The 2021 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented

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 pu ...

in the

2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 152nd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The ...

. They were led by third-year head coach Ryan Day, and played their home games at

Ohio Stadium Ohio Stadium is an American football stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on the campus of Ohio State University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is also the site for the university's Spring Commencement c ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. It was the Buckeyes' 132nd season overall and 109th as a member of the

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

. This for first time since 2018 when Ohio State did not qualify for the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

after two losing games against Oregon and Michigan.

Previous season

The Buckeyes finished the 2020 season 7–1 overall, and 5–0 in Big Ten play to win the East division. They defeated Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game by the score of 22–10. Subsequently, then received an invitation to the

, where they beat the No. 2 Clemson in the Sugar Bowl-CFP Semifinals 49–28, and there they played No. 1

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

in the CFP National Championship losing the game 52–24.

Offseason

Players lost

*LB Tuf Borland *LB Baron Browning *P

Drue Chrisman Drue Chrisman (born 1997) is an American football punter for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals after the 2021 ...

*DE Jonathon Cooper *G Wyatt Davis - Declared for NFL Draft *TE Luke Farrell *QB

Justin Fields Justin Skyler Fields (born March 5, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Georgia, he played college football at Ohio State, where he twice won Graham– ...

- Declared for NFL Draft *K Blake Haubeil *TE

Jake Hausmann Jacob Hausmann (born August 12, 1997) is an American football tight end. He played college football at Ohio State and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Detroit Lions in 2021. College career Hausmann was ranked as a fourstar recrui ...

*LB

Justin Hilliard Justin Hilliard (born March 25, 1997) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Ohio State and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers after the 2021 NFL Draft. Education and ...

*C Josh Myers - Declared for NFL Draft *RB

Trey Sermon An'treyon "Trey" Sermon (born January 30, 1999) is an American football running back for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma and Ohio State and was drafted by the San Francisco 49 ...

*DT Tommy Togiai - Declared for NFL Draft *CB Shaun Wade *LB Pete Werner

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

at Minnesota

No. 4 Ohio State opened the season at

Huntington Bank Stadium Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium) is an outdoor stadium located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The stadium opened in 2009, after three years of construction. It is ...

, where they faced the Minnesota Golden Gophers. This was the 51st meeting between the teams, with Ohio State having a winning record against the Golden Gophers at 44–7–0. The Buckeyes had won ten straight entering the game, which was their second longest current Big Ten winning streak. The teams last met in 2018, with the Buckeyes winning 30–14 at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State took an early lead on 71-yard touchdown run by Miyan Williams and a 35-yard field goal. Leading 10–0, Minnesota scored two consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 14–10 lead at the half. The teams traded touchdowns to start the third quarter. CJ Stroud then hit Garrett Wilson on a 56-yard touchdown pass to give the Buckeyes a 24–21 lead. On the ensuing possession, Haskell Garrett recovered a strip sack and returned the fumble 32 yards for a touchdown and pushing the Buckeye lead to 31–21. Following a Minnesota field goal, Stroud hit

TreVeyon Henderson TreVeyon Henderson (born October 22, 2002) is an American football running back for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Henderson attended high school at Hopewell High School in Hopewell, Virginia, where he set many school records, and was a 5-star recr ...

on a 70-yard pass and run to extend OSU's lead to 14. Minnesota narrowed the lead to seven again with just over five minutes remaining, but Stroud hit Chris Olave for a 61-yard touchdown, Olave's second in the game and Stroud's fourth touchdown pass. The 45–31 win moved OSU to 1–0 in conference on the season. Williams ran for 127 yards on nine carries while Stroud completed 13 of 22 pass for 294 yards and four touchdowns. OSU's defense, though scoring a touchdown, surrendered 203 yards rushing and 205 yards passing to Minnesota in the win.

vs No. 12 Oregon

The No. 12

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference ...

defeated the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes 35–28 in a rematch of the

2015 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship was a bowl game that determined a College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS, national champion of NCAA Division I FBS college football for the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS f ...

. Ohio State, who is now 9–1 in the series, was favored by 14. This was the first Buckeye game in

open to the general public since November 23, 2019. Big Noon Kickoff was filmed on location for the game.

vs Tulsa

vs Akron

at Rutgers

vs Maryland

at Indiana

vs No. 20 Penn State

at Nebraska

vs No. 19 Purdue

vs No. 7 Michigan State

at No. 5 Michigan

Awards and honors

*The NCAA and Ohio State only recognize the AP, AFCA, FWAA, Sporting News and WCFF All-American teams to determine if a player is a Consensus or Unanimous All-American. To be named a Consensus All-American, a player must be named first team in three polls and to be Unanimous, they must be named first team in all five. ''See 2021 College Football All-America Team'' *

Player of the Game Awards

Weekly awards

Annual awards

Rankings

References

{{Ohio State Buckeyes football navbox

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 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 in ...