The 1996 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 ...

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 The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

record of 7–1. They were co-champions of Big Ten Conference with the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

and played in the

1997 Rose Bowl The 1997 Rose Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pacific-10 Conference and the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference. The game was the 83rd edition of the annual Rose Bowl Game, he ...

against Pacific-10 Conference champion the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member ...

. 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 Joseph Berton Germaine (born November 16, 1975) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft after playing college football at Ohio State. Germaine earned a Super Bow ...

, 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 The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games (specifically the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship game and to provide quality bowl game match ...

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 Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

and #3

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

played for the national championship in the

1997 Sugar Bowl The 1997 Nokia Sugar Bowl was the 63rd edition to the annual Sugar Bowl game and served as the Bowl Alliance's designated national championship game for the 1996 season. It matched No. 1 Florida State of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) aga ...

. Ohio State went into the

with high hopes and Germaine came off the bench and threw a late touchdown pass to

David Boston David Byron Boston (born August 19, 1978) is an American former Professional football (gridiron), professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals eighth overall ...

to steal a come-from-behind victory. With the Buckeyes dramatic upset victory over the Sun Devils, Buckeye fans hoped for a share of the national title. However, Florida would later avenge a late season loss to their rivals, and beat the Seminoles by a score of 52–20. Florida finished first and Ohio State second in both polls, followed by Florida State and Arizona State. The Rose Bowl appearance was the Buckeyes first since

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. The Rose Bowl victory was the sixth in school history, the first since 1974. Germaine was named Rose Bowl MVP.

Schedule

Game summaries

Rice

Pittsburgh

Notre Dame

Penn State

Wisconsin

Purdue

Iowa

Minnesota

Illinois

Indiana

Michigan

Rose Bowl

Rankings

Roster

Coaching staff

* John Cooper - Head Coach - 9th year * Bill Conley - Defensive Ends, Recruiting Coordinator (10th year) * Walt Harris - Quarterbacks (2nd year) *

Jim Heacock Jim Heacock (born June 23, 1948) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Illinois State University from 1988 to 1995, compiling a record of 37–49–2. In 1996, he became an assistant coach at Ohio State Un ...

- Defensive Line (1st year) *

Joe Hollis Joe Hollis (born July 13, 1947) is a former American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Jacksonville State University in 1984 and at Arkansas State University from 1997 to 2001, compiling a career college footba ...

- Offensive Coordinator (6th year) * Mike Jacobs - Offensive Line (2nd year) *

Fred Pagac Frederick Pagac (born April 26, 1952) is a former American football tight end. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 1974. He played college football at Ohio State. Pagac also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers an ...

- Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers (15th year) * Tim Spencer - Running Backs (3rd year) * Chuck Strobart - Wide Receivers (2nd year) * Jon Tenuta - Defensive Backs (1st year)

Depth chart

Q1986 Ohio State Football Media Guide

Awards and honors

Andy Katzenmoyer Andrew Warren Katzenmoyer (born December 2, 1977) is a former football player who was a linebacker. He was selected in the first round (28th overall) of the 1999 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. He played college football for Ohio State ...

, Big Ten Freshman of the Year

1997 NFL draftees

References

{{Big Ten Conference football champions

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 seasons Big Ten Conference football champion seasons Rose Bowl champion seasons

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 i ...