1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

American college football season

1976 Ohio State Buckeyes football

Big Ten co-champion Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 27–10 vs. Colorado
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 6
Record	9–2–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (26th season)
MVP	Bob Brudzinski
Captains	Bill Lukens Tom Skladany Ed Thompson
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
Seasons ← 1975 1977 →

1976 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

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	Source
September 11	1:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 4	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 49–21	86,509
September 18	3:30 p.m.	at No. 7 Penn State*	No. 2	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 12–7	62,503
September 25	1:30 p.m.	Missouri*	No. 2	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		L 21–22	87,936
October 2	1:30 p.m.	No. 4 UCLA*	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	T 10–10	87,969
October 9	2:30 p.m.	at Iowa	No. 10	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 34–14	59,170
October 16	2:30 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 9	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 30–20	79,579
October 23	1:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 9	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 24–3	87,898
October 30	2:30 p.m.	at Indiana	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		W 47–7	39,663–49,254	^[1]^[2]
November 6	1:30 p.m.	Illinois	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 42–10	87,564
November 13	2:00 p.m.	at Minnesota	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 9–3	53,190
November 20	12:30 p.m.	No. 4 Michigan	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)	ABC	L 0–22	88,250
January 1, 1977	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 12 Colorado*	No. 11	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	W 27–10	65,537
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All 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

^[3]

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

Michigan State

At Penn State

Missouri

Missouri Tigers (1–1) at #2 Ohio State Buckeyes (2–0)

Period	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

External videos
Game highlights (part 1)
Game highlights (part 2)
Game highlights (part 3)
Game film (silent)

UCLA

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

Date: October 2
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Scoring summary

2	OSU	Johnson 4-yard run (Skladany kick)	OSU 7-0

3	UCLA	Corral 47-yard field goal	OSU 7-3

4	UCLA	Dankworth 1-yard run (Corral kick)	UCLA 10-7

4	OSU	Skladany 25-yard field goal	Tied 10-10

^[4]

At Iowa

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

Date: October 9
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
Game attendance: 59,170

Scoring summary

1	OSU	Gerald 17-yard run (Skladany kick)	OSU 7-0

1	OSU	Johnson 1-yard run (Skladany kick)	OSU 14-0

1	OSU	Johnson 1-yard run (Skladany kick)	OSU 21-0

2	OSU	Skaladany 26-yard field goal	OSU 24-0

3	OSU	Skladany 46-yard field goal	OSU 27-0

3	OSU	Johnson 3-yard run (Skladany kick)	OSU 34-0

4	IOWA	Sheeler 5-yard run (Quartaro kick)	OSU 34-7

4	IOWA	Caldwell 3-yard run (Quartaro kick)	OSU 34-14

^[5]

At Wisconsin

Purdue

At Indiana

Illinois

At Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	3	6	0	0	9
Minnesota	0	3	0	0	3

Date: November 13
Location: Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, Minnesota

Scoring summary

1	OHST	Skladany 39-yard field goal	Ohio St 3-0

2	MINN	Rogind 49-yard field goal	Tie 3-3

2	OHST	Pacenta 4-yard run (kick blocked)	Ohio St 9-3

Ohio State clinches at least a share of Big Ten title for record fifth straight year.^[6]

Michigan

Orange Bowl (vs Colorado)

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

Date: January 1
Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
Game attendance: 65,537

Scoring summary

1	CU	Zetterberg 26-yard field goal	CU 3-0

1	CU	Morehead 11-yard pass from Knapple (Zetterberg kick)	CU 10-0

1	OSU	Logan 36-yard run (Skladany kick)	CU 10-7

2	OSU	Skaldany 28-yard field goal	Tied 10-10

2	OSU	Johnson 3-yard run (Skladany kick)	OSU 17-10

3	OSU	Skladany 20-yard field goal	OSU 20-10

4	OSU	Rod Gerald 4-yard run (Skladany kick)	OSU 27-10

^[7]

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

References

^ Herman, Steve (October 31, 1976). "Bucks' 2nd Half Caves In On Indiana". The Marion Star. Marion, Ohio. p. 1B. Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Indiana Football 2023 Record Book" (PDF). Indiana University. p. 15. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
^ 1977 Ohio State Football Media Guide
^ Palm Beach Post. 1976 Oct 3.
^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 10.
^ Palm Beach Post. 1976 Nov 14.
^ "My Favorite Bowl Games. Retrieved 04-May-2012". Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.

v t e Ohio State Buckeyes football
Venues	Recreation Park (1890–1897) Ohio Field (1898–1921) Ohio Stadium (1922–present) Woody Hayes Athletic Center (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois: Illibuck Trophy Michigan (The Ten Year War) Penn State
Culture & lore	History Block O Brutus Buckeye "Across the Field" "Buckeye Battle Cry" "Carmen Ohio" "Hang On Sloopy" Marching band Neutron Man The Ten Year War Snow Bowl (1950) 1969 Michigan game 1973 Michigan game The Kick Holy Buckeye 2005 Texas game 2006 Michigan game 2016 Penn State game
Media	WBNS-TV WBNS WBNS-FM Ohio State Sports Network
People	Head coaches All-Century Team NFL draftees Statistical leaders Retired numbers
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National championship seasons in bold

v t e Big Ten Conference football champions
Western Conference	Wisconsin (1896) Wisconsin (1897) Michigan (1898) Chicago (1899) Iowa & Minnesota (1900) Michigan & Wisconsin (1901) Michigan (1902) Michigan, Minnesota, & Northwestern (1903) Michigan & Minnesota (1904) Chicago (1905) Michigan, Minnesota, & Wisconsin (1906) Chicago (1907) Chicago (1908) Minnesota (1909) Illinois & Minnesota (1910) Minnesota (1911) Wisconsin (1912) Chicago (1913) Illinois (1914) Illinois & Minnesota (1915) Ohio State (1916)
Big Ten	Ohio State (1917) Illinois, Michigan, & Purdue (1918) Illinois (1919) Ohio State (1920) Iowa (1921) Chicago, Iowa, & Michigan (1922) Illinois & Michigan (1923) Chicago (1924) Michigan (1925) Michigan & Northwestern (1926) Illinois & Minnesota (1927) Illinois (1928) Purdue (1929) Michigan & Northwestern (1930) Purdue, Michigan & Northwestern (1931) Michigan & Purdue (1932) Michigan & Minnesota (1933) Minnesota (1934) Minnesota & Ohio State (1935) Northwestern (1936) Minnesota (1937) Minnesota (1938) Ohio State (1939) Minnesota (1940) Minnesota (1941) Ohio State (1942) Michigan & Purdue (1943) Ohio State (1944) Indiana (1945)
Big Nine	Illinois (1946) Michigan (1947) Michigan (1948) Michigan & Ohio State (1949)
Big Ten	Michigan (1950) Illinois (1951) Purdue & Wisconsin (1952) Illinois & Michigan State (1953) Ohio State (1954) Ohio State (1955) Iowa (1956) Ohio State (1957) Iowa (1958) Wisconsin (1959) Minnesota & Iowa (1960) Ohio State (1961) Wisconsin (1962) Illinois (1963) Michigan (1964) Michigan State (1965) Michigan State (1966) Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue (1967) Ohio State (1968) Michigan & Ohio State (1969) Ohio State (1970) Michigan (1971) Michigan & Ohio State (1972) Michigan & Ohio State (1973) Michigan & Ohio State (1974) Ohio State (1975) Michigan & Ohio State (1976) Michigan & Ohio State (1977) Michigan & Michigan State (1978) Ohio State (1979) Michigan (1980) Iowa & Ohio State (1981) Michigan (1982) Illinois (1983) Ohio State (1984) Iowa (1985) Michigan & Ohio State (1986) Michigan State (1987) Michigan (1988) Michigan (1989) Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, & Michigan State (1990) Michigan (1991) Michigan (1992) Ohio State & Wisconsin (1993) Penn State (1994) Northwestern (1995) Ohio State & Northwestern (1996) Michigan (1997) Michigan, Ohio State, & Wisconsin (1998) Wisconsin (1999) Michigan, Northwestern, & Purdue (2000) Illinois (2001) Ohio State & Iowa (2002) Michigan (2003) Iowa & Michigan (2004) Ohio State & Penn State (2005) Ohio State (2006) Ohio State (2007) Ohio State & Penn State (2008) Ohio State (2009) Michigan State & Wisconsin (2010) Wisconsin (2011) Wisconsin (2012) Michigan State (2013) Ohio State (2014) Michigan State (2015) Penn State (2016) Ohio State (2017) Ohio State (2018) Ohio State (2019) Ohio State (2020) Michigan (2021) Michigan (2022) Michigan (2023)
National championships in bold