1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football
1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 16–17 vs. USC
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	11–1 (8–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Earle Bruce (1st season);
Defensive coordinator	Dennis Fryzel (1st season)
MVP	Jim Laughlin
Captains	Ken Fritz; Mike Guess; Jim Laughlin; Tom Waugh;
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium; (Capacity: 83,112)
	Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Purdue	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 18 Michigan	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled an 11–1 record, including the 1980 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where they lost, 17–16, to the USC Trojans.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	1:30 p.m.	Syracuse*		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 31–8	86,205
September 15	2:30 p.m.	at Minnesota	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 21–17	43,926
September 22	1:30 p.m.	Washington State*	No. 16	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 45–29	87,495
September 29	4:00 p.m.	at No. 17 UCLA*	No. 14	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 17–13	47,228
October 6	1:30 p.m.	Northwestern	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 16–7	87,406
October 13	1:30 p.m.	Indiana	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 47–6	87,521
October 20	1:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	No. 6	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 59–0	87,585
October 27	1:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 4	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 42–0	87,747
November 3	2:00 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)		W 44–7	41,870
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Iowa	No. 3	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 34–7	87,835
November 17	12:30 p.m.	at No. 13 Michigan	No. 2	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 18–15	106,255
January 1, 1980	5:00 p.m.	vs. No. 3 USC*	No. 1	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	L 16–17	105,526
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1979 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`47`	Doug Donley	Jr
G	`56`	Ken Fritz	Sr
QB	`10`	Art Schlichter	So
RB	`46`	Tim Spencer	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`25`	Todd Bell	Jr
CB	`27`	Ray Ellis	Jr
LB	`65`	Keith Ferguson	Jr
LB	`5`	Jim Laughlin	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`13`	Vlade Janakievski	Sr
P	`19`	Tom Orosz	Jr

Head coach

Earle Bruce

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Dennis Fryzel (DC)
Pete Carroll (DB)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Depth chart

Defense

FS
Vince Skillings
Bob Murphy
⋅

WLB	ILB	ILB	SLB
Jim Laughlin	Al Washington	Marcus Marek	Keith Ferguson
Ben Lee	⋅	⋅	⋅
⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅

ROV
Todd Bell
⋅
⋅

CB
Mike Guess
Doyle Lewis
⋅

DE	NT	DE
Jerome Foster	Tim Sawicki	Luther Henson
Reggie Echols	Mark Sullivan	Gary Dulin
⋅	⋅	⋅

CB
Ray Ellis
Norm Burrows
⋅

Offense

SE
Gary Williams
Chuck Hunter
⋅

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Tim Burke	Ernie Andria	Tom Waugh	Ken Fritz	Joe Lukens
Tom Levenick	Scott Burris	Jim DeLeone	Joe Smith	Tom Levenick
⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅

TE
Brad Dwelle
Bill Jaco
Ron Barwig

FL
Doug Donley
Tyrone Hicks
⋅

QB
Art Schlichter
Greg Castignola
⋅

FB
Ricardo Volley
Paul Campbell
Cliff Belmer

Special teams
PK Vlade Janakievski
P Tom Orosz
LS John Hutchings

RB
Calvin Murray
Jimmy Gayle
Tim Spencer

^[1]

Coaching staff

Earle Bruce - Head Coach (1st year)
Pete Carroll - Defensive Backs (1st year)
Dennis Fryzel - Defensive Coordinator (1st year)
Glen Mason - Offensive Line / Defensive Inside Linebackers (2nd year)
Bill Myles - Offensive Line (3rd year)
Wayne Stanley - Running Backs (1st year)
Steve Szabo - Defensive Line (1st year)
Bob Tucker - Defensive Outside Linebackers (1st year)
Fred Zechman - Quarterbacks/Receivers (1st year)

1980 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL club
Jim Laughlin	4	91	Linebacker	Atlanta Falcons
Mike Guess	6	156	Defensive Back	Chicago Bears
Ken Fritz	10	277	Guard	Pittsburgh Steelers

^[2]

Game summaries

Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	Total
Syracuse	0	0	8	0	8
• Ohio St	7	14	3	7	31

Date: September 8
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:46
Game attendance: 86,205
Game weather: Partly cloudy; 67 °F (19 °C); wind 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) N

^[3]

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	7	0	6	8	21
Minnesota	14	3	0	0	17

Date: September 15
Location: Memorial Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:36
Game attendance: 43,926
Game weather: Sunny; 68 °F (20 °C); wind 8 mph (13 km/h) SE
Referee: Otho Kertz

^[4]

Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wash St	3	0	10	16	29
• Ohio St	7	17	7	14	45

Date: September 22
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:46
Game attendance: 87,495
Game weather: Overcast; 64 °F (18 °C); wind 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) NE

^[5]

The longest pass in school history to date, an 86-yard bomb from Art Schlichter to Calvin Murray, helped propel Ohio State to a 45-29 win over Washington State. The previous record was an 80-yard pass from Joe Sparma to Bob Klein in 1961 versus Michigan.^[6]

UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	0	7	3	7	17
UCLA	10	0	0	3	13

Date: September 29
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:46
Game attendance: 47,228
Game weather: Cloudy; 71 °F (22 °C); light wind SW
Referee: Bill Love

^[7]

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Northwestern	0	0	0	7	7
• Ohio St	10	3	0	3	16

Date: October 6
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:41
Game attendance: 87,406
Game weather: Partly cloudy; 58 °F (14 °C); wind 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) SW

^[8]

^[9]

Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Indiana	0	0	6	0	6
• Ohio St	9	17	14	7	47

Date: October 13
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:48
Game attendance: 87,251
Game weather: Cloudy; 44 °F (7 °C); wind 15 mph (24 km/h) NW

^[10]

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wisconsin	0	0	0	0	0
• Ohio St	14	14	10	21	59

Date: October 20
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:48
Game attendance: 87,585
Game weather: Sunny; 77 °F (25 °C); wind 15–20 mph (24–32 km/h) S

^[11]

Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan St	0	0	0	0	0
• Ohio St	14	14	7	7	42

Date: October 27
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:35
Game attendance: 87,747
Game weather: Mostly sunny; 53 °F (12 °C); wind 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) S

^[12]

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	3	14	10	17	44
Illinois	0	0	7	0	7

Date: November 3
Location: Memorial Stadium
Game attendance: 41,870
Game weather: Clear; 51 °F (11 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h) NW

^[13]

Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Iowa	0	0	0	7	7
• Ohio St	13	14	0	7	34

Date: November 10
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:30 p.m.
Elapsed time: 2:51
Game attendance: 87,835
Game weather: Cloudy; 41 °F (5 °C); wind 10–20 mph (16–32 km/h) NW

^[14]

At Michigan

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes at #13 Michigan Wolverines

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	0	6	6	6	18
Michigan	0	7	8	0	15

at Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, Michigan

Date: November 17
Game weather: Sunny • 55 °F (13 °C) • Wind 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) SW
Game attendance: 106,255
TV: ABC
Ohio State Football - Archives

Game information

Ohio St

Art Schlichter
12/22, 196 Yds, TD, INT
James Gayle
9 Rush, 72 Yds
Doug Donley
3 Rec, 87 Yds

Michigan

John Wangler
4/9, 133 Yds, TD, INT
Butch Woolfolk
18 Rush, 68 Yds
Anthony Carter
2 Rec, 125 Yds, TD

Ohio State clinched the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl with an 18-15 victory over their archrivals. The Buckeyes had not beaten nor scored a touchdown against Michigan since 1975, the last time they had gone to Pasadena.^[15]

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	OSU	MICH
2	3:48				Ohio St	23-yard field goal by Janakievski	3	0
2	1:30				Michigan	Carter 59-yard touchdown reception from Wangler, Virgil kick good	3	7
2	0:08				Ohio St	25-yard field goal by Janakievski	6	7
3	7:19				Ohio St	Hunter 18-yard touchdown reception from Schlichter, 2-point pass failed/incomplete	12	7
3	3:58				Michigan	Smith 1-yard touchdown run, 2-point run good	12	15
4	11:21				Ohio St	Blocked punt returned 18 yards for touchdown by Bell, Janakievski kick failed	18	15
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							18	15