1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football

Big Ten co-champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 20–17 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
1996 record	11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Cooper (9th year)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Hollis (5th year)
Defensive coordinator	Fred Pagac (1st year)
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 89,841)
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Big Ten football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
#2 Ohio State +		7	–	1		11	–	1
#15 Northwestern +		7	–	1		9	–	3
#7 Penn State		6	–	2		11	–	2
#18 Iowa		6	–	2		9	–	3
#20 Michigan		5	–	3		8	–	4
Michigan State		5	–	3		6	–	6
Wisconsin		3	–	5		8	–	5
Purdue		2	–	6		3	–	8
Minnesota		1	–	7		4	–	7
Indiana		1	–	7		3	–	8
Illinois		1	–	7		2	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rice	0	7	0	0	7
• Ohio St	21	21	21	7	70

Date: September 7
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game attendance: 93,479
Television network: ESPN+

Scoring summary

1	OHST	Lumpkin 2 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 7–0

1	OHST	Pearson 8 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 14–0

1	OHST	Pearson 22 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 21–0

2	OHST	Stanley 15 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 28–0

2	RICE	Perry 5 yard run (Ruff kick)	Ohio St 28–7

2	OHST	Boston 58 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 35–7

2	OHST	Wiley 49 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 42–7

3	OHST	Pearson 25 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 49–7

3	OHST	Wiley 51 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 56–7

3	OHST	Wiley 60 yard pass from Germaine (Stamp kick)	Ohio St 63–7

4	OHST	Je Jackson 3 yard run (Stamp kick)	Ohio St 70–7

Scoring summary

1	OHST	Lumpkin 2 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 7–0

1	OHST	Pearson 8 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 14–0

1	OHST	Pearson 22 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 21–0

2	OHST	Stanley 15 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 28–0

2	RICE	Perry 5 yard run (Ruff kick)	Ohio St 28–7

2	OHST	Boston 58 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 35–7

2	OHST	Wiley 49 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 42–7

3	OHST	Pearson 25 yard run (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 49–7

3	OHST	Wiley 51 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick)	Ohio St 56–7

3	OHST	Wiley 60 yard pass from Germaine (Stamp kick)	Ohio St 63–7

4	OHST	Je Jackson 3 yard run (Stamp kick)	Ohio St 70–7

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	0
• Ohio St	21	31	13	7	72

Date: September 21
Location: Ohio Stadium

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	12	10	7	0	29
Notre Dame	7	0	3	6	16

Date: September 28
Location: Notre Dame Stadium

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penn St	0	0	0	7	7
• Ohio St	10	14	7	7	38

Date: October 5
Location: Ohio Stadium

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wisconsin	0	7	0	7	14
• Ohio St	0	3	7	7	17

Date: October 12
Location: Ohio Stadium

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

Date: October 19
Location: Ross-Ade Stadium

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	17	14	7	0	38
Iowa	3	3	6	14	26

Date: October 26
Location: Kinnick Stadium

The 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was John Cooper. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a win-loss record of 11–1, and a Big Ten Conference record of 7–1. They were co-champions of Big Ten Conference with the Northwestern Wildcats and played in the 1997 Rose Bowl against Pacific-10 Confernece champion the Arizona State Sun Devils. Ohio State did not play Northwestern during the regular season and were selected to play in the Rose Bowl due to their better overall record of 10–1 (the Wildcats were 9–2). Northwestern had played in the previous Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes used two quarterbacks throughout the year, junior Stanley Jackson, and sophomore Joe Germaine, the Buckeyes were dominant throughout the majority of the season, outscoring their opponents by a score of 455–131. The Buckeyes only loss came late in the season to their rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, by a score of 13–9.

Because of the late loss, Ohio State fell from second to fourth in the polls. Due to the Big Ten and Pac-10 not being involved in the Bowl Alliance agreement as the two champions were contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State was set to play #2 Arizona State, while #1 Florida State and #3 Florida played for the National Championship in the 1997 Sugar Bowl.

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