The 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, where they won, 31–28, against the
Navy Midshipmen
The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 33 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams.1982 Rose Bowl as Iowa landed the Rose Bowl bid due to not going to the Rose Bowl longer than Ohio State.
Several Ohio State players ranked among the Big Ten leaders, including the following:
* Placekicker
Bob Atha
Robert Atha (born September 22, 1960, in Marietta, Ohio) is a former American football placekicker, punter and quarterback who played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and NFL football for the Miami Dolphins and the Arizona Cardinals. ...
led the conference with 88 points scored and 44 extra points made and ranked second with 13 field goals made and a 68.4% field goal percentage.
* Garcia Lane led the conference with 205 punt return yards and ranked second with an average of 8.9 yards per punt return.
* Running back Tim Spencer led the conference with 12 rushing touchdowns and ranked second with 1,217 rushing yards and 1,427 yards from scrimmage.
* Quarterback
Art Schlichter
Arthur Ernest Schlichter (, born April 25, 1960) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the Colts franchise. He also played one Canadian Football League (CFL) season wit ...
ranked third in the conference with 2,551 passing yards and 2,509 total yards and fifth with a 52.3 pass completion percentage.
* Gary Williams ranked third in the conference with 50 receptions and fourth with 941 receiving yards.
Schedule
Roster
Depth chart
1982 Ohio State Football Media Guide
Coaching staff
*
Earle Bruce
Earle Bruce (March 8, 1931 – April 20, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tampa (1972), Iowa State University (1973–1978), Ohio State University (1979–1987), the University of N ...
– Head Coach (3rd year)
* Dennis Fryzel – Defensive Coordinator (3rd year)
*
Glen Mason
Glen Orin Mason (born April 9, 1950) is a former American football player and coach. Mason served as the head football coach at Kent State University from 1986 to 1987, the University of Kansas from 1988 to 1996, and the University of Minnesota ...
– Offensive Coordinator (4th year)
* Bill Myles – Offensive Line (5th year)
*
Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...
– Defensive Backs (2nd year)
* Wayne Stanley – Running Backs (3rd year)
* Steve Szabo – Defensive Line (3rd year)
* Bob Tucker – Defensive Outside Linebackers (3rd year)
* Fred Zechman – Quarterbacks/Receivers (3rd year)
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in ...