1961 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Schedule

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Game summaries

TCU

UCLA

Illinois

Northwestern

Wisconsin

Iowa

Indiana

Oregon

Michigan

On November 25, 1961, Ohio State defeated Michigan, 50-20, before a crowd of 80,444 at Michigan Stadium. Ohio State fullback Bob Ferguson scored four touchdowns in the game. Paul Warfield also scored on a 69-yard run, and Bob Klein scored on an 80-yard touchdown pass from Joe Sparma. The Buckeyes' 50 points was the fourth highest point total allowed by a Michigan team up to that time, with two of the prior occasions occurring in the 1890s. Michigan's Dave Raimey returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.

The 1961 Ohio State team featured Michigan's next two head coaches. Bo Schembechler was Hayes' line coach, and Gary Moeller was a linebacker for the 1961 Buckeyes.

Statistics

The 1961 Buckeyes ran the ball an average of 58 time per game and tallied an average of 271.9 rushing yards per game. They relied far less on a passing game, averaging only 10 passes per game for 77.2 yards per game. On defense, they gave up an average of 123.8 rushing yards and 129.8 passing yards per game.

The team's leading rushers were Bob Ferguson (938 yards, 202 attempts, 4.6-yard average), Paul Warfield (420 yards, 77 attempts, 5.5-yard average), John Mummey (392 yards, 69 attempts, 5.7-yard average), Matt Snell (197 yards, 50 attempts, 3.9-yard average), and Bob Klein (177 yards, 26 attempts, 6.8-yard average).

Joe Sparma, who later played professional baseball for the Detroit Tigers, led the team in passing yardage, completing 16 of 38 passes for 341 yards, six touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 159.1 quarterback rating. William Mrukowski led the team in completions with 23 completed passes out of 35 attempts; he tallied 231 passing yards and a 119.2 quarterback rating.

The leading receivers were Chuck Bryant (15 receptions, 270 yards, 18.0-yard average), Paul Warfield (9 receptions, 120 yards, 13.3-yard average), and Bob Klein (4 receptions, 112 yards, 28.0-yard average).

Awards

Fullback Bob Ferguson received multiple awards and honors following the 1961 season.

• Ferguson received the Maxwell Award as the outstanding player in college football in 1961. He also received "Player of the Year" awards from the United Press International (UPI) and the Sporting News.
• Ferguson finished second in close voting for the 1961 Heisman Trophy. Syracuse back Ernie Davis won the trophy with 824 points, and Ferguson had 771 points.
• Ferguson was a consensus first-team All-American, receiving first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press (AP), UPI, and Football Writers Association of America, among others.
• He received first-team honors from both the AP and UPI on the 1961 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
• Ferguson was unanimously selected by his teammates as the most valuable player on the 1961 Ohio State team.
• He finished second by two points to Sandy Stephens in voting for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten's most valuable player. It was one of the closest votes in the history of the award.

Guard Mike Ingram received second-team All-America honors from both the AP and UPI. He also received first-team honors from the same wire services on the 1961 All-Big Ten team.

Five Ohio State players received second- or third-team recognition on the All-Big Ten team: end Tom Perdue (AP-2, UPI-3); tackle Bob Vogel (UPI-2); center Bill Armstrong (AP-3); end Charles Bryant (UPI-3); and halfback Paul Warfield (UPI-3).

Personnel

Coaching staff

• Woody Hayes – Head coach – 11th year

Roster

• Woody Hayes
• Lyal Clark
• Alan Fiers
• Ernie Godfrey
• Bill Gunlock
• Jim Herbstreit
• Esco Sarkkinen
• Bo Schembechler
• Harry Strobel

Depth chart

1962 pro draftees

References

References

1. (November 29, 1961). "Buckeyes finally lose, 28-25 in bowl debate". Toledo Blade.
2. (November 29, 1961). "Ohio State's rejection of Rose Bowl bid trip triggers sharp comments". Youngstown Vindicator.
3. (November 29, 1961). "Ohio State rejects chance to play in Rose Bowl game". Spokesman-Review.
4. Dick Joyce. (December 14, 1961). "Ohio State Crowd Leader 10th Time in Last 11 Years". The Berkshire Eagle.
5. Monte McCormick. (October 29, 1961). "Game Badgers Go Down Fighting: Ohio State's Brutal Attack Grinds Out 30-21 Victory". Wisconsin State Journal.
6. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-1TexasChristian.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-02 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
7. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-2-UCLA.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-02 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
8. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-3-Illinois.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-02 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
9. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-4-Northwestern.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-02 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
10. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-5-Wisconsin.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-02 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
11. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-6-Iowa.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-02 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
12. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=4pF9x-cDGsoC&dat=19611112&printsec=frontpage&hl=en Eugene Register-Guard. 1961 Nov 12.]
13. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-7-Indiana.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-02 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
14. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-8-Oregon.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-04 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
15. (November 26, 1961). "Bucks Pour It On M, 50-20". Detroit Free Press.
16. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=mq6pegT_rlEC&dat=19611126&printsec=frontpage&hl=en "Buckeyes Win Big 10 Title." Palm Beach Post. 1961 Nov 26.]
17. [http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1961/1961-9-Michigan.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-02 . Retrieved March 30, 2015.)
18. "1961 Ohio State Buckeyes Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
19. (December 12, 1961). "Ferguson To Get Maxwell Award". The Daily Reporter.
20. John Griffin. (December 14, 1961). "Ohio State Fullback Bob Ferguson Voted Player of the Year in UPI National Poll". The Berkshire Eagle.
21. (November 26, 1961). "Ferguson Named Player Of Year". Kingsport Times-News.
22. (November 29, 1961). "Syracuse Star Edges Ferguson For Top Trophy". The News-Messenger.
23. (December 7, 1961). "Bob Ferguson Bucks' MVP". Dayton Daily News.
24. Wilfrid Smith. (December 17, 1961). "Stephens Voted Big 10 Most Valuable: Minnesota Quarterback Beats Bob Ferguson of Ohio State by 2 Votes; Ron Miller Is TD". Chicago Tribune.
25. (November 28, 1961). "2 Bucks Named To All-Big Ten: Ingram, Ferguson Gain Honor Spots". The Logan Daily News.
26. (November 28, 1961). "'All' Experts Agree On Ferguson, Ingram". The Akron Beacon-Journal.
27. 1962 Ohio State football media guide