1988 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1988 Ohio State Buckeyes football
1988 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	4–6–1 (2–5–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Cooper (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Jim Colletto (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Young (1st season)
MVP	Jeff Uhlenhake
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
	Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

The 1988 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the first season for head coach John Cooper. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a win–loss record of 4–6–1, and a Big Ten Conference record of 2–5–1.

1988 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Michigan $	7	–	0	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
Illinois	5	–	2	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
Iowa	4	–	1	–	3	6	–	4	–	3
No. 20 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Ohio State	2	–	5	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	5	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	6	–	2	2	–	7	–	2

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	3:30 p.m.	Syracuse*		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 26–9	89,768
September 17	7:00 p.m.	at Pittsburgh*	No. 18	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN	L 10–42	56,500
September 24	3:30 p.m.	No. 7 LSU*		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 36–33	90,584	^[1]
October 1	1:30 p.m.	Illinois		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		L 12–31	90,274
October 8	3:30 p.m.	at Indiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	ABC	L 7–41	52,133
October 15	1:30 p.m.	Purdue		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		L 26–31	90,970
October 22	8:00 p.m.	Minnesota		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 13–6	44,221
October 29	12:00 p.m.	at Michigan State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		L 10–20	77,111
November 5	1:30 p.m.	Wisconsin		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH		W 34–12	90,032
November 12	12:00 p.m.	at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		T 24–24	67,700
November 19	12:00 p.m.	No. 12 Michigan		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)	ABC	L 31–34	90,176
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

1988 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
C	`76`	Dan Beatty	So
WR	`88`	Greg Beatty	Fr
FB	`38`	Chris Boddie	So
FB	`41`	James Bryant	Jr
FL	`18`	Gary Clift	Sr
QB	`12`	Nick Cochran	Fr
OT	`66`	Karl Coles	Jr
TE	`81`	Anthony Cook	So
G	`50`	Jeff Davidson	Jr
SE	`27`	John Dawson	Fr
FL	`2`	Bernard Edwards	Fr
TE	`89`	Jeff Ellis	So
FL	`47`	Tony Fenstermaker	So
QB	`9`	Jason Frank	Fr
G	`70`	Steve France	Jr
QB	`15`	Greg Frey	So
RB	`33`	Tony Goodgame	Fr
SE	`84`	Jeff Graham	So
FB	`35`	Scottie Graham	Fr
G	`65`	Erik Grimm	So
OL	`77`	Len Hartman	Fr
QB	`19`	Kirk Herbstreit	Fr
RB	`23`	Marc Hicks	Jr
C	`60`	Dan Hirneise	So
RB	`29`	Buster Howe	Fr
C	`71`	Mike Huddleston	Fr
TE	`87`	Rich Huffman	So
RB	`30`	Brent Johnson	Fr
FL	`82`	David Menges	So
OT	`64`	Mike Kuri	Jr
C	`62`	Travis Lutz	Fr
FB	`11`	Bill Matlock	Sr
QB	`21`	David McAllister	Jr
OT	`74`	Tim Moxley	Jr
G	`63`	Roy Nichols	Fr
FL	`37`	Bobby Olive	So
TE	`85`	Jim Palmer	Jr
OT	`75`	John Peterson	So
QB	`13`	Scott Powell	Sr
TB	`1`	Lance Price	So
SE	`5`	Everett Ross	Sr
TE	`80`	Chris Roy	Fr
TE	`91`	Scott St. John	So
OT	`69`	John Schilling	Fr
C	`53`	Tom Scholl	Sr
OT	`73`	Paul Sherrick	Fr
OT	`78`	Mike Shoaf	Fr
SE	`4`	Wes Siegenthaler	So
TB	`25`	Carlos Snow	So
TB	`28`	John Spencer	So
QB	`14`	Chris Stablein	So
OT	`79`	Joe Staysniak	Jr
C	`68`	Jeff Uhlenhake (C)	Sr
G	`61`	Ken Voll	So
QB	`17`	John Wagoner	So
TB	`42`	Vince Workman (C)	Sr
G	`51`	Greg Zackeroff	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`32`	Dave Bals	Fr
S	`3`	Sean Bell	Sr
ILB	`91`	Brian Benio	So
S	`27`	David Brown	Jr
LB	`58`	Joe Carpenter	So
OLB	`16`	Mike Chancey	So
CB	`7`	Vince Clark	So
LB	`44`	Tony Closson	Fr
DT	`92`	Ken Coleman	So
DB	`83`	Bryan Cook	Fr
ILB	`56`	Orlondo Craig	Jr
CB	`22`	Tony Cupe	So
DB	`17`	Doug Dinan	Jr
CB	`21`	Zack Dumas	Jr
LB	`94`	Derrick Foster	Fr
DT	`90`	Rich Frimel	Fr
CB	`11`	Mike Giesler	So
ILB	`49`	Andrew Gurd	So
LB	`39`	Tyrone Harrison	So
LB	`36`	Judah Herman	Fr
DB	`18`	Troy Hilsenroth	Fr
OLB	`95`	John Kacherski	So
LB	`62`	Charles Keenan	Jr
LB	`35`	Kristofer Kostival	Fr
OLB	`81`	Tom Lease	Fr
ILB	`86`	Gary Lickovitch	So
DT	`53`	Paul Long	Fr
DT	`93`	Derek MacCready	Sr
LB	`43`	John Martin	Fr
OLB	`99`	Michael McCray (C)	Sr
LB	`34`	Joe Metzger	Fr
DT	`97`	Tony Moore	So
DB	`25`	Chris Ntukgou	So
DT	`72`	Corey Pargo	Fr
S	`46`	Jim Peel	So
S	`48`	Mark Pelini	So
DB	`33`	Trevor Poole	So
S	`13`	Brady Pugh	Fr
DT	`66`	Stephen Robbins	So
OLB	`47`	Patrick Rogan	Fr
CB	`24`	Tim Rutledge	So
DT	`98`	Mike Showalter	Jr
CB	`20`	Dwight Smith	Sr
ILB	`57`	John Sullivan	Sr
NG	`67`	Mike Sullivan (C)	Sr
OLB	`30`	Otto Susec	So
NG	`54`	Pat Thomas	Jr
OLB	`55`	Jason Warner	Fr
OLB	`96`	Srecko Zizakovic	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`26`	Jeff Bohlman	So
PK	`41`	Brian Eisenberg	Fr
PK	`28`	Bob Hoyt	So
LS	`52`	Tom Moore	Sr
PK	`6`	Pat O'Morrow	Jr
PK	`42`	Scott Osborne	Fr
P	`8`	Mark Smith	Fr

Head coach

John Cooper

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Gary Blackney
Inside linebackers
Jim Colletto
Assistant head coach/offensive coordinator
Bill Dudley
Quarterbacks
Bert Hill
Conditioning coach
Ron Hudson
Running backs
Gene Huey
Wide receiver
Harry Justvig
Volunteer Assistant
Fred Pagac
Outside linebackers
Bob Palcic
Centers, Guards
Bill Young
Defensive coordinator
Ron Zook
Defensive backs

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2016-Dec-02

Game summaries

Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	Total
Syracuse	3	3	0	3	9
• Ohio St	0	17	6	3	26

Date: September 10
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

^[2]

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	3	0	0	7	10
• Pittsburgh	14	14	0	14	42

Date: September 17
Location: Pitt Stadium

LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
LSU	3	10	10	10	33
• Ohio St	0	14	3	19	36

Date: September 24
Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Game attendance: 90,584

^[3]

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Illinois	7	3	0	21	31
Ohio St	0	3	3	6	12

Date: October 1
Location: Ohio Stadium

Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	0	0	7	0	7
• Indiana	14	14	7	6	41

Date: October 8
Location: Memorial Stadium
Game attendance: 52,133

Purdue

Purdue Boilermakers (2–3) at Ohio State Buckeyes (2–3)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Purdue	0	7	14	10	31
Ohio St	7	10	3	6	26

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Date: October 15
Game time: 1:30 p.m. CDT
Game weather: Partly sunny, 62 °F (17 °C)
Game attendance: 90,970
Referee: Jim Kemerling
TV: WCMH

Game information

First quarter

OSU – Carlos Snow 58-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 9:32. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 68 yards, 1:30.

Second quarter

OSU – Greg Frey 1-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 13:18. Ohio St 14–0. Drive: 12 plays, 86 yards, 5:13.
PUR – Lance Scheib 46-yard pass from Brian Fox (Larry Sullivan kick), 10:52. Ohio St 14–7. Drive: 6 plays, 82 yards, 2:17.
OSU – Pat O'Morrow 35-yard field goal, 0:48. Ohio St 17–7. Drive: 7 plays, 12 yards, 3:52.

Third quarter

OSU – Pat O'Morrow 24-yard field goal, 10:22. Ohio St 20–7. Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards, 3:10.
PUR – Ernie Schramayr 5-yard pass from Brian Fox (Larry Sullivan kick), 6:23. Ohio St 20–14. Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards, 3:54.
PUR – Brian Fox 3-yard run (Larry Sullivan kick), 4:59. Purdue 21–20. Drive: 4 plays, 16 yards, 1:14.

Fourth quarter

PUR – Ernie Schramayr 7-yard pass from Brian Fox (Larry Sullivan kick), 14:56. Purdue 28–20. Drive: 8 plays, 63 yards, 3:29.
OSU – James Bryant 5-yard run (pass failed), 12:12. Purdue 28–26. Drive: 6 plays, 66 yards, 2:38.
PUR – Larry Sullivan 49-yard field goal, 6:28. Purdue 31–26. Drive: 12 plays, 42 yards, 5:39.

Top passers

PUR – Brian Fox – 19/27, 223 yards, 3 TD
OSU – Greg Frey – 10/21, 193 yards, 2 INT

Top rushers

PUR – Jarrett Scales – 21 rushes, 62 yards
OSU – Carlos Snow – 20 rushes, 128 yards, TD

Top receivers

PUR – Ernie Schramayr – 13 receptions, 106 yards, 2 TD
OSU – Jeff Ellis – 3 receptions, 66 yards

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Ohio St	3	7	3	0	13
Minnesota	3	3	0	0	6

Date: October 22
Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	7	3	0	0	10
• Michigan St	7	3	10	0	20

Date: October 29
Location: Spartan Stadium

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wisconsin	6	6	0	0	12
• Ohio St	3	21	3	7	34

Date: November 5
Location: Ohio Stadium

Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	7	7	7	3	24
Iowa	14	7	0	3	24

Date: November 12
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
Game start: 12:15 p.m. EST
Elapsed time: 3:20
Game attendance: 67,700
Game weather: Rain; 40 °F (4 °C); wind 10–12 mph (16–19 km/h) SE
Referee: Gil Marchman

^[4]^[5]

Michigan

Michigan Wolverines at Ohio State Buckeyes

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan	10	10	0	14	34
Ohio St	0	0	14	17	31

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Date: November 19, 1988
Game time: 12:10 p.m.
Game weather: Overcast, 44 °F (7 °C)
Game attendance: 90,176
Referee: John Nealow

Game information

First quarter

MICH – Mike Gillette 22-yard field goal, 5:47. Michigan 3–0. Drive: 12 plays, 74 yards, 4:09.
MICH – Greg McMurtry 57-yard pass from Demetrius Brown (Mike Gillette kick), 1:06. Michigan 10–0. Drive: 4 plays, 72 yards, 1:44.

Second quarter

MICH – Leroy Hoard 18-yard run (Mike Gillette kick), 8:35. Michigan 17–0. Drive: 2 plays, 17 yards, 0:53.
MICH – Mike Gillette 56-yard field goal, 0:00. Michigan 20–0. Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards, 2:35.

Third quarter

OSU – Carlos Snow 4-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 12:06. Michigan 20–7. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 2:48.
OSU – Bill Matlock 9-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 4:59. Michigan 20–14. Drive: 8 plays, 66 yards, 3:08.

Fourth quarter

OSU – Bobby Olive 4-yard pass from Greg Frey (Pat O'Morrow kick), 11:26. Ohio St 21–20. Drive: 8 plays, 90 yards, 3:42.
OSU – Pat O'Morrow 21-yard field goal, 8:30. Ohio St 24–20. Drive: 6 plays, 18 yards, 2:50.
MICH – Leroy Hoard 8-yard run (Mike Gillette kick), 4:20. Michigan 27–24. Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards, 4:03.
OSU – Bill Matlock 16-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 2:02. Ohio St 31–27. Drive: 6 plays, 92 yards, 2:12.
MICH – John Kolesar 41-yard pass from Demetrius Brown (Mike Gillette kick), 1:37. Michigan 34–31. Drive: 2 plays, 41 yards, 0:15.

Top passers

MICH – Demetrius Brown – 11/17, 223 yards, 2 TD
OSU – Greg Frey – 14/29, 192 yards, TD, INT

Top rushers

MICH – Leroy Hoard – 23 rushes, 158 yards, 2 TD
OSU – Carlos Snow – 21 rushes, 170 yards, TD

Top receivers

MICH – John Kolesar – 3 receptions, 95 yards, TD
OSU – Bobby Olive – 3 receptions, 59 yards, TD

1989 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL club
Jeff Uhlenhake	5	121	Center	Miami Dolphins
Vince Workman	5	127	Running back	Green Bay Packers
Derek MacCready	9	226	Defensive end	Detroit Lions
Everett Ross	12	335	Wide receiver	Minnesota Vikings

^[6]

References

^ "Buckeye comeback drops LSU". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 25, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1988 Sept 11.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1988 Sept 25.
^ Ohio State Official Athletic Site Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Sep-30.
^ "Iowa ties Ohio State on last-minute field goal". Chicago Tribune. November 13, 1988. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
^ "1989 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

[1] "Buckeye comeback drops LSU". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 25, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] Gainesville Sun. 1988 Sept 11.

[3] Gainesville Sun. 1988 Sept 25.

[4] Ohio State Official Athletic Site Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Sep-30.

[5] "Iowa ties Ohio State on last-minute field goal". Chicago Tribune. November 13, 1988. Retrieved September 2, 2019.

[6] "1989 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

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