Both the media and fans expected Ohio State to win the 1980 national championship. After being a mere 1:32 from defeating USC in the Rose Bowl a year earlier many believed the Buckeyes were the team to beat in Earle Bruce's second season.
With 15 starters back from a team that went 11–1 in 1979, the AP Poll ranked Ohio State No. 1 in the preseason.
| The 1980 Buckeyes | |
|---|---|
| Record | 9–3 |
| B1G Record | 7–1, 2nd |
| Coach | Earle Bruce (2nd year, 20–4) |
| CaptainS |
Doug Donley, Ray Ellis, Keith Ferguson, Calvin Murray |
Games of Note
September 13th • Syracuse • Ohio Stadium
For the second consecutive season, Ohio State opened with Syracuse. Unlike a year earlier, Frank Maloney's team put up a fight in muggy 85-degree weather.
Tony Sidor caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dave Warner to cap the opening drive of the game and put Syracuse out front 7-0. Art Schlichter threw an interception on Ohio State's first offensive snap and the Orangemen had the ball on the 4-yard line. Three plays later Warner found Chis Jilleba in the end zone and Syracuse led 14-0 less than five minutes into the game.
After Vlade Janakievski kicked a field goal, Warner directed his team 80 yards and scored from the 1-yard line on 3rd-and-goal. Janekievski made two more field goals and the Orangemen took a 21-9 lead into the locker room.
Schlichter and Ohio State's offense scored on the opening drive of the second half when he connected with Doug Donley on a 47-yard touchdown strike. On the next drive, the Buckeyes ran on nine of the 10 plays and took a 22-21 lead when Ricky Johnson scored from the 4. A successful two-point conversion followed when Schlichter bought time by scrambling and finding Johnson in the end zone.
Ohio State won 31-21 after Schlichter scored late in the fourth quarter. Following the game, Bruce gave Janakievski a game ball for his clutch kicking in the first half.
Frank Maloney said this after the game: "They simply wore us down."
The following week, the Buckeyes' defense had something to prove after allowing Minnesota's Garry White to rush for 221 yards a year before. Ohio State shut out the Gophers and won 47-0.
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEP. 13 | SYRACUSE | OHIO STADIUM | W, 31–21 |
| SEP. 20 | MINNESOTA | OHIO STADIUM | W, 47–0 |
| SEP. 27 | NO. ARIZONA STATE | OHIO STADIUM | W, 38–21 |
| OCT. 4 | NO. 11 UCLA | OHIO STADIUM | L, 0–17 |
| OCT. 11 | NORTHWESTERN | DYCHE STADIUM | W, 63–0 |
| OCT. 18 | INDIANA | OHIO STADIUM | W, 27–17 |
| OCT. 25 | WISCONSIN | CAMP RANDALL | W, 21–0 |
| NOV. 1 | MICHIGAN STATE | SPARTAN STADIUM | W, 48–16 |
| NOV. 8 | ILLINOIS | OHIO STADIUM | W, 49–42 |
| NOV. 15 | IOWA | KINNICK STADIUM | W, 41–7 |
| NOV. 22 | NO. 10 MICHIGAN | OHIO STADIUM | L, 3–9 |
| DEC. 26 | NO. 10 PENN STATE | FIESTA BOWL | L, 19–31 |
| 9–3, 387–181 |
September 27th • #20 Arizona State • Ohio Stadium
On a sunny 68-degree day, Ohio State (2–0) faced Arizona State (2–0) for the first time. The 88,097 on hand watched an offensive outburst rarely seen in the last decade in Ohio Stadium.
Schlichter connected on 14-of-19 throws and totaled 271 passing yards. He also threw three touchdowns for the first time in his career. When asked about Schlichter after the game, ASU's coach Darryl Rogers said, "How naive can you be if you don't think Art Schlichter is a great quarterback with great receivers?"
The Sun Devils found out quickly of Ohio State's balanced attack when the Buckeyes ran for 172 yards and passed for 148 on their way to a 24-0 halftime lead. Ohio State added 14 more points and held on for a 38-21 victory.
The stat guys stayed busy in this one, as the two teams totaled 1,031 yards of offense on 160 plays. Asked what happened, Rogers said, "They just got the big play after big play after big play. Everything we tried to avoid, we gave up."
October 4th • #11 UCLA • Ohio Stadium
Bruce's team didn't have much time to savor the win over ASU with UCLA next on the docket. Ohio State owned a 3–2–1 lead in the series after it beat the Bruins 17-13 in Los Angeles in 1979.
Terry Donahue respected the speed of Ohio State's offense and pressured his defensive line to slow it down. The strategy worked as UCLA led 3-0 at halftime.
The strategy continued to work in the final two quarters. The Bruins scored on their first two possessions of the third quarter and left Ohio Stadium with a stunning 17-0 victory. To add insult to injury, Schlichter left the game near the start of the fourth quarter with a concussion.
Bruce shared these words to the press: "I didn't look forward to that in Ohio Stadium. UCLA played very well in our stadium. They controlled the line of scrimmage."
The loss was Bruce's first in Ohio Stadium as Ohio State head coach.
| OPPONENT | STREAK | RECORD |
|---|---|---|
| SYRACUSE | W2 | 2–1 |
| MINNESOTA | W13 | 19–5 |
| ARIZONA STATE | W1 | 1–0 |
| UCLA | L1 | 3–3–1 |
| NORTHWESTERN | W7 | 38–13–1 |
| INDIANA | W17 | 44–10–4 |
| WISCONSIN | W21 | 39–7–4 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | W4 | 11–8 |
| ILLINOIS | W13 | 46–19–4 |
| IOWA | W16 | 29–10–2 |
| MICHIGAN | L1 | 29–43–5 |
| PENN STATE | L2 | 2–6 |
November 22nd • #10 Michigan • Ohio Stadium
No. 10 Michigan (8–2) entered The Game with a perfect conference record. For the ninth straight season, the matchup between the Wolverines and No. 5 Ohio State (9–1) decided the Big Ten title.
The lone touchdown in the contest proved to be the difference in the 77th edition of this rivalry. Anthony Carter's 13-yard touchdown catch put Michigan up 9-3 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The remainder of the game from The Columbus Dispatch:
But Schlichter was intercepted on the first play of the ensuing series, and Janakievski ended the next OSU possession by missing to the left on a 35-yard field-goal attempt.
When Tom Orosz' punt on the series after that gave Michigan the ball with 9:39, the Wolverines ran seven minutes off the clock with a 58-yard drive that reached the OSU 32 before stalling.
Ohio State had the ball twice in the final 2:39, but went no farther than the Michigan 32. Schlichter doggedly tried for the big play, but was rushed hard and completed only two of his last nine passes. With 21 seconds left, he was called for intentional grounding on third-and-10 from the 32. Eight seconds later, he was sacked by Michigan linebacker Robert Thompson on fourth-and 25 from the Michigan 47. That ended it.
An emotionally drained Bruce had the following words after the game, "I don't have a lot to say. We lost a football game to a fine football team. There was a lot of good hitting."
He then focused on the next game.
"We have high-quality kids, and I'm sure we'll put it together," Bruce said. "We have got to get back to work, and still can salvage a fine season by beating Penn State. When you lose, whose fault is it?"
Spencer led the Buckeyes with 55 yards rushing and Schlichter finished with 130 passing yards and an interception. Marek finished with a game-high 17 tackles and his interception led to the Janakievski's field goal.
December 26th • #10 Penn State • Fiesta Bowl
No. 11 Ohio State (9–2) took on Joe Paterno's 10th-ranked Nittany Lions (9–2) in the Fiesta Bowl, the eighth meeting between the teams and the only time they met in a bowl game.
On the game's first play from scrimmage, Penn State's Curt Warner raced 64 yards for a touchdown and put the Nittany Lions up 7-0. Undaunted, Ohio State battled back to score 19 straight points and took a 19-10 lead into intermission.
The nine-point lead did not reflect the dominance illustrated by Schlichter and the offense. The junior quarterback threw for 244 yards and completed 15-of-22 passes for three touchdowns in the first 30 minutes.
Reflecting on the game, Paterno said: "In the first half, we didn't know what we could expect. A couple of passes hurt us over the middle, and then the weakside curl.
"They were playing a lot of three wideouts, and Schlichter was awfully sharp," he added. "The touchdown passes to Gary Williams was a great pass and catch."
The third quarter proved to be the difference in the ball game.
From The Columbus Dispatch:
In the third quarter, Penn State had the ball almost twice the amount of time as the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions opened the half with an 18-yard run by Warner, and quarterback Todd Blackledge hit tight end Mike McCloskey for 22 yards four plays later for a first down at the OSU 16. Blackledge's three-yard bootleg around the right end from the three brought the Lions within two points, 19-17, at 10:36.
Ohio State had the ball for no more than seven plays on any of its three possessions in the third quarter and got no further than its own 36-yard line.
Jon Williams' 4-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter put Penn State up for good. The Nittany Lions added another touchdown and won 31-19.
1980 Recap
- Ohio State started the season No. 1 in the nation.
- The Buckeyes trailed Syracuse 21-3, but fought back and won 31-21.
- Minnesota could not replicate its offensive performance from 1979 and was smoked 47-0.
- No. 20 Arizona State did not respect Ohio State's offensive explosiveness in a 38-21 loss that featured 1,031 yards of offense.
- The second-ranked Buckeyes were blanked by No. 11 UCLA 17-0. It was the first loss for Bruce in Ohio Stadium.
- Ohio State scored at least 21 points in victories over Northwestern, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan State.
- Dave Wilson threw for a record 621 passing yards, but the Buckeyes won 49-42 in large part due to seven Illini turnovers.
- The Game determined the Big Ten champion for the ninth straight year. Ohio State could only muster a field goal in the 9-3 loss. The Wolverines now led the series 43–29–5.
- The Buckeyes dominated the first half against Penn State, but were stifled in the last two quarters and lost 31-19.
- Ohio State started the season No. 1 but finished 1980 No. 15 in the AP Poll.
- Nobody was named an All-American for the first time since 1967.
- Doug Donley, Al Washington, Todd Bell, Calvin Murray, Keith Ferguson, Vince Skillings, Robert Murphy and Ray Ellis were selected in the NFL Draft.
The 1980 Buckeyes did not live up to the preseason rankings. Many – including Earle Bruce – believed Ohio State was the best team before the year started. The three losses not only dispelled that notion but also cast some doubt on Bruce as he was outcoached in the final two games.
The team finished 9–3, a record it would match for the next five years. Dark days were coming as Ohio State lost at least three games every year through 1992.
