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1997 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1997
team	Ohio State Buckeyes
sport	football
image	Buckeyes logo.svg
image_size	125
conference	Big Ten Conference
short_conf	Big Ten
CoachRank	12
APRank	12
record	10–3
conf_record	6–2
head_coach	John Cooper
hc_year	10th
off_coach	Mike Jacobs
oc_year	1st
def_coach	Fred Pagac
dc_year	2nd
mvp	Antoine Winfield
captain	Winfield Garnett
captain2	Stanley Jackson
stadium	Ohio Stadium
bowl	[Sugar Bowl](1998-sugar-bowl)
bowl_result	L 14–31 vs. [Florida State](1997-florida-state-seminoles-football-team)

The 1997 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 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their tenth year under head coach John Cooper, the Buckeyes compiled a 10–3 record (6–2 in conference games), finished in a three-way tie for second place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 380 to 139. Against ranked opponents, the Buckeyes defeated No. 11 Iowa and No. 21 Michigan State and lost to No. 2 Penn State and No. 1 Michigan. The Buckeyes concluded the season with a 31–14 loss to No. 4 Florida State in the 1998 Sugar Bowl. Ohio State was ranked No. 12 in the final AP poll.

The Buckeyes gained an average of 155.0 rushing yards and 226.1 passing yards per game. On defense, they gave up 114.7 rushing yards and 132.6 passing yards per game. Quarterback duties were split between junior Joe Germaine (1,674 passing yards) and senior Stanley Jackson (1,021 passing yards). The team's other statistical leaders included running back Pepe Pearson (809 rushing yards, 4.8 yards per carry) and wide receiver David Boston (70 receptions for 930 yards). Defensive back Antoine Winfield also received first-team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). Six Ohio State players received first-team honors on the 1997 All-Big Ten Conference football team: Boston; Katzenmoyer; Winfield; offensive tackle Eric Gohlstin; defensive back Damon Moore; and punter Brent Bartholomew.

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

Schedule

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Rankings

Game summaries

Wyoming

First quarter

OSU - Stanley Jackson 41-yard run (Dan Stultz kick)
WYO - Cory Wedel 38-yard field goal
OSU - Dan Stultz kick 40-yard field goal Second quarter
No scoring Third quarter
OSU - Michael Wiley 32-yard run (Dan Stultz kick)
OSU - Dee Miller 45-yard pass from Stanley Jackson (Dan Stultz kick)
WYO - Mike Jenkins 11-yard run (Cory Wedel kick) Fourth quarter
No scoring

Bowling Green

Arizona

Missouri

First quarter

OSU - Pepe Pearson 3 yd run (Dan Stultz kick)
MIZ - Corby Jones 8 yd run (Scott Knickman kick) Second quarter
MIZ - Scott Knickman 27 yd field goal
OSU - David Boston 5 yd pass from Joe Germaine (Dan Stultz kick) Third quarter
OSU - David Boston 28 yd pass from Joe Germaine (Dan Stultz kick)
OSU - Michael Wiley 1 yd run (Dan Stultz kick) Fourth quarter
OSU - Dan Stultz 28 yd field goal

Iowa

Penn State

Indiana

Northwestern

;Northwestern

Tim Hughes 7/15, 63 Yds
Brian Marshall 7 Rush, 36 Yds
T. Waterman 2 Rec, 20 Yds ;Ohio St
Joe Germaine 8/12, 177 Yds, 3 TD
Michael Wiley 15 Rush, 73 Yds
Dee Miller 5 Rec, 96 Yds, 2 TD

Michigan State

Minnesota

Illinois

Michigan

Sugar Bowl

Personnel

Coaching staff

John Cooper, head coach (10th year)
Bill Conley, tight ends, recruiting coordinator (11th year)
Jim Heacock, defensive line (2nd year)
Mike Jacobs, offensive coordinator (3rd year)
Fred Pagac, defensive coordinator (16th year)
Tim Salem, quarterbacks (1st year)
Shawn Simms, defensive ends (1st year)
Tim Spencer, running backs (4th year)
Chuck Stobart, wide receivers (3rd year)
Jon Tenuta, defensive backs (2nd year)

Roster

NFL draft

For the first time since the NFL draft's inception in 1936, no Ohio State players were selected in the 1998 NFL draft.

References

"1997 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
"1997 Ohio State Buckeyes Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
(2016). "Football Award Winners". National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
(December 2, 1997). "College Football". Gettysburg Times.
(January 2, 1998). "Florida State stymies Ohio St. in Sugar Bowl". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Park, Jack. (2003). "The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia". Sports Publishing LLC.
"Ohio St. Drafted Players/Alumni".

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.

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