# 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the Big Ten Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Buckeyes won all nine games in the regular season and were ranked second in both major polls. Ohio State won the Big Ten title and a berth in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on New Year's Day against the Stanford Indians, ranked No. 12 and champions of the Pac-8. The Buckeyes were upset, 27–17, and finished with a 9–1 record.
This was the last year Ohio State played a nine-game regular-season schedule (the Big Ten first allowed a 10th regular season game in 1965). Many major colleges added an eleventh game in 1970, although no Big Ten school did so until the following season.
The Buckeyes were recognized as co-national champions, along with Texas, by the National Football Foundation at the end of the regular season. The teams were jointly awarded the MacArthur Bowl.
This was the fifth and last national title that head coach Woody Hayes won for the Buckeyes; they did not win another national championship until 2002.
Both Ohio State and Texas would go on to lose their bowl games; the 11–0–1 Nebraska Cornhuskers won the AP national championship when they finished No. 1 in final post-bowl AP Poll.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 26 | 1:30 p.m. | Texas A&M* | No. 1 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 56–13 | 85,657 |
| October 3 | 1:30 p.m. | Duke* | No. 1 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 34–10 | 86,123 |
| October 10 | 1:30 p.m. | at Michigan State | No. 1 | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI | | W 29–0 | 75,511 |
| October 17 | 1:30 p.m. | Minnesota | No. 1 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 28–8 | 86,667 |
| October 24 | 2:30 p.m. | at Illinois | No. 1 | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy) | | W 48–29 | 46,208 |
| October 31 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 20 Northwestern | No. 2 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | W 24–10 | 86,673 |
| November 7 | 2:00 p.m. | at Wisconsin | No. 3 | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | | W 24–7 | 72,578 |
| November 14 | 1:00 p.m. | at Purdue | No. 3 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | ABC | W 10–7 | 68,157 |
| November 21 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 4 Michigan | No. 5 | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH (rivalry) | ABC | W 20–9 | 87,331 |
| January 1, 1971 | 5:00 p.m. | vs. No. 12 Stanford* | No. 2 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) | NBC | L 17–27 | 103,839 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Texas A&M

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Texas A&M | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Ohio State | 21 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 56 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: September 26
* Game time: 1:30 p.m.
* Game weather: Cloudy, 80 °F (27 °C)
* Game attendance: 85,657
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
OSU – Rex Kern 6-yard run (Frank Schram kick), 11:45. Ohio State 7–0. Drive:
OSU – John Brockington 2-yard run (Frank Schram kick), 7:27. Ohio State 14–0. Drive:
OSU – Leo Hayden 3-yard run (Frank Schram kick), 3:13. Ohio State 21–0. Drive:
Second quarter
A&M – Homer May 29-yard pass from Lex James (Pat McDermott kick), Ohio State 21–7. Drive:
OSU – John Brockington 1-yard run (Frank Schram kick), 0:16. Ohio State 28–7. Drive:
Third quarter
OSU – Jan White 5-yard pass from Ron Maciejowski (Frank Schram kick), 6:10. Ohio State 35–7. Drive:
OSU – Larry Zelina 11-yard run (Frank Schram kick), 5:23. Ohio State 42–7. Drive:
OSU – James Coburn 7-yard run (Frank Schram kick), 2:47. Ohio State 49–7. Drive:
Fourth quarter
OSU – Ron Maciejowski 1-yard run (Frank Schram kick), 13:15. Ohio State 56–7. Drive:
A&M – Homer May 22-yard pass from Lex James (kick failed), 5:17. Ohio State 56–13. Drive:
Top passers
A&M – Lex James – 18/30, 271 yards, 2 TD, INT
OSU – Rex Kern – 4/6, 71 yards
Top rushers
A&M – Steve Burks – 7 rushes, 28 yards
OSU – Leo Hayden – 14 rushes, 89 yards, TD
Top receivers
A&M – Hugh McElroy – 4 receptions, 71 yards
OSU – Leo Hayden – 3 receptions, 37 yards :
Top-ranked Ohio State rolled up 513 yards of offense and scored touchdowns off five Texas A&M turnovers in a 56–13 rout. Fullback John Brockington scored twice and six other players accounted for touchdowns. The Buckeyes' defense forced three fumbles and an interception which led to four scores in an eight-minute span in the third quarter even though head coach Woody Hayes pulled the starters a little after halftime.

### Duke

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Duke | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Ohio St | 0 | 6 | 21 | 7 | 34 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Ohio St | 9 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 29 |
| Michigan St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| • Ohio St | 21 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |

### Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Ohio St | 7 | 7 | 13 | 21 | 48 |
| Illinois | 7 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 29 |

### Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Northwestern | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Ohio St | 0 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 24 |

### Wisconsin

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

### Purdue

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio St | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Purdue | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana
* Date: November 14, 1970
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Overcast, 37 °F (3 °C)
* Game attendance: 68,157
* TV announcers (ABC): Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
OSU – John Brockington 26-yard run (Fred Schram kick), 2:13. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 71 yards.
PUR – Stan Brown 96-yard kickoff return (Jeff Jones kick), 2:01. Tie 7–7.
Fourth quarter
OSU – Fred Schram 30-yard field goal, 2:04. Ohio St 10–7. Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards.
Top passers
OSU – Ron Maciejowski – 1/3, 52 yards
PUR – Gary Danielson – 2/12, 17 yards, 2 INT
Top rushers
OSU – John Brockington – 24 rushes, 136 yards, TD
PUR – Otis Armstrong – 20 rushes, 94 yards
Top receivers
OSU – Bruce Jankowski – 1 reception, 52 yards
PUR – Stan Brown – 1 reception, 9 yards :
Woody Hayes received a congratulatory phone call from President Richard Nixon after the game and then asked to speak to Fred Schram, who made the game-winning field goal. John Brockington carried the ball for 136 yards and Leo Hayden added 64 yards on 16 carries.

### Michigan

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Michigan | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| Ohio St | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: November 21, 1970
* Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C)
* Game attendance: 87,331
* Referee: Ross Dean (Big Ten)
* TV announcers (ABC): Bill Flemming and Forest Evashevski
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
OSU – Fred Schram 28-yard field goal, 12:18. Ohio St 3–0. Drive: 6 plays, 15 yards.
Second quarter
MICH – Dana Coin 31-yard field goal, 14:57. Tie 3–3. Drive: 4 plays, 3 yards.
OSU – Bruce Jankowski 26-yard pass from Rex Kern (Fred Schram kick), 1:18. Ohio St 10–3. Drive: 11 plays, 47 yards.
Third quarter
MICH – Paul Staroba 13-yard pass from Don Moorhead (kick blocked), 8:30. Ohio St 10–9. Drive: 12 plays, 52 yards.
Fourth quarter
OSU – Fred Schram 27-yard field goal, 10:49. Ohio St 13–9. Drive: 15 plays, 64 yards.
OSU – Leo Hayden 4-yard run (Fred Schram kick), 8:14. Ohio St 20–9. Drive: 3 plays, 9 yards.
Top passers
MICH – Don Moorhead – 12/26, 118 yards, TD, INT
OSU – Rex Kern – 8/10, 87 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
MICH – Billy Taylor – 15 rushes, 31 yards
OSU – Leo Hayden – 28 rushes, 117 yards, TD
Top receivers
MICH – Paul Staroba – 6 receptions, 56 yards, TD
OSU – Bruce Jankowski – 2 receptions, 37 yards, TD :
Ohio State clinched a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl berth and some measure of revenge for the 1969 upset.

### Stanford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio State | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| • Stanford | 10 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 27 |

## New Year's Day

In the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, top-ranked and defending national champion Texas was upset 24–11 by #6 Notre Dame, ending the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak.
Heavily favored Ohio State could claim their second outright national title in three years that afternoon with a Rose Bowl victory over Stanford in Pasadena. Stanford (8–3) was led by quarterback Jim Plunkett, the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner. The Indians had climbed to a 6–0 conference record and 8–1 overall, but lost their final two regular season games, to Sugar Bowl-bound Air Force and arch-rival California. Stanford lost earlier in the season at home to Purdue, a team OSU defeated on the road.
The Buckeyes led Stanford by four points after three quarters, but were outscored 14–0 in the fourth quarter and lost 27–17. Later that night, #3 Nebraska won the Orange Bowl 17–12 over #5 LSU in Miami to claim the top spot in the AP writers poll.

## Personnel
### Roster

    Source:

### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* 3 Mike Sensibaugh
| WLB | SLB |
| 88 Stan White | 63 Doug Adams |
* SS
* 32 Jack Tatum
* CB
* 26 Tim Anderson
| DE | DT | NT | DT | DE |
| 87 Ken Luttner | 79 Shad Williams | 68 Jim Stillwagon | 70 George Hasenohrl | 83 Mark Debevc |
| ⋅ | 67 Ralph Holloway | ⋅ | ⋅ | ⋅ |
* CB
* 28 Mike Vladich
Offense :
* SE
* 82 Bruce Jankowski
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| 75 Dave Cheney | 57 Dick Kuhn | 52 Tom DeLeone | 62 Phil Strickland | 65 John Hicks |
| ⋅ | 53 Brian Donovan | ⋅ | ⋅ | ⋅ |
* TE
* 80 Jan White
* WB
* 16 Larry Zelina
* 24 Tom Campana
* QB
* 10 Rex Kern
* 18 Ron Maciejowski
* FB
* 42 John Brockington
* Special teams
* PK 1 Fred Schram
* RB
* 22 Leo Hayden
* 33 Rick Galbos

## 1971 NFL draftees

| Player | Round | Pick | Position | NFL club |
| John Brockington | 1 | 9 | Running Back | Green Bay Packers |
| Jack Tatum | 1 | 19 | Defensive Back | Oakland Raiders |
| William Anderson | 1 | 23 | Defensive Back | San Francisco 49ers |
| Leo Hayden | 1 | 24 | Running Back | Minnesota Vikings |
| Jan White | 2 | 29 | Tight End | Buffalo Bills |
| Jim Stillwagon | 5 | 124 | Linebacker | Green Bay Packers |
| Doug Adams | 7 | 165 | Linebacker | Denver Broncos |
| Mike Sensibaugh | 8 | 191 | Defensive Back | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Larry Zelina | 8 | 196 | Running Back | Cleveland Browns |
| Bruce Jankowski | 10 | 250 | Wide Receiver | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Rex Kern | 10 | 260 | Defensive Back | Baltimore Colts |
| Ron Maciejowski | 15 | 376 | Quarterback | Chicago Bears |
| Mark Debevc | 16 | 405 | Linebacker | Cincinnati Bengals |