1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Gator Bowl, L 17–15 vs. Clemson
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1978 record	7–4–1 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes
MVP	Tom Cousineau
Captain	Byron Cato
Captain	Tom Cousineau
Captain	Ron Springs
Captain	Tim Vogler
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 83,112)

1978 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#5 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#12 Michigan State +	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
#13 Purdue	6	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	2			5	–	4	–	2
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Illinois	0	–	6	–	2			1	–	8	–	2
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	1			0	–	10	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 7–4–1 record, including the 1978 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, where they lost, 17–15, to the Clemson Tigers.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 16	1:30 PM	#5 Penn State*	#6	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	L 0–19	88,203
September 23	2:30 PM	at Minnesota	#16	Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, MN		W 27–10	55,200
September 30	1:30 PM	Baylor*	#13	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 34–28	87,998
October 7	1:30 PM	SMU*	#14	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		T 35–35	87,721
October 14	2:30 PM	at Purdue	#16	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN		L 16–27	69,465
October 21	1:30 PM	Iowa		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 31–7	87,326
October 28	1:30 PM	Northwestern		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 63–20	87,296
November 4	2:00 PM	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI		W 49–14	79,940
November 11	1:30 PM	Illinois		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 45–7	87,819
November 18	1:30 PM	at Indiana	#19	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN		W 21–18	47,560
November 25	12:30 PM	#6 Michigan	#16	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (The Game)	ABC	L 3–14	88,358
December 29	9:00 PM	vs. #7 Clemson*	#20	Gator Bowl Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	L 15–17	72,011
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Depth chart

Defense FS Vince Skillings Bob Murphy WLB ILB ILB SLB Paul Ross Al Washington Tom Cousineau Kelton Dansler Jim Laughlin Tony Megaro Terry Vogler ⋅ ROV Todd Bell Duncan Griffin CB Mike Guess ⋅ DE NT DE Byron Cato Mark Sullivan Gary Dulin Joe Hornik ⋅ ⋅ CB Ray Ellis Lenny Mills Offense SE Rod Gerald ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Keith Ferguson Ken Fritz Tim Vogler Jim Savoca Joe Robinson Tim Burke Scott Burris Tom Waugh ⋅ Tim Brown TE Jimmy Moore Jim Houston FL Doug Donley ⋅ QB Art Schlichter Greg Castignola FB Paul Campbell Ricardo Volley Special Teams PK Vlade Janakievski PK Bob Atha P Tom Orosz LS John Hutchings RB Ron Springs Ricky Johnson

Coaching staff

• Woody Hayes - Head Coach (28th year)
• George Chaump - Offense (10th year)
• George Hill - Defensive Coordinator (7th year)
• Glen Mason - Outside Linebackers and Offensive Line Coach (1st year)
• Dave Adolph - Defense (2nd year)
• Alex Gibbs - Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line (4th year)
• Mickey Jackson - (5th year)
• Bill Myles - Offensive Line (2nd year)
• Gary Tranquill - Defensive Backs (2nd year)

Game notes

Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total • Penn St 3 0 7 9 19 Ohio St 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 18 Location: Ohio Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:48 Game attendance: 88,202 Game weather: Cloudy; 80°F; wind 10 SW Television network: ABC

Scoring summary Q1 9:52 PSU Bahr 30 yard field goal PSU 3–0 Q3 4:52 PSU Suhey 3 yard run (Bahr kick) PSU 10–0 Q4 13:12 PSU Bahr 41 yard field goal PSU 13–0 Q4 6:45 PSU Bahr 25 yard field goal PSU 16–0 Q4 2:53 PSU Bahr 30 yard field goal PSU 19–0

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

Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 7 14 0 6 27 Minnesota 0 3 0 7 10 Date: September 23 Location: Memorial Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota Game attendance: 55,200

Scoring summary 1 OHST Schlichter 3 yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 7–0 2 OHST Payton 1 yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 14–0 2 OHST Schlichter 1 yard run (Janakievski kick) Ohio St 21–0 2 MINN Rogind 39 yard field goal Ohio St 21–3 4 OHST Springs 3 yard run (kick failed) Ohio St 27–3 4 MINN Dilulo 15 yard pass from Carlson (Rogind kick) Ohio St 27–10

Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 7 14 14 14 49 Wisconsin 0 7 0 7 14 Date: November 4 Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI Game attendance: 79,940

Scoring summary 1 OSU Schlichter 1-yard run (Janakievski kick) OSU 7-0 2 OSU Otha Watson recovered blocked punt in end zone (Janakievski kick) OSU 14-0 2 WIS Charles 7-yard pass from Kalasmlki (Veith kick) OSU 14-7 2 OSU Ty Hicks 96-yard kickoff return (Janakievski kick) OSU 21-7 3 OSU Skillings 61-yard interception return (Janakievski kick) OSU 28-7 3 OSU Murray 14-yard run (Janakievski kick) OSU 35-7 4 OSU Castignola 15-yard run (Janakievski kick) OSU 42-7 4 OSU Castignola 6-yard run (Jankievski kick) OSU 49-7 4 WIS Green 1-yard run (Veith kick) OSU 49-14

Illinois

See also: Illibuck

1 2 3 4 Total Illinois 0 7 0 0 7 • Ohio St 7 7 10 21 45 Date: November 11 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH Game attendance: 87,719

Scoring summary Q1 OHST Schlichter 7 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 7–0 Q2 ILL Powell 2 yard run (Finzer kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 OHST Schlichter 7 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 14–7 Q3 OHST Atha 31 yard field goal OHST 17–7 Q3 OHST Campbell 1 yard run (Janakievksi kick) OHST 24–7 Q4 OHST Schlichter 5 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 31–7 Q4 OHST Gerald 7 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 38–7 Q4 OHST Johnson 8 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 45–7

1979 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Tom Cousineau	1	1	Linebacker	Buffalo Bills
Ron Springs	5	136	Running Back	Dallas Cowboys
Jimmy Moore	6	150	Guard	Baltimore Colts
Joe Robinson	9	229	Tackle	Kansas City Chiefs