American college football season
The 2015 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season . It was the Buckeyes' 126th season overall, the 103rd as a member of the Big Ten Conference , and second as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was led by Urban Meyer , in his fourth year as head coach, and played its home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio . They finished the season 12–1, 7–1 in Big Ten play, to finish in a tie for the East Division championship with Michigan State . Due to their head-to-head loss to Michigan State, they did not represent the East Division in the Big Ten Championship Game . They were invited to the Fiesta Bowl where they defeated Notre Dame .
Schedule
The Big Ten Conference released the schedule for the 2015 season on June 3, 2013.[1] Ohio State will face all six Eastern Division opponents Indiana , Maryland , Michigan , Michigan State , Penn State and Rutgers .[1] Ohio State will also face two Western Division opponents: rival Illinois and Minnesota .[1] Ohio State will play four non-conference games: Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference , Hawaii of the Mountain West Conference , and Northern Illinois and Western Michigan of the Mid-American Conference . Ohio State has one bye week during the season between their games against Rutgers and Minnesota.
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 7 8:00 p.m. at Virginia Tech * No. 1 ESPN W 42–2465,632
September 12 3:30 p.m. Hawaii * No. 1 BTN W 38–0107,145
September 19 3:30 p.m. Northern Illinois * No. 1 ABC/ESPN2 W 20–13104,095
September 26 3:30 p.m. Western Michigan * No. 1 ABC/ESPN2 W 38–12106,123
October 3 3:30 p.m. at Indiana No. 1 ABC/ESPN2 W 34–2752,929
October 10 12:00 p.m. Maryland No. 1 BTN W 49–28107,869
October 17 8:00 p.m. Penn State No. 1 ABC W 38–10108,423
October 24 8:00 p.m. at Rutgers No. 1 ABC W 49–753,111
November 7 8:00 p.m. Minnesota No. 3 ABC W 28–14108,075
November 14 12:00 p.m. at Illinois No. 3 ABC W 28–351,515
November 21 3:30 p.m. No. 9 Michigan State No. 3 ABC L 14–17108,975‡
November 28 12:00 p.m. at No. 10 Michigan No. 8 ABC W 42–13111,829
January 1, 2016 1:00 p.m. vs. No. 8 Notre Dame * No. 7 ESPN W 44–2871,123
[2]
‡ New Ohio Stadium attendance record
Personnel
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was his fourth year as the Buckeye's head coach during the 2015 season. In his previous three seasons with Ohio State, he led the Buckeyes to an overall record of 38 wins and 3 losses (38–3) and the 2014 national championship . On December 16, 2014, offensive coordinator Tom Herman accepted the head coaching position at Houston .[3] On January 11, 2015, Ohio State announced the hiring of former Nebraska coach Tim Beck to replace Herman as co-offensive coordinator.[4] On February 2, 2015, Stan Drayton accepted the running backs coach position with the Chicago Bears , and was replaced by former Notre Dame coach Tony Alford .[5]
Head coach Urban Meyer
Coaching staff
Roster
2015 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Ed Warinner (Offensive coordinator / offensive line)
Tim Beck (Co-offensive coordinator / quarterbacks)
Tony Alford (Assistant head coach / running backs)
Tim Hinton (Tight ends / Fullbacks)
Zack Smith (Wide receivers)
Luke Fickell (Co-defensive coordinator / linebackers)
Chris Ash (Co-defensive coordinator / safeties)
Larry Johnson (Assistant head coach / defensive line)
Kerry Coombs (Special teams coordinator / cornerbacks)
Mickey Marotti (Assistant athletic director for football sports performance)
Vince Okruch (Quality control coach – kicking game / defense)
Matt Thurin (Quality control coach – Defense)
Bill Busch (Quality control coach – Defense)
Jim Cordle (Graduate assistant – offense)
Brian Mason (Graduate assistant – defense)
Matt Merritt (Graduate assistant – offense)
Vince Oghobaase (Graduate assistant – defense)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Roster Last update: January 5, 2016
Depth chart
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final AP 1 (61) 1 (61) 1 (61) 1 (59) 1 (42) 1 (45) 1 (38) 1 (27) 1 (28) 1 (39) 2 (26) 3 (23) 8 6 7 4 Coaches 1 (62) 1 (62) 1 (63) 1 (62) 1 (61) 1 (61) 1 (50) 1 (47) 1 (48) 1 (49) 1 (34) 2 (32) 8 6 5 4 CFP Not released 3 3 3 8 6 7 Not released
Game summaries
Virginia Tech
1
2 3 4 Total
• #1 Ohio State
14
0 14 14
42
Virginia Tech
0
17 0 7
24
Hawaii
1
2 3 4 Total
Hawaii
0
0 0 0
0
• #1 Ohio State
7
7 3 21
38
Northern Illinois
1
2 3 4 Total
Northern Illinois
7
3 0 3
13
• #1 Ohio State
3
7 10 0
20
Location: Columbus, OhioGame start: 3:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:28Game attendance: 104,095Game weather: Cloudy, Light RainTV announcers (ABC/ESPN2 ): Mike Patrick and Ed Cunningham
Western Michigan
1
2 3 4 Total
Western Michigan
0
6 6 0
12
• #1 Ohio State
7
17 7 7
38
Location: Columbus, OhioGame start: 3:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:25Game attendance: 106,123Game weather: CloudyTV announcers (ABC/ESPN2 ): Adam Amin and Kelly Stouffer
Indiana
1
2 3 4 Total
• #1 Ohio State
0
6 14 14
34
Indiana
3
7 7 10
27
Location: Bloomington, IndianaGame start: 3:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 4:10Game attendance: 52,929Game weather: Cloudy, Light RainTV announcers (ABC/ESPN2 ): Mike Patrick and Ed Cunningham
Maryland
1
2 3 4 Total
Maryland
7
7 7 7
28
• #1 Ohio State
7
14 14 14
49
Location: Columbus, OhioGame start: 12:00 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:30Game attendance: 107,869Game weather: SunnyTV announcers (BTN ): Eric Collins , Glen Mason
Penn State
1
2 3 4 Total
Penn State
3
0 7 0
10
• #1 Ohio State
0
21 0 17
38
"Dark Night at the Shoe" – Ohio State wears all-black uniforms for the first time in school history.[7]
Rutgers
1
2 3 4 Total
• #1 Ohio State
7
14 21 7
49
Rutgers
0
0 0 7
7
Minnesota
1
2 3 4 Total
Minnesota
0
0 0 14
14
• #1 Ohio State
0
14 7 7
28
Illinois
Illibuck
1
2 3 4 Total
• #2 Ohio State
7
7 7 7
28
Illinois
0
3 0 0
3
Location: Champaign, IllinoisGame start: 12:00 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:35Game attendance: 51,515Game weather: SunnyTV announcers (ABC ): Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Todd McShay
Michigan State
1
2 3 4 Total
• #9 Michigan State
0
7 0 10
17
#2 Ohio State
0
7 7 0
14
Location: Columbus, OhioGame start: 3:30 p.m. TV announcers (ABC): Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Heather Cox
Michigan
The Game
1
2 3 4 Total
• #8 Ohio State
7
7 14 14
42
#12 Michigan
0
10 0 3
13
Location: Ann Arbor, MichiganGame start: 12:00 p.m. Game attendance: 111,829Game weather: Mostly cloudyReferee: Jerry McGinnTV announcers (ABC): Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, and Holly Rowe
Notre Dame–Fiesta Bowl
BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl
1
2 3 4 Total
#8 Notre Dame
0
14 7 7
28
• #7 Ohio State
14
14 7 9
44
2016 NFL Draft
The Buckeyes had 12 players (5 in the first round) in the 2016 NFL Draft .
In addition, 3 players were signed as undrafted free agents
References
^ a b c "Big Ten Announces 2015 Conference Football Schedule" . Big Ten Conference. June 3, 2013. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014 .
^ "2015 Ohio State Football Schedule" . FBS Schedules . Retrieved January 7, 2015 .
^ Mark, Schlabach (December 28, 2014). "Tom Herman focuses on Buckeyes now, Houston later" . ESPN.com . Retrieved July 30, 2015 .
^ Schad, Joe (January 11, 2015). "Source: Ohio State to hire Tim Beck" . ESPN.com . Retrieved July 30, 2015 .
^ "Ohio State hires Tony Alford to coach running backs" . USA Today. February 10, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015 .
^ "2014 Spring Football" (PDF) . The Ohio State University Department of Athletics. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014 .
^ FoxSports.com . Retrieved 2016-Oct-09.
^ "2016 Fiesta Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State Stats" . Stat Broadcast. Retrieved January 1, 2016 .
^ "Undrafted free agent signings 2016: Every team's pickups in one place" . Undrafted Free Agents . April 30, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2016 .
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore Media People Seasons National championship seasons in bold