1961 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1961 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1961 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled an 8–0–1 record. They were awarded the national championship by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). This was the Buckeyes fourth national championship and the third for head coach Woody Hayes.

1961 Ohio State Buckeyes football
FWAA Poll national champion Big Ten champion
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
1961 record	8–0–1 (6–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (11th season)
Defensive coordinator	William Gunlock
Captains	Mike Ingram Tom Perdue
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 79,727)

1961 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Ohio State $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Minnesota	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Michigan State	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Purdue	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Michigan	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Indiana	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Illinois	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Days after the conclusion of the regular season, the university's faculty council voted down participation in the Rose Bowl,[1][2][3] which then went to Minnesota.[4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 30	1:30 p.m.	TCU*	No. 3	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	T 7–7	82,878
October 7	1:30 p.m.	UCLA*	No. 8	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	W 13–3	82,992
October 14	1:00 p.m.	Illinois	No. 7	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)	W 44–0	82,374
October 21		at Northwestern	No. 7	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 10–0	43,259
October 28		at Wisconsin	No. 6	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 30–21	58,411
November 4	1:30 p.m.	No. 9 Iowa	No. 5	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	W 29–13	83,795
November 11		at Indiana	No. 3	Seventeenth Street Football Stadium Bloomington, IN	W 16–7	27,108
November 18	1:30 p.m.	Oregon*	No. 3	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	W 22–12	82,073
November 25	1:00 p.m.	at Michigan	No. 2	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (The Game)	W 50–20	80,444
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

1961 Ohio State Buckeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class C 53 Billy Joe Armstrong Jr OG 71 James Bearss So HB, DB 12 Bob Bruney So E 88 Charles Bryant Sr OT 54 Dennis Carter So FB, LB 32 Roger Detrick Sr FB, LB 46 Bob Ferguson Sr OG 66 Charles Foreman Sr OG 69 Rod Foster Jr FB 33 Dave Francis Jr C 58 Dean Fronk So HB 15 Tony Hall So FB 35 Woody Hall So HB 47 Gary Honsley Sr OG 62 Dennis Hullinger So OG, LB 64 Mike Ingram (C) Sr OG 65 Tom Jenkins So HB, DB 21 Ken Johnson Jr HB 45 William Jones So HB 19 Bob Klein Jr OT 61 Raymond Krstolic Jr HB 48 Karl Kumler Jr FB 17 Howard Lambert Sr OT 70 Richard Laskoski Jr QB 23 Robert Lister Sr HB 43 Richard Mangiamelle Jr QB 27 Larry Marmie So E 91 Paul Martin Sr E 80 Robert Middleton Jr C 56 Richard Morgan So QB 26 Bill Mrukowski Jr QB 25 John Mummey Jr E 90 Joseph Nourse So E, DE 83 Ormonde Ricketts So OT 75 Jack Roberts Sr OT, DL 76 Daryl Sanders Jr E 84 Keith Smith So HB, LB 41 Matt Snell So QB 24 Joe Sparma So OT 72 Bernie Stanley So HB 16 David Tingley Sr E, PK 86 Dick Van Raaphorst So C 50 Jerry Vanscoy Jr OT, DL 73 Bob Vogel Jr QB 23 Jack Wallace Sr HB, DB 42 Paul Warfield So E 82 George Wittmer Sr C 51 Albert Zima Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class MG 55 Wayne Betz Jr DL 34 Robert Butts Jr DL 93 Dennis Clotz Sr DL 77 Dan Connor Jr DB 28 Bill Hess Jr DB 49 Ron Houck Sr MG 67 Dave Katterhenrich Jr DT, PK 79 Charles Mamula So MG 60 Wes Mirick So MG, LB 68 Gary Moeller Jr LB 63 Al Parker So DE 87 Tom Perdue (C) Sr DE 89 Elwood Rayford Jr DT 78 George Tolford Sr DE 85 Sam Tidmore Sr DB 44 Ed Ulmer Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 18 Stewart Baffer So PK 20 Ben Jones Jr	Head coach Woody Hayes Coordinators/assistant coaches Lyal Clark Alan Fiers Ernie Godfrey Bill Gunlock Jim Herbstreit Esco Sarkkinen Bo Schembechler Harry Strobel Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2016-Jan-01.

Game summaries

TCU

1 2 3 4 Total TCU 0 0 0 7 7 Ohio St 7 0 0 0 7 Date: September 30 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 82,878 Game weather: Sunny; 82°F; wind 20

Scoring summary Q1 7:05 OHST Bryant 2 yard pass from Mrukowski (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 7–0 Q4 11:20 TCU Glasscock 12 yard pass from Gibbs (McAteer kick) Tie 7–7

[5]

UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total UCLA 0 3 0 0 3 • Ohio St 0 0 0 13 13 Date: October 7 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 82,992 Game weather: Sunny; 72°F; wind 5 ESE

Scoring summary Q2 2:22 UCLA Smith 32 yard field goal UCLA 3–0 Q4 14:14 OHST Warfield 13 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 7–3 Q4 9:30 OHST Snell 33 yard run (kick failed) OHST 13–3

[6]

Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total Illinois 0 0 0 0 0 • Ohio St 0 21 16 7 44 Date: October 14 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 82,974 Game weather: Cloudy; 48°F; wind 15 NNW

Scoring summary Q2 13:03 OHST Ferguson 2 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 7–0 Q2 10:43 OHST Warfield 36 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 14–0 Q2 :09 OHST Ferguson 2 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 21–0 Q3 9:08 OHST Ferguson 3 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 28–0 Q3 7:53 OHST Safety, Mills tackled in end zone OHST 30–0 Q3 3:09 OHST Ferguson 1 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 37–0 Q4 8:10 OHST Johnson 11 yard pass from Mummey (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 44–0

[7]

Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 0 3 0 7 10 Northwestern 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 21 Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois Game attendance: 43,259 Game weather: Cloudy; 48°F

Scoring summary Q2 14:50 OHST Van Raaphorst 24 yard field goal OHST 3–0 Q4 2:04 OHST Mrukowski 20 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 10–0

[8]

Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 7 10 6 7 30 Wisconsin 0 15 0 6 21 Date: October 28 Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin Game attendance: 58,411 Game weather: Cloudy; 52°F; wind 10 S Referee: Tony Skover

Scoring summary Q1 5:55 OHST Katterhenrich 17 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 7–0 Q2 14:28 OHST Van Raaphorst 23 yard field goal OHST 10–0 Q2 9:57 WIS Kroner 36 yard pass from Miller (Mckinney pass from Bakken) OHST 10–8 Q2 1:41 OHST Klein 8 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 17–8 Q2 :01 WIS Miller 1 yard run (Bakken kick) OHST 17–15 Q3 3:23 OHST Warfield 5 yard run (pass failed) OHST 23–15 Q4 1:36 OHST Warfield 2 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 30–15 Q4 :02 WIS Richter 7 yard pass from Miller (pass failed) OHST 30–21

[9]

Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa 0 0 7 6 13 • Ohio St 6 6 0 17 29 Date: November 4 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 83,795 Game weather: Cloudy; 46°F; wind 5 E

Scoring summary Q1 11:07 OHST Perdue 55 yard fumble return (kick failed) OHST 6–0 Q2 6:35 OHST Bryant 18 yard pass from Sparma (kick failed) OHST 12–0 Q3 6:18 IOWA Szykowny 1 yard run (Szykowny kick) OHST 12–7 Q4 14:39 OHST Bryant 62 yard pass from Sparma (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 19–7 Q4 8:04 OHST Van Raaphorst 24 yard field goal OHST 22–7 Q4 1:55 OHST Ferguson 13 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 29–7 Q4 :12 IOWA Turici 4 yard run (kick failed) OHST 29–13

See also: 1961 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–9–2	1960	L 12–35

[10]

Indiana

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 0 9 7 0 16 Indiana 0 7 0 0 7 Date: November 11 Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana Game attendance: 27,106 Game weather: 56°F; wind 8 SSE

Scoring summary Q2 7:43 OHST Van Raaphorst 40 yard field goal OHST 3–0 Q2 5:11 OHST Warfield 5 yard pass from Sparma (kick failed) OHST 9–0 Q2 3:42 IND Olsavsky 25 yard pass from Broome (George kick) OHST 9–7 Q3 3:42 OHST Bryant 9 yard pass from Sparma (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 16-7

[11] [12]

Oregon

1 2 3 4 Total Oregon 0 6 0 6 12 • Ohio St 8 7 7 0 22 Date: November 18 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 82,073 Game weather: Sunny; 38°F; wind 9 NNW

Scoring summary Q1 13:48 OHST Klein 72 yard run (Ferguson run) OHST 8–0 Q2 13:52 OHST Ferguson 7 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 15–0 Q2 :48 ORE Burleson 29 yard pass from Renfro (pass failed) OHST 15–6 Q3 9:09 OHST Ferguson 6 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 22–6 Q4 4:39 ORE Josephson 2 yard run (pass failed)) OHST 22–12

[13]

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 7 14 0 29 50 Michigan 0 6 6 8 20 Date: November 25 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan Game attendance: 80,444 Game weather: Clear

Scoring summary Q1 3:26 OHST Ferguson 12 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 7–0 Q2 11:04 OHST Ferguson 1 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 14–0 Q2 10:49 MICH Raimey 90 yard kickoff return (pass failed) OHST 14–6 Q2 9:04 OHST Warfield 69 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 21–6 Q3 7:36 MICH McLenna 1 yard run (pass failed) OHST 21–12 Q4 14:23 OHST Ferguson 1 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 28–12 Q4 9:50 OHST Klein 80 yard pass from Sparma (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 35–12 Q4 4:45 OHST Ferguson 1 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick) OHST 42–12 Q4 :34 MICH Ward 1 yard run (Ward run) OHST 42–20 Q4 :05 OHST Tidmore 10 yard pass from Sparma (Tidmore pass from Sparma) OHST 50–20

[14] [15]

Depth chart

Defense LB MLB LB Thomas Perdue Bill Mrukowski Samuel Tidmore ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ CB Bill Hess Ed Ulmer ⋅ DE DT NT DT DE George Tolford Larry Stephens Gary Moeller Mike Ingram Jack Roberts ⋅ Wesley Mirick ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ CB Ronald Houck ⋅ ⋅ Offense SE Charles Bryant ⋅ ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Robert Vogel Thomas Jenkins Bill Armstrong Rod Foster Daryl Sanders ⋅ ⋅ Gary Moeller ⋅ Rick Laskoski ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Robert Middleton Ormonde Ricketts ⋅ WB Paul Warfield ⋅ ⋅ QB John Mummey Bill Mrukowski ⋅ FB Bob Ferguson ⋅ ⋅ Special Teams RB Matt Snell Robert Klein ⋅

[16]

Coaching staff

• Woody Hayes – Head Coach – 11th year

1962 Pro draftees

Player	Draft	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Bob Ferguson	NFL	1	5	Fullback	Pittsburgh Steelers
Bob Ferguson	AFL	1	8	Fullback	San Diego Chargers
Chuck Bryant	NFL	3	34	End	St. Louis Cardinals
Chuck Bryant	AFL	13	104	End	San Diego Chargers
Sam Tidmore	NFL	6	81	Linebacker	Cleveland Browns
Sam Tidmore	AFL	20	156	Linebacker	Buffalo Bills
John Havlicek	NFL	7	95	End	Cleveland Browns
Jack Roberts	NFL	20	273	Tackle	Chicago Bears
Mike Ingram	AFL	31	246	Guard	Boston Patriots

References

1. "Buckeyes finally lose, 28-25 in bowl debate". Toledo Blade. Ohio. Associated Press. November 29, 1961. p. 48.
2. "Ohio State's rejection of Rose Bowl bid trip triggers sharp comments". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. November 29, 1961. p. 60.
3. "Ohio State rejects chance to play in Rose Bowl game". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. November 29, 1961. p. 11.
4. Stevenson, Jack (December 3, 1961). "Minnesota accepts bid, plays Uclans in Rose tilt". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. p. D-1.
5. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
6. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
7. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
8. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
9. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
10. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
11. Eugene Register-Guard. 1961 Nov 12.
12. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
13. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
14. "Buckeyes Win Big 10 Title." Palm Beach Post. 1961 Nov 26.
15. Ohio State Official Athletic Site - Football - Archives. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
16. 1962 Ohio State football media guide

Win/Loss statistics

• Ohio State Historical Scores

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players