# 1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–2–1 record, including the 1977 Orange Bowl in Miami, where they won, 27–10, against the Colorado.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 11 | 1:30 p.m. | Michigan State | No. 4 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 49–21 | 86,509 |
| September 18 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 7 Penn State* | No. 2 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (rivalry) | ABC | W 12–7 | 62,503 |
| September 25 | 1:30 p.m. | Missouri* | No. 2 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | L 21–22 | 87,936 |
| October 2 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 4 UCLA* | No. 8 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | ABC | T 10–10 | 87,969 |
| October 9 | 2:30 p.m. | at Iowa | No. 10 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | | W 34–14 | 59,170 |
| October 16 | 2:30 p.m. | at Wisconsin | No. 9 | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | | W 30–20 | 79,579 |
| October 23 | 1:30 p.m. | Purdue | No. 9 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 24–3 | 87,898 |
| October 30 | 2:30 p.m. | at Indiana | No. 8 | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN | | W 47–7 | 39,663–49,254 |
| November 6 | 1:30 p.m. | Illinois | No. 8 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy) | | W 42–10 | 87,564 |
| November 13 | 2:00 p.m. | at Minnesota | No. 8 | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN | | W 9–3 | 53,190 |
| November 20 | 12:30 p.m. | No. 4 Michigan | No. 8 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH (rivalry) | ABC | L 0–22 | 88,250 |
| January 1, 1977 | 7:30 p.m. | vs. No. 12 Colorado* | No. 11 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (Orange Bowl) | NBC | W 27–10 | 65,537 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Joe Allegro
* Duncan Griffin
| WLB | SLB |
| Ed Thompson | Tom Cousineau |
| ⋅ | Dave Adkins |
* SS
* Ray Griffin
* CB
* Mike Guess
* Lenny Mills
| DE | DT | NT | DT | DE |
| Bob Brudzinski | Nick Buonamici | Aaron Brown | Eddie Beamon | Kelton Dansler |
* CB
* Tom Roche
* Bruce Ruhl
Offense :
* SE
* Herman Jones
* Bob Hyatt
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Chris Ward | Jim Savoca | Mark Lang | Bill Lukens | Lou Pietrini |
| Garth Cox | Ron Ayers | ⋅ | ⋅ | Doug Mackie |
* TE
* Greg Storer
* Joe Robinson
* WB
* Jim Harrell
* QB
* Rod Gerald
* Jim Pacenta
* FB
* Pete Johnson
* Paul Campbell
* Special teams
* PK Tom Skladany
* P Tom Skladany
* RB
* Jeff Logan
* Ron Springs

## Coaching staff

* Woody Hayes – Head Coach (26th year)
* George Chaump – Offense (9th year)
* George Hill (American football) – Defensive Coordinator (6th year)
* Alex Gibbs – Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (2nd year)
* Mickey Jackson – (3rd year)
* John Mummey – Quarterbacks (8th year)
* Ralph Staub – (7th year)
* Dick Walker – Defensive Backs (8th year)

## Game summaries
### Missouri

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Missouri | 0 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 |
| Ohio St | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: September 25, 1976
* Game time: 1:30 p.m.
* Game weather: Sunny, 70 °F (21 °C)
* Game attendance: 87,936
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
OSU – Pete Johnson 2-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 14:25. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards, 4:34.
UM – Joe Stewart 31-yard pass from Pete Woods (Tim Gibbons kick), 11:56. Tie 7–7. Drive: 8 plays, 79 yards, 2:22.
OSU – Pete Johnson 2-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 9:47. Ohio St 14–7. Drive: 6 plays, 77 yards, 2:02.
OSU – Pete Johnson 3-yard run (Tom Skladany kick), 7:33. Ohio St 21–7. Drive: 2 plays, 12 yards, 0:22.
Third quarter
UM – Curtis Brown 4-yard run (Tim Gibbons kick), 9:00. Ohio St 21–14. Drive: 8 plays, 36 yards, 2:50.
Fourth quarter
UM – Leo Lewis 2-yard pass from Pete Woods (run good), 0:12. Missouri 22–21. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 4:30.
Top passers
UM – Pete Woods – 9/19, 113 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
OSU – Rod Gerald – 1/8, 9 yards, INT
Top rushers
UM – Curtis Brown – 20 rushes, 108 yards, TD
OSU – Pete Johnson – 23 rushes, 119 yards, 3 TD
Top receivers
UM – Joe Stewart – 3 receptions, 65 yards, TD
OSU – Herman Jones – 1 reception, 9 yards :
The loss snapped 25-game home win streak

### UCLA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| UCLA | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Ohio St | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |

### At Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Ohio State | 21 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 34 |
| Iowa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |

### At Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Ohio St | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Ohio State clinches at least a share of Big Ten title for record fifth straight year.

### Orange Bowl (vs Colorado)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colorado | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Ohio State | 7 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 27 |

## 1977 NFL draftees

| Player | Round | Pick | Position | NFL club |
| Bob Brudzinski | 1 | 23 | Linebacker | Los Angeles Rams |
| Tom Skladany | 2 | 46 | Punter | Cleveland Browns |
| Pete Johnson | 2 | 49 | Running back | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Ed Thompson | 8 | 210 | Linebacker | New York Jets |
| Nick Buonamici | 9 | 238 | Defensive tackle | Chicago Bears |