The 2007 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 publ ...

during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Buckeyes were coached by

Jim Tressel James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American college football coach and university administrator who is currently the president of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. Before becoming an administrator, Tressel was the ...

and played their home games in

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, and t ...

. Tressel led the Buckeyes to their fourth

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 ...

championship and third

BCS National Championship Game The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college fo ...

in six years. The team finished the season with overall record of 11–2, with losses to conference-rival

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.

Schedule

Previous season

The 2006 Buckeyes squad finished the season as

champions and

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

#2 in the final AP and Coaches' polls. They finished the regular season undefeated and advanced to the 2007 BCS National Championship Game where they lost to the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

, ending the season with a record of 12–1.

Preseason

On March 6, Coach

announced the hiring of Assistant Coach Taver Johnson. Johnson is a native of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and a graduate of

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ...

. He had spent most of his coaching career at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

and had a very brief stint with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. Coach Johnson will replace Tim Beckman, who left

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 ...

to become Defensive Coordinator at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. Coach Johnson will coach the Cornerbacks.

Watch lists

Linebackers

James Laurinaitis James Richard Laurinaitis (born December 3, 1986) is a former American football linebacker who played for the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he was a ...

and Marcus Freeman along with defensive end

Vernon Gholston Vernon Gholston (born June 5, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Ohio State and was drafted sixth overall by the New York Jets in the 2008 NFL Draft. Gholston was also a member of the Chicago Bears a ...

were among the list of 65 players under consideration for the

Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ameri ...

while Chris "Beanie" Wells was on the 65-player list for the

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...

Coaching staff

– Head Coach (7th year) * Jim Bollman – Offensive Line/OC (7th year) * Joe Daniels – Quarterbacks (7th year) *

Luke Fickell Luke Joseph Fickell (born August 18, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He will be the head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers starting in December 2022. Previously he was the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati, ...

– Co-Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers Coach (6th 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 Coordinator / Defensive Line (12th year) * Paul Haynes – Defensive Safeties (3rd year) *

Darrell Hazell Darrell Ivan Hazell (born April 14, 1964) is a former American football college and National Football League (NFL) coach. Hazell has been a head coach twice, with Kent State from 2011 to 2012, and Purdue from 2013 to 2016. A native of Cinnam ...

– Assistant Head Coach / Wide Receivers (4th year) * Taver Johnson – Defensive Cornerbacks (1st year) * John Peterson – Tight Ends Coach / Recruiting Coordinator (4th year) * Dick Tressel – Running Backs (7th year) * Bob Tucker – Director of Football Operations (13th year) * Stan Jefferson – Director of Player Development (4th year) * Eric Lichter – Director of Football Performance (2nd year) * Butch Reynolds – Speed Coordinator (3rd year) * Jeff Uhlenhake – Strength Coordinator (1st year)

Results

Youngstown State

Akron

Washington

Northwestern

Minnesota

Purdue

Kent State

Michigan State

Penn State

Wisconsin

Ohio State sets record with 20th straight Big Ten win.

Illinois

Michigan

National Championship Game

On January 7, 2008 the Buckeyes played at the BCS National Championship game in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

in the

Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

. This was the first time in the school's history that the football team had played back to back National Championship games. The Buckeyes ended up losing the game to the

Louisiana State University Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

, 38–24. After a strong initial start (a 10–0 run in the first quarter in favor of the Buckeyes), the LSU Tigers went on one of their own, 31–0, from the first to third quarters. Two key pivotal special teams plays contributed to the LSU run, one being a blocked 38 yard Ryan Pretorius (Ohio State) field goal in the first quarter, and a roughing the kicker penalty committed by Austin Spitler (Ohio State) on a punt that extended an LSU touchdown drive in the third. Both teams scored 14 points in the second half which lead to a Tigers' victory due to the 2nd quarter LSU scoring deficit.

Rankings

Players

Roster

2008 NFL draftees

References

{{Big Ten Conference football champions

Ohio State Buckeyes football seasons Big Ten Conference football 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 ...