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1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1978
team	Ohio State Buckeyes
sport	football
image	Ohio State Buckeyes Logo 1898-1978.png
conference	Big Ten Conference
short_conf	Big Ten
record	7–4–1
conf_record	6–2
head_coach	Woody Hayes
hc_year	28th
off_coach	Alex Gibbs
oc_year	4th
def_coach	George Hill
dc_year	8th
mvp	Tom Cousineau
captain	Byron Cato
captain2	Tom Cousineau
captain3	Ron Springs
captain4	Tim Vogler
stadium	Ohio Stadium
bowl	[Gator Bowl](1978-gator-bowl)
bowl_result	L 15–17 vs. [Clemson](1978-clemson-tigers-football-team)

The 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was an American football team that represented the Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1978 Big Ten season. In their 28th year under head coach Woody Hayes, the Buckeyes compiled a 7–4–1 record (6–2 in conference games), finished in fourth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 324 to 199. In games against ranked opponents, they lost to No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 Michigan, and No. 7 Clemson in the 1978 Gator Bowl. This was Woody Hayes' last season as head coach at Ohio State, as he was fired following an incident in the Gator Bowl in which he punched Clemson defender Charlie Bauman.

The Buckeyes gained an average of 263.3 rushing yards and 94.1 passing yards per game. On defense, they held opponents to 134.5 rushing yards and 151.2 passing yards per game. The team's individual statistical leaders included quarterback Art Schlichter (1,045 passing yards, 45.8% completion percentage), running back Paul Campbell (565 rushing yards, 4.3 yards per carry), and wide receiver Doug Donley (21 receptions for 466 yards).

The team played its home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

Schedule

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Game summaries

Penn State

Art Schlichter started the game at quarterback while Rod Gerald, the starter for the two previous seasons, opened the game at split end.

Minnesota

;Ohio St

Schlichter 3/7, 57 Yds, INT
Springs 17 Rush, 82 Yds, TD
Donley 2 Rec, 57 Yds ;Minnesota
Avery 6/14, 95 Yds, 2 INT
Barber 17 Rush, 57 Yds
Bailey 3 Rec, 62 Yds

Baylor

SMU

Purdue

Iowa

Northwestern

Wisconsin

Illinois

At Indiana

;First quarter

OSU – Paul Campbell 3-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 10:19. ''Ohio St 7–0. '''Drive:'''''
IU – Mike Harkrader 1-yard run (David Freud kick), 2:04. ''Tie 7–7. '''Drive:''''' ;Second quarter
IU – David Freud 30-yard field goal, 6:52. ''Indiana 10–7. '''Drive:''''' ;Third quarter
OSU – Art Schlichter 3-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 2:58. ''Ohio St 14–10. '''Drive: 20 plays, 98 yards.''''' ;Fourth quarter;
OSU – Ricky Johnson 46-yard run (Vlade Janakievski kick), 13:13. ''Ohio St 21–10. '''Drive: 8 plays.'''''
IU – Darrick Burnett 1-yard run (pass good), 5:01. ''Ohio St 21–18. '''Drive:''''' ;Top passers
OSU – Art Schlichter – 4/11, 22 yards, INT
IU – Tim Clifford – 10/19, 81 yards ;Top rushers
OSU – Ricky Johnson – 18 rushes, 109 yards, TD
IU – Darrick Burnett – 18 rushes, 65 yards, TD ;Top receivers
OSU – Ricky Johnson – 2 receptions, 9 yards
IU – Dan Powers – 6 receptions, 62 yards
Ricky Johnson played in place of the injured Ron Springs and Calvin Murray
Woody Hayes' last victory as Ohio State's head coach

Michigan

First quarter

OSU – Bob Atha 29-yard field goal, 1:13. ''Ohio St 3–0. '''Drive: 6 plays, 38 yards, 2:12.'''''
MICH – Rodney Feaster 30-yard pass from Rick Leach (Gregg Willner kick), 0:09. ''Michigan 7–3. '''Drive: 4 plays, 70 yards, 0:59.''''' Third quarter
MICH – Roosevelt Smith 11-yard pass from Rick Leach (Gregg Willner kick), 4:12. ''Michigan 14–3. '''Drive: 13 plays, 69 yards, 5:19.''''' ;Top passers
MICH – Rick Leach – 11/21, 166 yards, 2 TD
OSU – Art Schlichter – 4/9, 43 yards, INT ;Top rushers
MICH – Roosevelt Smith – 10 rushes, 67 yards
OSU – Ron Springs – 12 rushes, 63 yards ;Top receivers
MICH – Doug Marsh – 2 receptions, 39 yards
OSU – Rod Gerald – 1 reception, 25 yards

Gator Bowl (vs. Clemson)

Main article: 1978 Gator Bowl

Second quarter

OSU – Bob Atha 27-yard field goal, 12:08. ''Ohio St 3–0. '''Drive: 8 plays, 72 yards.'''''
CLEM – Steve Fuller 4-yard run (Obed Ariri kick), 5:03. ''Clemson 7–3. '''Drive: 15 plays, 80 yards.'''''
OSU – Art Schlichter 4-yard run (kick failed), 1:21. ''Ohio St 9–7. '''Drive: 9 plays, 78 yards.'''''
CLEM – Obed Ariri 47-yard field goal, 0:05. ''Clemson 10–9. '''Drive: 8 plays, 76 yards.''''' Third quarter
CLEM – Cliff Austin 1-yard run (Ariri kick), 2:18. ''Clemson 17–9. '''Drive: 19 plays, 84 yards.''''' Fourth quarter
OSU – Art Schlichter 1-yard run (run failed), 8:11. ''Clemson 17–15. '''Drive: 12 plays, 87 yards.''''' ;Top passers
OSU – Art Schlichter – 16/20, 205 yards, INT
CLEM – Steve Fuller – 9/20, 123 yards ;Top rushers
OSU – Art Schlichter – 18 rushes, 70 yards, 2 TD
CLEM – Tracy Perry – 14 rushes, 54 yards Warren Ratchford – 10 rushes, 54 yards ;Top receivers
OSU – Doug Donley – 3 receptions, 54 yards
CLEM – Jerry Butler – 4 receptions, 44 yards

Personnel

Roster

Dave Adolph
George Chaump
Alex Gibbs
George Hill
Mickey Jackson
Glen Mason
Bill Myles
Gary Tranquill

Depth chart

1979 NFL draftees

Joe Robinson	9	229	Tackle	[Kansas City Chiefs](1979-kansas-city-chiefs-season)

References

"1978 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
"1978 Ohio State Buckeyes Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
(2016). "Football Award Winners". [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA).
(September 17, 1978). "Penn State silences Ohio State's offense". Herald and Review.
(September 24, 1978). "Ohio State 'rushes' to victory". Sunday News.
(October 1, 1978). "Buckeyes win, 34–28". The Times Recorder.
(October 8, 1978). "SMU 'tutors' Bucks in 35–35 tie". The Lima News.
(October 15, 1978). "Dream comes truw: Purdue trips Ohio State". Chicago Tribune.
(October 22, 1978). "Hayes dots I: Bucks club Iowa". Springfield News-Sun.
(October 29, 1978). "Ohio State offense rolls". Journal and Courier.
(November 5, 1978). "Buckeyes lash Wisconsin". The Pantagraph.
(November 12, 1978). "Frosh tops Illini". The Belleville News-Democrat.
(November 19, 1978). "No romp, but Buckeyes edge IU anyway 21–18". Anderson Herald.
Tom Henderson. (November 26, 1978). "Leach's 2 TD passes, iron defense send Michigan to Rose Bowl, 14–3". Detroit Free Press.
(December 30, 1978). "Woody adds punch to Gator Bowl". The Miami News.
"1978 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
[http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-footbl/1978/1978-01-Penn%20State.pdf Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-06-21 . Retrieved 2015-Jun-21.)
"Buckeyes win by run." Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Sept 24.
"Buckeyes' Defense Overcomes Badgers." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 5.
Palm Beach Post November 12, 1978
1979 Ohio State Football Media Guide

Info: Wikipedia Source

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