, 128 yards, TD
Top receivers
PUR – Ernie Schramayr – 13 receptions, 106 yards, 2 TD
OSU – Jeff Ellis – 3 receptions, 66 yards :

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Ohio St | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| Minnesota | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio St | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Michigan St | 7 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 20 |

### Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wisconsin | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| • Ohio St | 3 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 34 |

### Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio St | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |
| Iowa | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 |

### Michigan

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Michigan | 10 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 34 |
| Ohio St | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 | 31 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: November 19, 1988
* Game time: 12:10 p.m.
* Game weather: Overcast, 44 °F (7 °C)
* Game attendance: 90,176
* Referee: John Nealow
Game information :
First quarter
MICH – Mike Gillette 22-yard field goal, 5:47. Michigan 3–0. Drive: 12 plays, 74 yards, 4:09.
MICH – Greg McMurtry 57-yard pass from Demetrius Brown (Mike Gillette kick), 1:06. Michigan 10–0. Drive: 4 plays, 72 yards, 1:44.
Second quarter
MICH – Leroy Hoard 18-yard run (Mike Gillette kick), 8:35. Michigan 17–0. Drive: 2 plays, 17 yards, 0:53.
MICH – Mike Gillette 56-yard field goal, 0:00. Michigan 20–0. Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards, 2:35.
Third quarter
OSU – Carlos Snow 4-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 12:06. Michigan 20–7. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 2:48.
OSU – Bill Matlock 9-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 4:59. Michigan 20–14. Drive: 8 plays, 66 yards, 3:08.
Fourth quarter
OSU – Bobby Olive 4-yard pass from Greg Frey (Pat O'Morrow kick), 11:26. Ohio St 21–20. Drive: 8 plays, 90 yards, 3:42.
OSU – Pat O'Morrow 21-yard field goal, 8:30. Ohio St 24–20. Drive: 6 plays, 18 yards, 2:50.
MICH – Leroy Hoard 8-yard run (Mike Gillette kick), 4:20. Michigan 27–24. Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards, 4:03.
OSU – Bill Matlock 16-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 2:02. Ohio St 31–27. Drive: 6 plays, 92 yards, 2:12.
MICH – John Kolesar 41-yard pass from Demetrius Brown (Mike Gillette kick), 1:37. Michigan 34–31. Drive: 2 plays, 41 yards, 0:15.
Top passers
MICH – Demetrius Brown – 11/17, 223 yards, 2 TD
OSU – Greg Frey – 14/29, 192 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
MICH – Leroy Hoard – 23 rushes, 158 yards, 2 TD
OSU – Carlos Snow – 21 rushes, 170 yards, TD
Top receivers
MICH – John Kolesar – 3 receptions, 95 yards, TD
OSU – Bobby Olive – 3 receptions, 59 yards, TD :

## 1989 NFL draftees

| Player | Round | Pick | Position | NFL club |
| Jeff Uhlenhake | 5 | 121 | Center | Miami Dolphins |
| Vince Workman | 5 | 127 | Running back | Green Bay Packers |
| Derek MacCready | 9 | 226 | Defensive end | Detroit Lions |
| Everett Ross | 12 | 335 | Wide receiver | Minnesota Vikings |