# 1974 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1974 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was an American football team that represented the Ohio State University in the 1974 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 10–2 record, including the 1975 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where they lost, 18–17, to the USC Trojans.
1974 was the first season in which Ohio State played an 11-game regular season schedule. The NCAA allowed teams to schedule 11 regular season games beginning in 1970, but the Buckeyes played only nine regular season games in 1970, their last nine-game regular season. Ohio State played 10 regular season games in 1971, '72 and '73.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 14 | 2:30 p.m. | at Minnesota | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN | | W 34–19 | 45,511 |
| September 21 | 1:30 p.m. | Oregon State* | No. 2 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 51–10 | 86,383 |
| September 28 | 1:30 p.m. | SMU* | No. 1 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 28–9 | 87,487 |
| October 5 | 4:30 p.m. | vs. Washington State* | No. 1 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | | W 42–7 | 50,000 |
| October 12 | 1:30 p.m. | Wisconsin | No. 1 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 52–7 | 87,717 |
| October 19 | 1:30 p.m. | Indiana | No. 1 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 49–9 | 87,671 |
| October 26 | 2:30 p.m. | at Northwestern | No. 1 | Dyche StadiumEvanston, IL | | W 55–7 | 42,337 |
| November 2 | 1:30 p.m. | Illinois | No. 1 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy) | | W 49–7 | 87,813 |
| November 9 | 12:30 p.m. | at Michigan State | No. 1 | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI | ABC | L 13–16 | 78,533 |
| November 16 | 2:30 p.m. | at Iowa | No. 4 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | | W 35–10 | 48,700 |
| November 23 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 2 Michigan | No. 3 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH (rivalry) | ABC | W 12–10 | 88,243 |
| January 1, 1975 | 5:00 p.m. | vs. No. 5 USC* | No. 3 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) | NBC | L 17–18 | 106,721 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Minnesota

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio St | 7 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 34 |
| Minnesota | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 19 |
at Memorial Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
* Date: September 14, 1974
* Game weather: Sunny • 69 °F (21 °C) • Wind 18 miles per hour (29 km/h; 16 kn)
* Game attendance: 45,511
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
OSU – Archie Griffin 10-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 9:31. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 11 plays, 77 yards.
MINN – Steve Goldberg 52-yard field goal, 1:56. Ohio St 7–3. Drive:
Second quarter
OSU – Pete Johnson 4-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 12:59. Ohio St 14–3. Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards.
OSU – Champ Henson 36-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 9:25. Ohio St 21–3. Drive: 4 plays, 59 yards.
Third quarter
OSU – Cornelius Greene 1-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 11:26. Ohio St 28–3. Drive: 6 plays, 38 yards.
Fourth quarter 3
MINN – Rick Upchurch 36-yard run (pass good), 9:29. Ohio St 28–11. Drive: 3 plays, 65 yards.
MINN – Tony Dungy 6-yard run (pass good), 5:14. Ohio St 28–19. Drive: 5 plays, 16 yards.
OSU – Cornelius Greene 57-yard run (kick failed), 1:17. Ohio St 34–19. Drive: 9 plays, 86 yards.
Top passers
OSU – Cornelius Greene – 9/12, 136 yards
MINN – Tony Dungy – 5/19, 71 yards, INT
Top rushers
OSU – Archie Griffin – 26 rushes, 133 yards, TD
MINN – Rick Upchurch – 13 rushes, 107 yards, TD
Top receivers
OSU – Dave Hazel – 3 receptions, 63 yards
MINN – Rick Upchurch – 3 receptions, 50 yards :
Archie Griffin sets school career rushing record

### Michigan State

Ohio State fans still insist that Brian Baschnagel scored from one yard out on the final play at Michigan State on November 9. The game officials ruled otherwise, and the Buckeyes suffered a 16-13 loss that cost them the no.1 ranking. Ohio State entered the game at 8-0 and the Spartans were 4-3-1. The frantic, final play occurred after Champ Henson was stopped within inches of the goal line with 13 seconds remaining. Ohio State was out of timeouts, and Michigan State's players were slow getting off the pile. The Buckeyes scrambled and snapped the ball, but it went through QB Cornelius Greene's legs. Baschnagel picked it up and ran into the end zone. Head linesman Ed Scheck signaled touchdown, but field judge Robert Dagenhardt ruled that time had run out before the play began. Fans of each school climbed atop the goalposts, uncertain which team had won. 46 minutes later, with about 40,000 of the 78,533 fans still in the stadium, the public address announcer told the half-empty stadium that Big Ten commissioner Wayne Duke had decided the officials were correct in ruling that time has expired. Referee Gene Calhoun also said the Buckeyes would have been penalized if time had not run out because they didn't come to a one-second set before the snap of the ball.

### Rose Bowl
## Personnel
### Coaching staff

* Woody Hayes – head coach (24th year)
* George Chaump – offensive coordinator (7th year)
* George Hill – defensive coordinator (4th year)
* Joe Bugel – offensive guards (1st year)
* Charles Clausen – defensive line (4th year)
* Mickey Jackson – (1st year)
* John Mummey – quarterbacks (6th year)
* Ralph Staub – tackles, tight ends (5th year)
* Dick Walker – defensive backs (6th year)
* Blair Conway – place kicker, punter (1st year)
* Jeff Kaplan - director of counseling, 'brain coach' (2nd year)

### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* 12 Tim Fox
* 11 Max Midlam
| WLB | MLB | SLB |
| 36 Bruce Elia | 42 Arnie Jones | 54 Ken Kuhn |
| ⋅ | 37 Brian Bowers | 9 Ed Thompson |
* SS
* 24 Rich Parsons
* 28 Doug Plank
* CB
* 20 Neal Colzie
* 29 Jerome Davis
* 23 Craig Cassady
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| 91 Jim Cope | 71 Pete Cusick | 75 Nick Buonamici | 88 Van DeCree |
| 90 Pat Curto | 55 Aaron Brown | 67 Eddie Beamon | 84 Bob Brudzinski |
* CB
* 46 Steve Luke
* 43 Bruce Ruhl
Offense :
* SE
* 82 Dave Hazel
* 8 Bill Ezzo
* 89 Lenny Willis
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| 72 Kurt Schumacher | 60 Ted Smith | 52 Steve Myers | 69 Dick Mack | 73 Scott Dannelley |
| 68 Lou Pietrini | 64 Bill Lukens | 56 Ron Ayers | ⋅ | 78 Garth Cox |
| ⋅ | ⋅ | 53 Doug Porter | ⋅ | ⋅ |
* TE
* 80 Doug France
* 87 Mike Bartoszek
* WB
* 48 Brian Baschnagel
* 27 Tim Holycross
* 35 Bob Hyatt
* QB
* 7 Cornelius Greene
* 17 Steve Morrison
* 19 Dave Purdy
* FB
* 38 Champ Henson
* 33 Pete Johnson
* Special teams
* PK 6 Tom Klaban
* PK 5 Tom McBrayer
* P 1 Tom Skladany
* P 3 Mike Keeton
* KR 89 Lenny Willis
* PR 20 Neal Colzie
* RB
* 45 Archie Griffin
* 44 Ray Griffin
* 41 Woody Roach

## Awards and honors

* Archie Griffin, Heisman Trophy

## 1975 NFL draftees

| Player | Round | Pick | Position | NFL club |
| Kurt Schumacher | 1 | 12 | Guard | New Orleans Saints |
| Doug France | 1 | 20 | Tackle | Los Angeles Rams |
| Neal Colzie | 1 | 24 | Defensive back | Oakland Raiders |
| Peter Cusick | 3 | 66 | Nose tackle | New England Patriots |
| Steve Luke | 4 | 88 | Defensive back | Green Bay Packers |
| Champ Henson | 4 | 89 | Running back | Minnesota Vikings |
| Bruce Elia | 4 | 100 | Linebacker | Miami Dolphins |
| Jim Cope | 5 | 119 | Linebacker | Cleveland Browns |
| Dave Hazel | 11 | 261 | Wide receiver | Baltimore Colts |
| Steve Myers | 11 | 275 | Guard | Detroit Lions |
| Doug Plank | 12 | 291 | Defensive back | Chicago Bears |
| Larry O'Rourke | 14 | 354 | Defensive tackle | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Mike Bartoszek | 17 | 430 | Tight end | New York Jets |