# 1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1977 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record, including the 1978 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they lost 35–6 to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 10 | 1:30 p.m. | Miami (FL)* | No. 5 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 10–0 | 86,287 |
| September 17 | 1:30 p.m. | Minnesota | No. 6 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 38–7 | 87,799 |
| September 24 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 3 Oklahoma* | No. 4 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | ABC | L 28–29 | 88,119 |
| October 1 | 8:30 p.m. | at SMU* | No. 6 | Cotton BowlDallas, TX | | W 35–7 | 51,970 |
| October 8 | 1:30 p.m. | Purdue | No. 4 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 46–0 | 87,707 |
| October 15 | 2:30 p.m. | at Iowa | No. 5 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | | W 27–6 | 60,070 |
| October 22 | 2:30 p.m. | at Northwestern | No. 4 | Dyche StadiumEvanston, IL | | W 35–15 | 29,563 |
| October 29 | 1:30 p.m. | Wisconsin | No. 3 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 42–0 | 87,837 |
| November 5 | 2:00 p.m. | at Illinois | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy) | | W 35–0 | 66,973 |
| November 12 | 1:30 p.m. | Indiana | No. 4 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 35–7 | 87,786 |
| November 19 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 5 Michigan | No. 4 | Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI (rivalry) | ABC | L 6–14 | 106,024 |
| January 2, 1978 | 2:00 p.m. | vs. No. 3 Alabama* | No. 9 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) | ABC | L 6–35 | 76,811 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Roster
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* 22 Joe Allegro
* 14 Brian Schwartz
| WLB | SLB |
| 94 Dave Adkins | 36 Tom Cousineau |
| 97 Terry Vogler | 29 Tom Blinco |
* SS
* 44 Ray Griffin
* 25 Todd Bell
* 46 Duncan Griffin
* CB
* 12 Mike Guess
* 45 Vince Skillings
| DE | DT | NT | DT | DE |
| 32 Kelton Dansler | 67 Eddie Beamon | 55 Aaron Brown | 71 Byron Cato | 16 Paul Ross |
| 86 Joe Dixon | 60 Gary Dulin | 72 Mark Sullivan | 54 Luther Henson | 5 Jim Laughlin |
* CB
* 20 Lenny Mills
* 27 Ray Ellis
Offense :
* SE
* 49 Herman Jones
* 47 Doug Donley
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| 79 Chris Ward | 51 Mark Lang | 52 Tim Vogler | 56 Ken Fritz | 70 Joe Robinson |
| 78 Garth Cox | 69 Ernie Andria | 53 Doug Porter | 58 Tom Waugh | 73 Doug Mackie |
* TE
* 87 Bill Jaco
* 99 Jimmy Moore
* 80 Greg Storer
* WB
* 11 Jim Harrell
* 89 Bryan Ferguson
* QB
* 8 Rod Gerald
* 7 Greg Castignola
* 6 Mike Strahine
* FB
* 38 Paul Campbell
* 30 Joel Payton
* 18 Ricardo Volley
* Special teams
* PK 13 Vlade Janakievski
* P 1 Dave McKee
* RB
* 23 Ron Springs
* 34 Jeff Logan
* 26 Ricky Johnson

## Game summaries
### Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miami (FL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Ohio St | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
* Ron Springs 27 Rush, 114 Yds

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| • Ohio St | 7 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 38 |
* Ron Springs 27 Rush, 147 Yds

### Oklahoma

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma | 17 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 29 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: September 29
* Game time: 1:55 p.m.
* Game weather: Overcast, 78 °F (26 °C)
* Game attendance: 88,119
* Referee: Gene Calhoun (Big Ten)
* TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Ara Parseghian
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
OKLA – Elvis Peacock 33-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick), 11:59. Oklahoma 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards, 2:09.
OKLA – Billy Sims 14-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick), 11:05. Oklahoma 14–0. Drive: 2 plays, 16 yards, 0:45.
OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 23-yard field goal, 3:29. Oklahoma 17–0. Drive: 12 plays, 60 yards, 6:08.
Second quarter
OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 33-yard field goal, 12:58. Oklahoma 20–0. Drive: 9 plays, 45 yards, 3:31.
OSU – Ron Springs 30-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 10:32. Oklahoma 20–7. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 2:23.
OSU – Rod Gerald 19-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 9:46. Oklahoma 20–14. Drive: 1 play, 19 yards, 0:06.
Third quarter
OSU – Joel Payton 1-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 8:04. Ohio State 21–20. Drive: 7 plays, 48 yards, 3:51.
OSU – Jimmy Moore 16-yard pass from Greg Castignola (Vlade Janakievski kick), 4:44. Ohio State 28–20. Drive: 5 plays, 33 yards, 2:01.
Fourth quarter
OKLA – Elvis Peacock 1-yard run (run failed), 1:29. Ohio State 28–26. Drive: 12 plays, 57 yards, 4:55.
OKLA – Uwe von Schamann 41-yard field goal, 0:03. Oklahoma 29–28. Drive: 5 plays, 50 yards, 1:18.
Top passers
OKLA – Dean Blevins – 3/5, 44 yards, 2 INT
OSU – Greg Castignola – 2/2, 29 yards, TD
Top rushers
OKLA – Billy Sims – 11 rushes, 60 yards, TD
OSU – Ron Springs – 14 rushes, 64 yards, TD
Top receivers
OKLA – Steve Rhodes – 3 receptions, 44 yards
OSU – Jimmy Moore – 1 reception, 16 yards, TD :

### At SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Ohio St | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| SMU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

### Purdue

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Purdue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio St | 29 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 46 |
at Ohio Stadium • Columbus, Ohio
* Date: October 8
* Game attendance: 87,707
* Box Score
Game information :
OSU (12:49) - Guess 65 yard interception return (Janakievski kick)
OSU (7:49) - Payton 1 yard run (Janakievski kick)
OSU (5:00) - Payton 1 yard run (Janakievski kick)
OSU (2:16) - Payton 10 yard run (Janakievski kick)
OSU (7:58) - Springs 66 yard run (Janakievski kick)
OSU (7:50) - Payton 2 yard run (Janakievski kick)
Purdue
Herrmann 11/21, 117 Yds, 2 INT
M. Brown 17 Rush, 66 Yds
Arnold 3 Rec, 60 Yds
Ohio St
Gerald 3/6, 90 Yds, INT
Springs 10 Rush, 151 Yds, TD
H. Jones 1 Rec, 45 Yds :

### Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Ohio St | 3 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Iowa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |

### At Northwestern

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio St | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Northwestern | 3 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 15 |
at Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois
* Date: October 22
* Game time: 12:30 p.m. CST
* Game weather: Light rain, 53 °F (12 °C)
* Game attendance: 29,563
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
NW – Sam Poulos 44-yard field goal, 9:33. Northwestern 3–0. Drive: 10 plays, 59 yards, 5:00.
OSU – Joel Payton 4-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 4:58. Ohio St 7–3. Drive: 3 plays, 80 yards, 0:54.
OSU – Jeff Logan 5-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 1:15. Ohio St 14–3. Drive: 8 plays, 45 yards, 2:17.
Second quarter
NW – Mike Taylor 33-yard pass from Dana Hemphill (pass failed), 10:10. Ohio St 14–9. Drive: 2 plays, 34 yards, 0:57
OSU – Joel Payton 1-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 1:57. Ohio St 21–9. Drive: 4 plays, 21 yards, 1:34.
Third quarter
OSU – Rod Gerald 24-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 10:41. Ohio St 28–9. Drive: 8 plays, 71 yards, 2:18.
Fourth quarter
OSU – Paul Campbell 1-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 7:40. Ohio St 35–9. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 4:01.
NW – Harold Gilmore 14-yard run (run failed), 4:40. Ohio St 35–15. Drive: 7 plays, 73 yards, 2:54.
Top passers
OSU – Rod Gerald – 7/14, 148 yards, 2 INT
NW – Dana Hemphill – 6/10, 51 yards, TD
Top rushers
OSU – Ron Springs – 14 rushes, 130 yards
NW – Harold Gilmore – 23 rushes, 121 yards, TD
Top receivers
OSU – James Harrell – 2 receptions, 62 yards
NW – Mike Taylor – 3 receptions, 41 yards, TD :

### Wisconsin

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

### Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Ohio St | 0 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 35 |
| Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Indiana | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Ohio St | 7 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 35 |

### Michigan

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

### Sugar Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| • Alabama | 0 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 35 |

## 1978 NFL draftees

| Player | Round | Pick | Position | NFL club |
| Chris Ward | 1 | 4 | Tackle | New York Jets |
| Ray Griffin | 2 | 35 | Defensive back | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Herman Jones | 7 | 185 | Wide receiver | Chicago Bears |
| Jeff Logan | 7 | 191 | Running back | Baltimore Colts |
| David Adkins | 8 | 209 | Linebacker | Atlanta Falcons |
| Aaron C. Brown | 10 | 252 | Linebacker | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |