50 Fun Facts About Ohio State Football

Ohio State first fielded a football team in which year?

Attempts in 1886 and 1887 fizzled; the school joined the Western Conference, now the Big Ten, in 1912.

Ohio Stadium, which opened in 1922, is best known by what nickname?

It is also called 'The House That Harley Built', after Chic Harley, whose record crowds forced its construction.

The rotunda at the north end of Ohio Stadium was designed to resemble the dome of which ancient building?

The stadium, designed by Howard Dwight Smith, joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and now seats 102,780.

Which future NFL founder coached Ohio State to its first national championship in 1942?

He was hired from Massillon Washington High School in 1941 and later founded the Browns and the Bengals.

Which coach won 205 games, five national titles and 13 Big Ten titles in 28 seasons from 1951 to 1978?

His conservative attack was famously described as 'three yards and a cloud of dust'.

Ohio State's legendary coach was fired the day after striking an opposing player at which 1978 postseason game?

The player was Clemson middle guard Charlie Bauman, who had just intercepted a pass; university president Harold Enarson made the call.

Before Columbus, Woody Hayes coached Denison and which other Ohio school?

He also served in the Navy in World War II, rising to lieutenant commander.

Who is the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice?

The Columbus native won in 1974 and 1975, started four Rose Bowls, and his No. 45 was retired in 1999.

Which NFL team drafted the two-time Heisman winner 24th overall in 1976?

He is one of only two players to start four Rose Bowl games; Brian Cushing is the other.

Who was the first Buckeye to win the Heisman Trophy, in 1944?

Janowicz followed in 1950 and 'Hopalong' Cassady in 1955.

Which running back won the Heisman for Ohio State in 1995?

The next Buckeye winner was a quarterback in 2006.

Which quarterback won the Heisman Trophy for Ohio State in 2006?

He was the seventh Buckeye winner, counting Archie Griffin once.

Ohio State's 2002 title came with a double-overtime Fiesta Bowl win over which team?

It ended a 34-game winning streak and made the Buckeyes the first team ever to finish 14-0; a late pass-interference flag on Glenn Sharpe is still argued about.

Which quarterback started for Ohio State in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl and was named co-MVP?

Freshman Maurice Clarett's strip of Sean Taylor after an interception set up a key field goal.

Which coach, famous for his sweater vest, went 9-1 in The Game and won the 2002 title?

He had won four I-AA titles at Youngstown State, later became that school's president, and was sworn in as Ohio's lieutenant governor in February 2025.

Ohio State's sweater-vested coach resigned in 2011 after players were found to have traded memorabilia for what?

The 2012 team then went 12-0 under Urban Meyer but was barred from the postseason by NCAA sanctions.

Urban Meyer had won two national championships at which school before taking the Ohio State job in 2011?

One of those titles came at Ohio State's expense, a 41-14 win in the January 2007 BCS championship game.

Ohio State won the first College Football Playoff title in January 2015 by beating which team 42-20?

The fourth-seeded Buckeyes had upset top seed Alabama in the semifinal.

Which third-string QB led the 2014 playoff run after Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett were hurt?

Ezekiel Elliott ran for 246 yards in the title game at AT&T Stadium and shared MVP honours with Tyvis Powell.

Ohio State won the 2024 national title, the first under the 12-team format, by beating whom 34-23?

The Buckeyes entered as the eighth seed; Will Howard was offensive MVP and linebacker Cody Simon defensive MVP.

As what seed did Ohio State enter the 2024 College Football Playoff?

The title game was played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20, 2025.

Which head coach led Ohio State to the 2024 national championship?

Quarterback Will Howard and freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith were the stars of the run.

Ohio State's first meeting with its Ann Arbor rival, in 1897, ended how?

Michigan still leads the all-time series, which has been played at the end of the regular season since 1935 with a handful of exceptions.

Since 1934, what does every Ohio State player receive after a win over the Wolverines?

The tradition began under coach Francis Schmidt, who reportedly said the Wolverines put their pants on one leg at a time like everyone else.

The 1969-1978 stretch of the rivalry between Hayes and Bo Schembechler is known as what?

It began with a 1969 upset loss that ended a 22-game Buckeye winning streak.

The 1950 edition of The Game, played in a Columbus blizzard, is remembered by what name?

It was scheduled for November 25 amid one of the worst storms on Ohio record.

Who traditionally dots the 'i' in Script Ohio?

The band first performed the maneuver on October 10, 1936, against Pittsburgh, to the march 'Le Regiment de Sambre et Meuse'.

In which year did the Ohio State marching band first perform Script Ohio?

Honorary i-dotters over the years have included Bob Hope, Jack Nicklaus and Buster Douglas.

Which of these was among the honorary i-dotters listed for Script Ohio?

The honour is otherwise reserved for fourth- and fifth-year sousaphone players.

Brutus Buckeye made his debut at a homecoming game in which year?

Students Ray Bourhis and Sally Huber built the first papier-mache nut, soon replaced by a fiberglass shell.

A buckeye, the nut that gives the team its name, comes from Ohio's official state what?

Brutus is an anthropomorphic version of the nut.

'Hang On Sloopy', played by the Ohio State band since 1965, became Ohio's official what in 1985?

The McCoys' version hit No. 1 in October 1965, and fans yell 'O-H-I-O!' after the chorus.

Which staff arranger begged the band director to try 'Hang On Sloopy' in October 1965?

The band first played it on October 9, 1965, the same month the McCoys' single topped the chart.

Ohio State's rivalry game with Illinois is played for which trophy?

The trophy is a wooden turtle; the original was a live one.

Which two songs are Ohio State's official fight songs?

'Carmen Ohio' is the alma mater, sung after games with the team facing the band.

Ohio State's team colours are scarlet and what?

The colours were chosen by students in 1878, before the football team even existed.

Which Columbus East High product's drawing power in the 1910s made Ohio Stadium necessary?

The stadium is still nicknamed 'The House That Harley Built'.

Who succeeded the fired Hayes as Ohio State head coach in 1979?

The former protege arrived from Iowa State and went 11-1 in his first season.

Ohio State's 1968 national championship season ended with a Rose Bowl win over which team?

That team also routed Michigan 50-14 and beat top-ranked Purdue on the way to an unbeaten year.

Ohio State's 1961 team went unbeaten and was named national champion by which body?

The faculty council famously voted to decline that season's Rose Bowl bid.

Ohio State shared the 1970 national championship with which team, per the National Football Foundation?

The Buckeyes' 1957 title was also shared, after a Rose Bowl win over Oregon.

Ohio State joined the conference now known as the Big Ten in which year?

It was then called the Western Conference.

Who coached the unbeaten 1944 Buckeyes while the head coach was away serving in the Navy?

The team fielded 31 freshmen, beat its absent coach's Great Lakes Navy side and finished second in the rankings behind Army.

Under which coach did the Buckeyes finish last in the Big Ten for the only time, in 1947?

Two years later sophomore Vic Janowicz led the team to a comeback Rose Bowl win over California.

With which SEC school did Ohio State share the 1957 national title?

The Buckeyes lost their opener, won out, beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl and earned Woody Hayes Coach of the Year honours.

What was John Cooper's much-lamented record against Michigan in 13 seasons as head coach?

He also went 3-8 in bowls and blew a 15-point lead to unranked Michigan State while ranked No. 1.

The coach hired to replace John Cooper in 2001 had won four I-AA national titles at which school?

An Ohioan and former Earle Bruce assistant, he was seen as someone who understood the Buckeyes' traditions.

Which school did the Big Ten designate as the Buckeyes' second annual rival when it joined in 1993?

The pairing was made for geographic convenience; Ohio State led the series 26-14 through 2025.

Ohio State's No. 0 jersey, awarded to one player each season since 2020, honours whom?

Ryan Day began the tradition when the NCAA first approved the number; Willis was the program's first Black star.

In 2025, Ohio State football was valued at roughly how much, the most of any program?

By 2025 the Buckeyes claimed nine national championships, seven from the major wire-service polls, and 41 conference titles.