The 2010s were a golden decade for Ohio State football, capped by wins, more wins, and then more wins, with plenty of championships thrown in for good measure. Here's a look at the numbers that defined that span.
117–18
Ohio State piled up 117 wins1 in the decade while suffering defeat just 18 times, with Urban Meyer, Ryan Day and Luke Fickell, interim coach for the 2011 season, winning nearly 87% of their games. It was a historic 10 years of football with the program easily topping the 102 wins and .803 winning percentage racked up by Jim Tressel's teams in the 2000s.
The Buckeyes won 12 or more games in eight of those seasons, winning 13 twice, and 14 games in 2014 on the way to capturing the first-ever College Football Playoff championship. To put that into perspective, Michigan, college football's all-time wins leader, has just two 12-win seasons in 130 years of football, and just one such season since 1906.
Ohio State owns 24-, 23-, 16-, and 12-game winning streaks in the last decade, collecting the aforementioned national championship and five Big Ten Championships along the way. The 2010s saw two Sugar Bowl wins, and wins in the Rose, Cotton, and Fiesta Bowls.
Aside from the 2011 season under Fickell, the Buckeyes lost back-to-back games just once in the decade, falling to Michigan State in the 2013 Big Ten Championship and Clemson in the 2014 Orange Bowl.
It was nothing short of a golden decade for the Ohio State football program.
71 WEEKS
Ohio State spent 71 game weeks in the 2010s ranked in the top five of the AP Poll – a staggering 53% of the decade. In all, the Buckeyes played in just 10 games last decade as an unranked team.
5,378 POINTS
The Buckeyes put up 5,378 points in the decade, good enough for an average of 39.84 per game. The second quarter is where Ohio State did the most damage, putting up 1,690 points, or more in that single quarter than the team allowed in either the first half (1,331 points) or second half (1,263) of games played in the decade.
| Player | Points | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J.K. DOBBINS | 138 | 2019 |
| 2 | EZEKIEL ELLIOTT | 138 | 2015 |
| 3 | SEAN NUERNBERGER | 128 | 2014 |
| 4 | BLAKE HAUBEIL | 124 | 2019 |
Ohio State outscored its opponents by 2,755 points or an average of 39.84 to 19.43. The Buckeyes topped 70 points in six games, with a high of 77 scored against Bowling Green in 2016 and again on Oregon State in 2018.
2014's 15-game season saw the team's high mark for points with a program-record 672 scored, while Ryan Day's 2019 team scored 656 points in his first full season as head coach.
OSU was shut out just once in the decade, falling 31-0 to Clemson in the 2016 College Football Playoffs.
6–3
Ohio State went 6–3 against opponents ranked in the top five of the AP Poll and 3–1 against opponents ranked in the top two in the 2010s.
64,225 YARDS
The Buckeyes piled up 64,225 yards of total offense in the 2010s, easily the most of any decade on record. These yards came on 9,821 offensive plays, good enough for an average of 6.5.
Defensively, Ohio State teams held opponents 43,949 yards, edging opponents 475 to 325 yards per game.
On the ground, the Buckeyes rushed for 32,645 yards and 346 touchdowns on 5,967 carries – good enough for 5.5 per pop, while holding opponents to 142 touchdowns and a meager 3.4 yards per attempt.
In the air, Ohio State quarterbacks completed 64% of their passes for 328 touchdowns and just 82 interceptions. The OSU secondary, meanwhile, held opponents to a 55% completion rate while intercepting 159 passes and allowing just 155 touchdowns.
22 PICK-SIXES
Ohio State defenders returned 22 interceptions for touchdowns in the 2010s, while OSU nearly pushed with aggregate opponents in fumbles, losing 94 while foes lost 89.
7,260 YARDS
To the consternation of many Ohio State fans, the Buckeyes were penalized 890 times for 7,260 yards in the 2010s while opponents were whistled 759 times for 6,598 yards.
9–1
Ohio State went 9–1 against Michigan in the decade, the best run of any team in a single decade in the rivalry's history. The Wolverines hired three coaches to try and beat Ohio State, and none of them have seemed to figure it out.
Overall, the Buckeyes went 25–4 against Big Ten heavies of Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin in the 2010s.
2,003 YARDS
J.K. Dobbins record-setting 2019 season saw him rush for 2,003 yards in 14 games, the high point of the decade when it comes to rushing and the best single-season in Ohio State football history.
Dobbins ran for 21 touchdowns, topping 100 yards in 10 games, and 150 in eight of those games.
| Player | Year | Att | Yards | YPC | TDs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J.K. DOBBINS | 2019 | 301 | 2,003 | 6.65 | 21 |
| 2 | EZEKIEL ELLIOTT | 2014 | 273 | 1,878 | 6.88 | 18 |
| 3 | EZEKIEL ELLIOTT | 2015 | 289 | 1,821 | 6.30 | 23 |
| 4 | CARLOS HYDE | 2013 | 208 | 1,521 | 7.57 | 15 |
| 5 | J.K. DOBBINS | 2017 | 194 | 1,403 | 7.23 | 7 |
4,831 YARDS
Dwayne Haskins' 4,831 total yards in 2018 were a program record, helping the quarterback to New York as a Heisman finalist. Haskins 343 completions, 9.9 yards per attempt, and 50 touchdowns are all Ohio State records as well.
16.5 SACKS
Chase Young's 16.5 sacks last season led the nation and were an Ohio State record. His six forced fumbles were the most by any Buckeye in a single season, as well.
That Young was able to do it in what boiled down to a half of a season of snaps for him makes it all the more impressive.
ONE EPIC THREE-GAME RUN
In a decade that brought joy in bunches to Ohio State fans, perhaps no stretch stands out more than the magical three-game run the team went on to win the inaugural College Football Playoff championship.
Led by a third-string quarterback in Cardale Jones, the Buckeyes knocked off No. 13 Wisconsin in the 2014 Big Ten Championship before upsetting No. 1 Alabama in the 2015 Sugar Bowl and No. 2 Oregon in the championship game.
1. Ohio State vacated all 12 wins from the 2010 season as punishment for players trading memorabilia for tattoos. But they happened. We saw them.↑
