1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

American college football season

1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football

Big Ten co-champion Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 31–28 vs. Navy
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 15
Record	9–3 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Earle Bruce (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Glen Mason (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Dennis Fryzel (3rd season)
MVP	Art Schlichter
Captains	Glen Cobb Art Schlichter
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 15 Ohio State +	6	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 18 Iowa +	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 12 Michigan	6	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	3	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record, including the 1981 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, where they won, 31–28, against the Navy Midshipmen. Ohio State and Iowa were the only conference teams not to play one another, and they ended up in a tie for the Big Ten title. That cost the Buckeyes a possible outright conference championship and trip to the 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 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.^[1]
Garcia Lane led the conference with 205 punt return yards and ranked second with an average of 8.9 yards per punt return.^[1]
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.^[1]
Quarterback Art Schlichter ranked third in the conference with 2,551 passing yards and 2,509 total yards and fifth with a 52.3 pass completion percentage.^[1]
Gary Williams ranked third in the conference with 50 receptions and fourth with 941 receiving yards.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	1:30 p.m.	Duke*	No. 11	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 34–13	86,266	^[2]
September 19	1:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 27–13	87,084
September 26	4:30 p.m.	at Stanford*	No. 8	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 24–19	76,102
October 3	1:30 p.m.	Florida State*	No. 7	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		L 27–36	87,158
October 10	2:30 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 18	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		L 21–24	78,973
October 17	1:30 p.m.	Illinois		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 34–27	87,158
October 24	1:30 p.m.	Indiana		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 29-10	87,182
October 31	12:30 p.m.	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ABC	W 45–33	69,927
November 7	2:00 p.m.	at Minnesota	No. 18	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		L 31–35	42,793
November 14	1:30 p.m.	Northwestern		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 70–6	86,912
November 21	12:30 p.m.	at No. 7 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 14–9	106,043
December 30	8:00 p.m.	vs. Navy*	No. 15	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	USA	W 31–28	43,216
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
FB	`38`	Vaughn Broadnax	So
TE	`89`	John Frank	So
OT	`64`	Jim Lachey	Fr
OL	`63`	Kirk Lowdermilk	Fr
QB	`10`	Art Schlichter	Jr
RB	`46`	Tim Spencer	So
QB	`15`	Mike Tomczak	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`2`	Shaun Gayle	So
LB		Anthony Griggs	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Bob Atha	Sr

Head coach

Earle Bruce

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Depth chart

Defense

FS
Garcia Lane
⋅

ROLB	ILB	ILB	LOLB
Anthony Griggs	Glen Cobb	Marcus Marek	Mike D’Andrea
Ben Lee	⋅	⋅	Orlando Lowry

ROV
Doug Hill
Rowland Tatum

CB
Shaun Gayle
Jeff Cisco

DE	NT	DE
Chris Riehm	Nick Miller	Jerome Foster
⋅	Spencer Nelms	⋅

CB
Kelvin Bell
Mark Eberts

Offense

SE
Gary Williams
Thad Jemison

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
William Roberts	Scott Zalenski	Jim DeLeone	Joe Lukens	Joe Smith
Jim Lachey	⋅	Kirk Lowdermilk	⋅	Jim Carson

TE
John Frank
Brad Dwelle

FL
Cedric Anderson
⋅

QB
Art Schlichter
Mike Tomczak

FB
Vaughn Broadnax
⋅

Special teams

PK Bob Atha

P Gary Alders

P Karl Edwards

RB
Tim Spencer
Jimmy Gayle

^[3]

Coaching staff

Earle Bruce – Head Coach (3rd year)
Dennis Fryzel – Defensive Coordinator (3rd year)
Glen Mason – Offensive Coordinator (4th year)
Bill Myles – Offensive Line (5th year)
Nick Saban – 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)

Game summaries

Duke

Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan St	0	0	7	6	13
• Ohio St	7	10	0	10	27

Date: September 12
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game attendance: 87,084

Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	0	17	7	0	24
Stanford	3	3	0	13	19

Date: September 26
Location: Stanford Stadium • Palo Alto, California
Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary

1	Stanford	Mark Harmon 25-yard field goal	Stanford 3-0

2	OSU	Shaun Gayle 1-yard run (Atha kick)	OSU 7-3

2	Stanford	Mark Harmon 39-yard field goal)	OSU 7-6

2	OSU	Robert Atha 45-yard field goal	OSU 10-6

2	OSU	Brad Dwelle 5-yard pass from Art Schlichter (Atha kick)	OSU 17-6

3	OSU	Brad Dwelle 7-yard pass from Art Schlicther (Atha kick)	OSU 24-6

4	Stanford	Donald Lonslinger 4-yard pass from John Elway (pass failed)	OSU 24-12

4	Stanford	Michael Tolliver 23-yard pass from John Elway (Harmon kick)	OSU 24-19

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida St	10	13	13	0	36
Ohio State	7	14	0	6	27

Date: October 3
Location: Ohio Stadium • Columbus, Ohio
Television network: USA

^[4]

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	7	7	0	7	21
• Wisconsin	0	17	0	7	24

Date: October 10
Location: Camp Randall Stadium
Game attendance: 78,973

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Illinois	10	10	7	0	27
• Ohio St	21	3	7	3	34

Date: October 17
Location: Ohio Stadium

Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Indiana	7	3	0	0	10
• Ohio St	3	9	14	3	29

Date: October 24
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game attendance: 87,182

At Purdue

Ohio State Buckeyes (5–2) at Purdue Boilermakers (5–2)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	0	17	7	21	45
Purdue	7	7	6	13	33

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

Date: October 31, 1981
Game time: 12:30 p.m.
Game weather: Partly sunny, 66 °F (19 °C)
Game attendance: 69,927
Referee: Jerry Hendrickson
TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels and Ara Parseghian
Box Score

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Ohio St	Passing	Art Schlichter	19/33, 336 Yds, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Tim Spencer	22 Rush, 95 Yds, TD
	Receiving	Gary Williams	7 Rec, 126 Yds
Purdue	Passing	Scott Campbell	31/52, 516 Yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Jimmy Smith	11 Rush, 33 Yds
	Receiving	Steve Bryant	10 Rec, 195 Yds, 2 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	OSU	PU
1	3:11	10	71	3:40	Purdue	Cliff Benson 11-yard touchdown reception from Scott Campbell, Tim Clark kick good	0	7
2	11:24	6	32	2:46	Ohio St	53-yard field goal by Bob Atha	3	7
2	8:45	2	16	0:42	Ohio St	Art Schlichter 14-yard touchdown run, Bob Atha kick good	10	7
2	6:58	1	47	0:07	Ohio St	Cedric Anderson 47-yard touchdown reception from Art Schlichter, Bob Atha kick good	17	7
2	4:38	5	70	2:20	Purdue	Steve Bryant 32-yard touchdown reception from Scott Campbell, Tim Clark kick good	17	14
3	12:24	7	80	2:36	Purdue	26-yard field goal by Tim Clark	17	17
3	10:45	9	83	1:39	Ohio St	Jim Gayle 2-yard touchdown run, Bob Atha kick good	24	17
3	2:04	6	59	1:26	Purdue	38-yard field goal by Tim Clark	24	20
4	14:45	9	75	2:19	Ohio St	Tim Spencer 2-yard touchdown run, Bob Atha kick good	31	20
4	14:32	1	23	0:05	Ohio St	Cedric Anderson 23-yard touchdown reception from Art Schlichter, Bob Atha kick good	38	20
4	9:10	15	71	5:22	Purdue	Wally Jones 1-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass failed	38	26
4	7:12	2	8	0:09	Purdue	Steve Bryant 4-yard touchdown reception from Scott Campbell, Tim Clark kick good	38	33
4	2:19	5	62	1:44	Ohio St	John Frank 29-yard touchdown reception from Art Schlichter, Bob Atha kick good	45	33
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							45	33

Minnesota

Ohio State Buckeyes at Minnesota Golden Gophers

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	14	7	7	3	31
Minnesota	0	7	14	14	35

at Memorial Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Date: November 7
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: Clear, 64 °F (18 °C)
Game attendance: 42,793
Referee: Glenn Fortin
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

OSU – John Frank 7-yard pass from Art Schlichter (Bob Atha kick), 5:33. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 8 plays, 76 yards.
OSU – Tim Spencer 73-yard run (Bob Atha kick), 0:00. Ohio St 14–0. Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards, 0:10.

Second quarter

MINN – Todd Hallstrom 1-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 9:53. Ohio St 14–7. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 5:07.'
OSU – Tim Spencer 2-yard run (Bob Atha kick), 7:39. Ohio St 21–7. Drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, 2:14.

Third quarter

MINN – Jay Carroll 27-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 11:25. Ohio St 21–14. Drive: 12 plays, 64 yards, 2:35.
MINN – Frank Jacobs 17-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 8:34. Tie 21–21. Drive: 4 plays, 36 yards, 1:20.
OSU – Art Schlichter 1-yard run (Bob Atha kick), 0:30. Ohio St 28–21. Drive: 9 plays, 57 yards, 3:39.

Fourth quarter

OSU – Bob Atha 31-yard field goal, 8:18. Ohio St 31–21. Drive: 4 plays, 27 yards, 1:13.
MINN – Jay Carroll 18-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 6:56. Ohio St 31–28. Drive: 5 plays, 68 yards, 1:23.
MINN – Jay Carroll 28-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Jim Gallery kick), 2:38. Minnesota 35–31. Drive: 5 plays, 40 yards, 1:03

Top passers

OSU – Art Schlichter – 13/33, 169 yards, TD, INT
MINN – Mike Hohensee – 37/67, 444 yards, 5 TD, INT

Top rushers

OSU – Tim Spencer – 16 rushes, 135 yards, 2 TD
MINN – Tony Hunter – 6 rushes, 19 yards

Top receivers

OSU – Gary Williams – 4 receptions, 72 yards
MINN – Chester Cooper – 12 receptions, 182 yards

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Northwestern	0	6	0	0	6
• Ohio St	7	28	28	7	70

Date: November 14
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game attendance: 86,916

Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	0	7	0	7	14
Michigan	3	0	6	0	9

Date: November 21
Location: Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, Michigan
Game attendance: 106,043
TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels and Lee Grosscup

Scoring summary

1	MICH	Ali Haji-Sheikh 19-yard field goal	MICH 3-0

2	OSU	Art Schlichter 1-yard run (Robert Atha kick)	OSU 7-3

3	MICH	Ali Haji-Sheikh 26-yard field goal	OSU 7-6

3	MICH	Ali Haji-Sheikh 24-yard field goal	MICH 9-7

4	OSU	Art Schlichter 6-yard run (Robert Atha kick)	OSU 14-9

Liberty Bowl

1981 Liberty Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio State	10	7	7	7	31
Navy	7	6	7	8	28

Date: December 30
Location: Liberty Bowl • Memphis, Tennessee

1982 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL club
Art Schlichter	1	4	Quarterback	Baltimore Colts
Anthony Griggs	4	105	Linebacker	Philadelphia Eagles
Bob Atha	12	317	Kicker	St. Louis Cardinals

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "1981 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
^ "Buckeyes inconsistent in win". The Akron Beacon Journal. September 13, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ 1982 Ohio State Football Media Guide
^ "Florida State University Official Athletic Site - Football". Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.

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