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1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

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1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten co-champion
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 31–28 vs. Navy
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 15
Record9–3 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGlen Mason (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorDennis Fryzel (3rd season)
MVPArt Schlichter
Captains
  • Glen Cobb
  • Art Schlichter
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 15 Ohio State + 6 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 18 Iowa + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
No. 12 Michigan 6 – 3 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Illinois 6 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Wisconsin 6 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Minnesota 4 – 5 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Michigan State 4 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Purdue 3 – 6 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Indiana 3 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Northwestern 0 – 9 – 0 0 – 11 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record, including the 1981 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, where they won, 31–28, against the Navy Midshipmen. Ohio State and Iowa were the only conference teams not to play one another, and they ended up in a tie for the Big Ten title. That cost the Buckeyes a possible outright conference championship and trip to the 1982 Rose Bowl as Iowa landed the Rose Bowl bid due to not going to the Rose Bowl longer than Ohio State.

Several Ohio State players ranked among the Big Ten leaders, including the following:

  • 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.[1]
  • Garcia Lane led the conference with 205 punt return yards and ranked second with an average of 8.9 yards per punt return.[1]
  • 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.[1]
  • 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.[1]
  • Gary Williams ranked third in the conference with 50 receptions and fourth with 941 receiving yards.[1]

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 121:30 p.m.Duke*No. 11
W 34–1386,266[2]
September 191:30 p.m.Michigan StateNo. 8
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 27–1387,084[3]
September 264:30 p.m.at Stanford*No. 8
W 24–1976,102[4]
October 31:30 p.m.Florida State*No. 7
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
L 27–3687,158[5]
October 102:30 p.m.at WisconsinNo. 18
L 21–2478,973[6]
October 171:30 p.m.Illinois
W 34–2787,158[7]
October 241:30 p.m.Indiana
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 29-1087,182[8]
October 3112:30 p.m.at Purdue
ABCW 45–3369,927[9]
November 72:00 p.m.at MinnesotaNo. 18
L 31–3542,793[10]
November 141:30 p.m.Northwestern
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 70–686,912[11]
November 2112:30 p.m.at No. 7 Michigan
ABCW 14–9106,043[12]
December 308:00 p.m.vs. Navy*No. 15
USAW 31–2843,216[13]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[14]

Roster

[edit]
1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
FB 38 Vaughn Broadnax So
TE 89 John Frank So
OT 64 Jim Lachey Fr
OL 63 Kirk Lowdermilk Fr
QB 10 Art Schlichter Jr
RB 46 Tim Spencer So
QB 15 Mike Tomczak Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 2 Shaun Gayle So
LB   Anthony Griggs Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K   Bob Atha Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Depth chart

[edit]

[15]

Coaching staff

[edit]
  • 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)

1982 NFL draftees

[edit]
Player Round Pick Position NFL club
Art Schlichter 1 4 Quarterback Baltimore Colts
Anthony Griggs 4 105 Linebacker Philadelphia Eagles
Bob Atha 12 317 Kicker St. Louis Cardinals

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "1981 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  2. ^ "Buckeyes inconsistent in win". The Akron Beacon Journal. September 13, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "OSU flies 27–13". St. Petersburg Times. September 20, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Ohio State, Schlichter beat Stanford, Elway". Chicago Tribune. September 27, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Passing marks fall; so do Buckeyes". The Akron Beacon Journal. October 4, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Wisconsin numbs Ohio State 24–21". News Journal. October 11, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Ohio State survives air assault by Illini". The Plain Dealer. October 18, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Atha boots Bucks past Indiana, 29–10". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 25, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Buckeyes take Big Ten lead". The Akron Beacon Journal. November 1, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Minnesota's passing devastates Bucks". Springfield News-Sun. November 8, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Bucks bomb Wildcats in 'Big Game' tuneup". The Marion Star. November 15, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "U-M goes down". Lansing State Journal. November 22, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Navy's hit by a Gayle (Jimmy)". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. December 31, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "1981 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  15. ^ 1982 Ohio State Football Media Guide
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