Conference Big Ten Conference AP No. 5 Offensive scheme Heavy Run | Coaches No. 2 1970 record 9–1 (7–0 Big Ten) | |
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Head coach Woody Hayes (20th year) | ||
The 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1970 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–0 regular season record to attain a #2 ranking. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference title and a berth in the 1971 Rose Bowl in Pasadena against the Stanford Indians, ranked #12 and champions of the Pac-8. The Buckeyes would go on to lose 27-17 in their bowl game giving them a 9-1 record.
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This was the last year Ohio State played a nine-game regular season schedule. Many major colleges added an 11th game in 1970, although no Big Ten school did so until the following season.
The Buckeyes were recognized as the 1970 national champion by the National Football Foundation (NFF) giving them their sixth claimed title. The NFF awarded the title before bowl games at the time. This was the fifth and last title that legendary head coach Woody Hayes would win for the Buckeyes. The Ohio State Buckeyes would not win another national championship until 2002. Most consider the 11-0 Nebraska Cornhuskers to be the 1970 National Champions as they won the AP vote.
Coaching staff
New Year's Day
In the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, top-ranked and defending national champion Texas was upset 24-11 by #6 Notre Dame, ending the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak.
Heavily-favored Ohio State could claim their second outright national title in three years that afternoon with a Rose Bowl victory over Stanford in Pasadena. Stanford (8-3) was led by quarterback Jim Plunkett, the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner. The Indians had climbed to a 6-0 conference record and 8-1 overall, but lost their final two regular season games, to Sugar Bowl-bound Air Force and arch-rival California. Stanford lost earlier in the season at home to Purdue, a team OSU defeated on the road.
The Buckeyes led Stanford by four points after three quarters, but were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter and lost 27-17. Later that night, #3 Nebraska won the Orange Bowl 17-12 over #5 LSU in Miami to claim the top spot in the AP writers poll.