From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1981
team	Ohio State Buckeyes
sport	football
conference	Big Ten Conference
short_conf	Big Ten
CoachRank	12
APRank	15
record	9–3
conf_record	6–2
head_coach	Earle Bruce
hc_year	3rd
off_coach	Glen Mason
oc_year	2nd
def_coach	Dennis Fryzel
dc_year	3rd
mvp	Art Schlichter
captain	Glen Cobb
captain2	Art Schlichter
stadium	Ohio Stadium
champion	Big Ten co-champion
Liberty Bowl champion
bowl	[Liberty Bowl](1981-liberty-bowl)
bowl_result	W 31–28 vs. [Navy](1981-navy-midshipmen-football-team)

Liberty Bowl champion The 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was an American football team represented the Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1981 Big Ten season. In their third season under head coach Earle Bruce, the Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record (6–2 in conference games), tied with Iowa for the Big Ten championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 356 to 225. They concluded the season with a 31–28 victory over Navy in the 1981 Liberty Bowl.

The team's statistical leaders included:

Quarterback Art Schlichter ranked third in the conference with 2,551 passing yards and 2,509 total yards and fifth with a 52.3 pass completion percentage.
Running back Tim Spencer led the conference with 12 rushing touchdowns and ranked second with 1,217 rushing yards and 1,427 yards from scrimmage.
Wide receiver Gary Williams ranked third in the conference with 50 receptions and fourth with 941 receiving yards.
Placekicker Bob Atha led the conference with 88 points scored and 44 extra points made and ranked second with 13 field goals made and a 68.4% field goal percentage.

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

Schedule

|{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w

Game summaries

Duke

Michigan State

Stanford

Florida State

Wisconsin

Illinois

Indiana

At Purdue

Minnesota

First quarter

OSU – John Frank 7-yard pass from Art Schlichter (Bob Atha kick), 5:33. ''Ohio St 7–0. '''Drive: 8 plays, 76 yards.'''''
OSU – Tim Spencer 73-yard run (Bob Atha kick), 0:00. ''Ohio St 14–0. '''Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards, 0:10.''''' Second quarter
MINN – Todd Hallstrom 1-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 9:53. ''Ohio St 14–7. '''Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 5:07.'''''
OSU – Tim Spencer 2-yard run (Bob Atha kick), 7:39. ''Ohio St 21–7. '''Drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, 2:14.''''' Third quarter
MINN – Jay Carroll 27-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 11:25. ''Ohio St 21–14. '''Drive: 12 plays, 64 yards, 2:35.'''''
MINN – Frank Jacobs 17-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 8:34. ''Tie 21–21. '''Drive: 4 plays, 36 yards, 1:20.'''''
OSU – Art Schlichter 1-yard run (Bob Atha kick), 0:30. ''Ohio St 28–21. '''Drive: 9 plays, 57 yards, 3:39.''''' Fourth quarter
OSU – Bob Atha 31-yard field goal, 8:18. ''Ohio St 31–21. '''Drive: 4 plays, 27 yards, 1:13.'''''
MINN – Jay Carroll 18-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 6:56. ''Ohio St 31–28. '''Drive: 5 plays, 68 yards, 1:23.'''''
MINN – Jay Carroll 28-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 2:38. ''Minnesota 35–31. '''Drive: 5 plays, 40 yards, 1:03''''' ;Top passers
OSU – Art Schlichter – 13/33, 169 yards, TD, INT
MINN – Mike Hohensee – 37/67, 444 yards, 5 TD, INT ;Top rushers
OSU – Tim Spencer – 16 rushes, 135 yards, 2 TD
MINN – Tony Hunter – 6 rushes, 19 yards ;Top receivers
OSU – Gary Williams – 4 receptions, 72 yards
MINN – Chester Cooper – 12 receptions, 182 yards

Northwestern

Michigan

Liberty Bowl

Personnel

Coaching staff

Earle Bruce – Head Coach (3rd year)
Dennis Fryzel – Defensive Coordinator (3rd year)
Glen Mason – Offensive Coordinator (4th year)
Bill Myles – Offensive Line (5th year)
Nick Saban – Defensive Backs (2nd year)
Wayne Stanley – Running Backs (3rd year)
Steve Szabo – Defensive Line (3rd year)
Bob Tucker – Defensive Outside Linebackers (3rd year)
Fred Zechman – Quarterbacks/Receivers (3rd year)

Roster

Dennis Fryzel (DC)
Nick Saban (DB)

Depth chart

1982 NFL draftees

Bob Atha	12	317	Kicker	[St. Louis Cardinals](1982-st-louis-cardinals-nfl-season)

References

"1981 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
"1981 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". Sports Reference LLC.
(September 13, 1981). "Buckeyes inconsistent in win". The Akron Beacon Journal.
(September 20, 1981). "OSU flies 27–13". St. Petersburg Times.
(September 27, 1981). "Ohio State, Schlichter beat Stanford, Elway". Chicago Tribune.
(October 4, 1981). "Passing marks fall; so do Buckeyes". The Akron Beacon Journal.
(October 11, 1981). "Wisconsin numbs Ohio State 24–21". News Journal.
(October 18, 1981). "Ohio State survives air assault by Illini". The Plain Dealer.
(October 25, 1981). "Atha boots Bucks past Indiana, 29–10". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
(November 1, 1981). "Buckeyes take Big Ten lead". The Akron Beacon Journal.
(November 8, 1981). "Minnesota's passing devastates Bucks". Springfield News-Sun.
(November 15, 1981). "Bucks bomb Wildcats in 'Big Game' tuneup". The Marion Star.
(November 22, 1981). "U-M goes down". Lansing State Journal.
(December 31, 1981). "Navy's hit by a Gayle (Jimmy)". The Knoxville News-Sentinel.
"1981 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
"Florida State University Official Athletic Site - Football".
1982 Ohio State Football Media Guide

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1981-big-ten-conference-football-season ohio-state-buckeyes-football-seasons big-ten-conference-football-champion-seasons liberty-bowl-champion-seasons 1981-in-sports-in-ohio

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report