American college football season
The 1998 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head football coach was John Cooper. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a win–loss record of 11–1, and a Big Ten Conference record of 7–1. They were co-champions of the Big Ten Conference with the Wisconsin Badgers and the Michigan Wolverines and played in one of the premiere Bowl Championship Series bowl games, the 1999 Sugar Bowl.
Led by senior quarterback Joe Germaine, the Buckeyes were the preseason number one team and remained top-ranked throughout the majority of the season. The Buckeyes only loss came late in the season to the Michigan State Spartans. The team blew a 15-point lead late in the game to fall 28–24.
Because of the late loss, Ohio State was kept out of the National Championship Game, the 1999 Fiesta Bowl. Their regular season "miss" of not playing fellow tri-champion Wisconsin also cost the Buckeyes a trip to the 1999 Rose Bowl because Ohio State was the last to play in the Rose Bowl in 1997, Wisconsin last played in 1994.[1]
The Buckeyes beat Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl to finish second in both polls behind the Tennessee Volunteers after their victory over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.[2]
Schedule
[3]
Game summaries
West Virginia
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at #11 West Virginia Mountaineers
at Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, West Virginia
- Date: September 5, 1998
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 76°, Clear & Mild, wind 5 S
- Game attendance: 68,409
- Referee: Dick Honig
Toledo
Toledo Rockets at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Date: September 12, 1998
- Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 85°, Clear & Sunny, wind 7 W
- Game attendance: 93,149
- Referee: D. Witvoet
Missouri
#21 Missouri Tigers at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Date: September 19, 1998
- Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 80°, Sunny, wind 5 S
- Game attendance: 93,269
- Referee: J. Kemerling
Penn State
#7 Penn State Nittany Lions at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Date: October 3, 1998
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 60°, Overcast Rain, wind 5-10 SSW
- Game attendance: 93,479
- Referee: Dick Honig
Illinois
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at Illinois Fighting Illini
at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois
- Date: October 10, 1998
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 64°, Sunny, wind 7 SW
- Game attendance: 46,390
- Referee: J. Kemerling
Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Date: October 17, 1998
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 70°, Sunny, wind 5-10 S
- Game attendance: 93,183
- Referee: D. Witvoet
Northwestern
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at Northwestern Wildcats
at Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois
- Date: October 24, 1998
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 52°, Sunny, wind 9 SW
- Game attendance: 47,130
- Referee: J. Teitz
Indiana
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes at Indiana Hoosiers
at Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana
- Date: October 31, 1998
- Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 63°, Partly Cloudy, wind 10-15 NW
- Game attendance: 52,049
- Referee: J. Kemerling
Michigan State
Michigan State Spartans at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Date: November 7, 1998
- Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 48°, Clear, wind 5-10 W
- Game attendance: 93,595
- Referee: D. Witvoet
Iowa
#7 Ohio State Buckeyes at Iowa Hawkeyes
at Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
- Date: November 14, 1998
- Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 61°, Clear wind 17-20 NW
- Game attendance: 69,473
Michigan
#11 Michigan Wolverines at #7 Ohio State Buckeyes
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
- Date: November 21, 1998
- Game time: 12:00 p.m.
- Game weather: Cloudy, 38 °F (3 °C)
- Game attendance: 94,339
- Referee: Bill LeMonnier
- TV: ABC
Ohio State secured a share of its 28th Big Ten title as the fans stormed the field with less than 30 seconds to play. Joe Germaine completed 19-of-24 passes for 330 yards, his seventh career 300-yard game, and his favorite target was David Boston, who finished with 10 receptions for 217 yards, most ever by a Michigan opponent. Boston also broke his own single-season reception mark and moved past Cris Carter on the school's all-time yardage list.[5]
Roster
Coaching staff
- John Cooper - Head Coach - 11th year
- Bill Conley – Tight ends, Recruiting Coordinator (12th year)
- Jim Heacock - Defensive tackles (3rd year)
- Mike Jacobs – Offensive coordinator, Offensive Line (4th year)
- Fred Pagac – Defensive coordinator, Linebackers (17th year)
- Tim Salem - Quarterbacks (2nd year)
- Shawn Simms – Defensive ends (2nd year)
- Tim Spencer – Running backs (5th year)
- Chuck Strobart – Wide receivers (4th year)
- Jon Tenuta – Defensive backs (3rd year)
Depth chart
Q[6]
Rankings
1999 NFL draftees
References
- ^ Thomaselli, Rich (1998). "Big Ten". The Sporting News. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
- ^ "A Case for No. 1". CNN. January 9, 1999. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
- ^ Park, Jack (2003). The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-58261-695-7.
- ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2014-Sep-02.
- ^ "Michigan vs. Ohio State". USA Today. November 21, 1998.
- ^ 1986 Ohio State Football Media Guide
