1984 Ohio State Buckeyes football

Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 17–20 vs. USC
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 13
Record	9–3 (7–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Earle Bruce (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Glen Mason (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Bob Tucker (3rd season)
MVP	Keith Byars
Captains	Pepper Johnson Mark Krerowicz Kirk Lowdermilk Mike Tomczak
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
Seasons ← 1983 1985 →

1984 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 13 Ohio State $	7	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Purdue	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
No. 16 Iowa	5	–	3	–	1	8	–	4	–	1
Wisconsin	5	–	3	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
Michigan State	5	–	4	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Michigan	5	–	4	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Indiana	0	–	9	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1984 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1984 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record, including the 1985 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where they lost, 20–17, to the USC Trojans.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	12:00 p.m.	Oregon State*	No. 6	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	SV	W 22–14	88,072
September 15	3:30 p.m.	Washington State*	No. 9	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	SV	W 44–0	89,297
September 22	1:30 p.m.	No. 14 Iowa	No. 5	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	SV	W 45–26	89,733
September 29	8:00 p.m.	at Minnesota	No. 3	The Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 35–22	47,543
October 6	2:30 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 2	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		L 23–28	66,261
October 13	3:30 p.m.	Illinois	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)	CBS, WOSU	W 45–38	89,937
October 20	1:00 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 8	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 23–20	75,123
October 27	12:00 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 6	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	CBS	L 14–16	78,606
November 3	1:30 p.m.	Indiana	No. 16	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 50–7	89,366
November 10	2:30 p.m.	at Northwestern	No. 13	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL		W 52–3	31,087
November 17	12:00 p.m.	Michigan	No. 11	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)	CBS	W 21–6	90,286
January 1, 1985	5:00 p.m.	vs. No. 18 USC*	No. 6	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	L 17–20	102,594
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Depth chart

Defense

FS
12 Terry White
11 Steve Hill

OLB	ILB	ILB	OLB
82 Byron Lee	98 Pepper Johnson	33 Larry Kolic	58 Dennis Hueston
⋅	90 Fred Ridder	36 Chris Spielman (ankle injury)	14 Eric Kumerow

ROV
7 Sonny Gordon
⋅

CB
37 William White
⋅

DE	NT	DE
57 Dave Morrill	59 Tony Giuliani	97 Dave Crecelius
95 Darryl Lee	55 Ray Holliman	⋅

CB
29 Greg Rogan
8 Scott Leach

Offense

SE
2 Cris Carter
49 Doug Smith

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
75 Rory Graves	64 Jim Lachey	63 Kirk Lowdermilk	74 Scott Zalenski	73 Mark Krerowicz
⋅	⋅	71 Bob Maggs	56 Jim Gilmore	⋅

TE
80 Ed Taggart
85 Judd Groza

FL
1 Mike Lanese
6 Jamie Holland

QB
15 Mike Tomczak
16 Jim Karsatos

FB
28 Roman Bates
43 Barry Walker

Special teams
PK 10 Rich Spangler
P 19 Tom Tupa

RB
41 Keith Byars
25 John Wooldridge

^[1]

Coaching staff

Earle Bruce – Head coach – 6th year
Gary Blackney – Defensive backs (1st year)
Bill Conley – Offense (1st year)
Steve Devine – Offensive line (2nd year)
Randy Hart – Defensive line (3rd year)
Glen Mason – Offensive coordinator (7th year)
Bill Myles – Offensive line (8th year)
Fred Pagac – Defensive linebackers (3rd year)
Jim Tressel – Quarterbacks (2nd year)
Bob Tucker – Defensive coordinator (6th year)

Game summaries

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oregon State	7	7	0	0	14
• Ohio State	0	3	12	7	22

Date: September 8
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Game start: 12:00 PM EDT
Game attendance: 88,297

^[2]

Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington State	0	0	0	0	0
• Ohio State	3	20	0	21	44

Date: September 15
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Game start: 3:30 PM EDT
Game attendance: 88,297

^[3]

Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Iowa	3	17	6	0	26
• Ohio State	10	21	7	7	45

Date: September 22
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Game start: 3:30 PM EDT
Game attendance: 89,733

^[4]

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	7	14	7	7	35
Minnesota	0	7	7	8	22

Date: September 29
Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis
Game start: 8:00 PM EDT
Game attendance: 47,543

^[5]

Purdue

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes at Purdue Boilermakers

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	7	3	7	6	23
Purdue	7	0	7	14	28

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

Date: October 6, 1984
Game time: 1:31 p.m.
Game weather: Mostly cloudy, 74 °F (23 °C)
Game attendance: 66,261
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

PUR – Steve Griffin 20-yard pass from Jim Everett (Mike Rendina kick), 14:00. Purdue 7–0. Drive: 5 plays, 70 yards, 1:00.
OSU – Keith Byars 20-yard run (Rich Spangler kick), 4:09. Tie 7–7. Drive: 2 plays, 29 yards, 0:50.

Second quarter

OSU – Rich Spangler 34-yard field goal, 0:02. Ohio St 10–7. Drive: 5 plays, 35 yards, 0:26.

Third quarter

OSU – Keith Byars 14-yard run (Rich Spangler kick), 13:43. Ohio St 17–7. Drive: 3 plays, 37 yards, 1:20.
PUR – Steve Griffin 65-yard pass from Jim Everett (Mike Rendina kick), Ohio St 17–14. Drive: 6 plays, 88 yards, 2:54.

Fourth quarter

PUR – Bruce King 4-yard pass from Jim Everett (Mike Rendina kick), 14:03. Purdue 21–17. Drive: 8 plays, 79 yards, 3:43.
PUR – Rod Woodson 55-yard interception return (Mike Rendina kick), 10:03. Purdue 28–17.
OSU – Cris Carter 5-yard pass from Mike Tomczak (run failed), 2:35. Purdue 28–23. Drive: 5 plays, 49 yards, 0:52.

Top passers

OSU – Mike Tomczak – 20/41, 280 yards, TD, 2 INT
PUR – Jim Everett – 17/23, 257 yards, 3 TD, INT

Top rushers

OSU – Keith Byars – 30 rushes, 191 yards, 2 TD
PUR – Ray Wallace – 20 rushes, 89 yards

Top receivers

OSU – Keith Byars – 9 receptions, 102 yards
PUR – Steve Griffin – 6 receptions, 131 yards, 2 TD

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Illinois	17	7	11	3	38
• Ohio State	0	21	14	10	45

Date: October 13
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Elapsed time: 3:28
Game attendance: 89,937
Game weather: Mostly sunny; 61 °F (16 °C); wind 5–6 mph (8.0–9.7 km/h) SE
Referee: Otho Kortz

Scoring summary

Q1	7:40	ILL	Grant 3 yard pass from Trudeau (White kick)	ILL 7-0

Q1	2:58	ILL	White 26 yard field goal	ILL 10-0

Q1	1:14	ILL	Williams 10 yard pass from Trudeau (White kick)	ILL 17-0

Q2	14:47	ILL	Boso 8 yard pass from Trudeau (White kick)	ILL 24-0

Q2	4:13	OHST	Byars 16 yard run (Spangler kick)	ILL 24-7

Q2	3:23	OHST	Carter 33 yard pass from Tomczak	ILL 24-14

Q2	:23	OHST	Byars 4 yard run (Spangler kick)	ILL 24-21

Q3	13:40	OHST	Byars 1 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 28-24

Q3	10:42	ILL	White 46 yard field goal	OHST 28-27

Q3	8:57	OHST	Byars 67 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 35-27

Q3	1:09	ILL	Wilson 9 yard pass from Trudeau (Trudeau run)	Tie 35-35

Q4	10:21	OHST	Spangler 46 yard field goal	OHST 38-35

Q4	3:18	ILL	White 16 yard field goal	Tie 38-38

Q4	:36	OHST	Byars 3 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 45-38

Keith Byars 39 Rush, 274 Yds
Cris Carter 7 Rec, 134 Yds

^[6]

Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	3	6	7	7	23
Michigan State	0	0	6	14	20

Date: October 20
Location: Spartan Stadium
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Elapsed time: 2:45
Game attendance: 75,133
Game weather: Cloudy; 55 °F (13 °C); wind 12–17 mph (19–27 km/h) S
Referee: John Nealon

Scoring summary

Q1	2:14	OHST	Spangler 36 yard field goal	OHST 3–0

Q2	2:23	OHST	Spangler 42 yard field goal	OHST 6–0

Q2	0:10	OHST	Spangler 30 yard field goal	OHST 9–0

Q3	14:13	OHST	Byars 1 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 16–0

Q3	9:03	MSU	Morse 2 yard pass from Yarema (kick failed)	OHST 16–6

Q4	11:40	MSU	Ingram 75 yard pass from Yarema (pass failed)	OHST 16–12

Q4	4:44	OHST	Tomczak 1 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 23–12

Q4	4:32	MSU	Jackson 93 yard kickoff return (Rolle pass from Yarema)	OHST 23–20

Lanese 7 Rec, 116 Yds

^[7]

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio State	0	0	7	7	14
• Wisconsin	0	10	0	6	16

Date: October 27
Location: Camp Randall Stadium
Game start: 12 Noon EDT
Elapsed time: 3:22
Game attendance: 78,606
Referee: Tom Quinn

^[8]

Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Indiana	0	0	0	7	7
• Ohio State	10	23	10	7	50

Date: November 3
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Game start: 1:30 EST
Elapsed time: 2:41
Game attendance: 89,366
Referee: Jerry Hendrickson

Scoring summary

Q1	10:21	OHST	Spangler 36 yard field goal	OHST 3–0

Q1	9:24	OHST	White 20 yard interception return (Spangler kick)	OHST 10–0

Q2	11:04	OHST	Byars 3 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 17–0

Q2	5:13	OHST	Carter 44 yard pass from Tomczak (Spangler kick)	OHST 24-0

Q2	1:25	OHST	Walker 3 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 31–0

Q2	:25	OHST	Safety, Razmic blocked punt through end zone by Richardson	OHST 33–0

Q3	9:31	OHST	Woolridge 1 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 40–0

Q3	3:42	OHST	Spangler 27 yard field goal	OHST 43–0

Q4	9:07	IU	Brown 1 yard run (Rogers kick)	OHST 43–7

Q4	1:24	OHST	Delaney 2 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 50–7

^[9]

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	0	21	14	17	52
Northwestern	3	0	0	0	3

Date: November 10
Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, IL
Game start: 2:30 PM EST
Elapsed time: 2:52
Game attendance: 31,087
Game weather: Overcast

^[10]

Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan	0	3	3	0	6
• Ohio St	7	0	14	0	21

Date: November 17
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST
Elapsed time: 3:00
Game attendance: 90,286
Game weather: Mostly sunny; 38 °F (3 °C); wind 3 mph (4.8 km/h) W
Referee: Otho Kortz

Scoring summary

Q1	4:47	OHST	Byars 1 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 7-0

Q2	:01	MICH	Bergeron 37 yard field goal	OHST 7-3

Q3	7:55	MICH	Bergeron 45 yard field goal	OHST 7-6

Q3	6:08	OHST	Byars 2 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 14-6

Q3	4:43	OHST	Byars 2 yard run (Spangler kick)	OHST 21-6

^[11]

^[12]

Rose Bowl

1985 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL club
Jim Lachey	1	12	Tackle	San Diego Chargers
Kirk Lowdermilk	3	59	Center	Minnesota Vikings
Mark Krerowicz	6	147	Guard	Cleveland Browns

References

^ 1985 Ohio State Football Media Guide
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-19.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1984 Nov 18.
^ Ohio State Football Archives^{[permanent dead link]}. Retrieved 2018-Sep-30.

v t e Ohio State Buckeyes football
Venues	Recreation Park (1890–1897) Ohio Field (1898–1921) Ohio Stadium (1922–present) Woody Hayes Athletic Center (practice)
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National championship seasons in bold

v t e Big Ten Conference football champions
Western Conference	Wisconsin (1896) Wisconsin (1897) Michigan (1898) Chicago (1899) Iowa & Minnesota (1900) Michigan & Wisconsin (1901) Michigan (1902) Michigan, Minnesota, & Northwestern (1903) Michigan & Minnesota (1904) Chicago (1905) Michigan, Minnesota, & Wisconsin (1906) Chicago (1907) Chicago (1908) Minnesota (1909) Illinois & Minnesota (1910) Minnesota (1911) Wisconsin (1912) Chicago (1913) Illinois (1914) Illinois & Minnesota (1915) Ohio State (1916)
Big Ten	Ohio State (1917) Illinois, Michigan, & Purdue (1918) Illinois (1919) Ohio State (1920) Iowa (1921) Chicago, Iowa, & Michigan (1922) Illinois & Michigan (1923) Chicago (1924) Michigan (1925) Michigan & Northwestern (1926) Illinois & Minnesota (1927) Illinois (1928) Purdue (1929) Michigan & Northwestern (1930) Purdue, Michigan & Northwestern (1931) Michigan & Purdue (1932) Michigan & Minnesota (1933) Minnesota (1934) Minnesota & Ohio State (1935) Northwestern (1936) Minnesota (1937) Minnesota (1938) Ohio State (1939) Minnesota (1940) Minnesota (1941) Ohio State (1942) Michigan & Purdue (1943) Ohio State (1944) Indiana (1945)
Big Nine	Illinois (1946) Michigan (1947) Michigan (1948) Michigan & Ohio State (1949)
Big Ten	Michigan (1950) Illinois (1951) Purdue & Wisconsin (1952) Illinois & Michigan State (1953) Ohio State (1954) Ohio State (1955) Iowa (1956) Ohio State (1957) Iowa (1958) Wisconsin (1959) Minnesota & Iowa (1960) Ohio State (1961) Wisconsin (1962) Illinois (1963) Michigan (1964) Michigan State (1965) Michigan State (1966) Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue (1967) Ohio State (1968) Michigan & Ohio State (1969) Ohio State (1970) Michigan (1971) Michigan & Ohio State (1972) Michigan & Ohio State (1973) Michigan & Ohio State (1974) Ohio State (1975) Michigan & Ohio State (1976) Michigan & Ohio State (1977) Michigan & Michigan State (1978) Ohio State (1979) Michigan (1980) Iowa & Ohio State (1981) Michigan (1982) Illinois (1983) Ohio State (1984) Iowa (1985) Michigan & Ohio State (1986) Michigan State (1987) Michigan (1988) Michigan (1989) Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, & Michigan State (1990) Michigan (1991) Michigan (1992) Ohio State & Wisconsin (1993) Penn State (1994) Northwestern (1995) Ohio State & Northwestern (1996) Michigan (1997) Michigan, Ohio State, & Wisconsin (1998) Wisconsin (1999) Michigan, Northwestern, & Purdue (2000) Illinois (2001) Ohio State & Iowa (2002) Michigan (2003) Iowa & Michigan (2004) Ohio State & Penn State (2005) Ohio State (2006) Ohio State (2007) Ohio State & Penn State (2008) Ohio State (2009) Michigan State & Wisconsin (2010) Wisconsin (2011) Wisconsin (2012) Michigan State (2013) Ohio State (2014) Michigan State (2015) Penn State (2016) Ohio State (2017) Ohio State (2018) Ohio State (2019) Ohio State (2020) Michigan (2021) Michigan (2022) Michigan (2023)
National championships in bold