2020 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 2020 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was to represent Ohio State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were to be led by second-year head coach Ryan Day, and play their home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. It was to be the Buckeyes' 131st season overall and 108th as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

2020 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	East Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
Head coach	Ryan Day (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Kevin Wilson (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Kerry Coombs (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Greg Mattison (2nd season)
Captains	Wyatt Davis Tuf Borland Shaun Wade Justin Hilliard Justin Fields Jonathon Cooper Josh Myers

2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Indiana			–							–
Maryland			–							–
Michigan			–							–
Michigan State			–							–
Ohio State			–							–
Penn State			–							–
Rutgers			–							–
West Division
Illinois			–							–
Iowa			–							–
Minnesota			–							–
Nebraska			–							–
Northwestern			–							–
Purdue			–							–
Wisconsin			–							–
Championship: TBA
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten suspended the 2020 football season. As of August 14, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll.

On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference cancelled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference expressed the possibility that a season could be played in the spring of 2021.[1]

Previous season

The Buckeyes finished the 2019 season 13–1, 9–0 in Big Ten play to win the East division. They defeated Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship 34–21. Subsequently, they received an invitation to the College Football Playoff, where they lost to Clemson 29–23 in the Fiesta Bowl.

Preseason

Spring Game

The 2020 LiFESports Spring Game was planned to be held on April 11, 2020, but was canceled on March 11, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personnel

Roster

Depth chart

Schedule

Ohio State had games scheduled against Bowling Green, Oregon, and Buffalo, but cancelled these games on July 9 due to the Big Ten Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The conference announced a ten-game schedule. It will be the first time since 1933 that the Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry will not be played in November.[3]

In Big Ten Conference play, Ohio State will play all members of the East Division and draws Purdue, Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois from the West Division.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 3	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)
September 12	Rutgers	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH
September 19	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN
September 26	Indiana	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH
October 10	Nebraska	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH
October 17	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI
October 24	Michigan	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (The Game)
October 31	at Maryland	Maryland Stadium College Park, MD
November 7	at Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (Rivalry)
November 21	Iowa	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH
Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 3) released prior to game

Schedule Source:[4]

Rankings

Further information: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP
Coaches	2 (17)
CFP	Not released																Not released

Game summaries

at Illinois

Ohio State at Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Illinois 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 3, 2020 Location: Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL

See also: 2020 Illinois Fighting Illini football team and Illinois–Ohio State football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
68–30–4	2017	W, 52–14

Rutgers

Ohio State vs Rutgers

1 2 3 4 Total Rutgers 0 0 0 0 0 Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 12, 2020 Location: Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH

See also: 2020 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–0	2019	W, 56–21

at Purdue

Ohio State at Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Purdue 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 19, 2020 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN

See also: 2020 Purdue Boilermakers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
39–15–2	2018	L, 20–49

Indiana

Ohio State vs Indiana

1 2 3 4 Total Indiana 0 0 0 0 0 Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 26, 2020 Location: Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH

See also: 2020 Indiana Hoosiers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
75–12–5	2019	W, 51–10

Nebraska

Ohio State vs Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 0 0 0 0 Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 10, 2020 Location: Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH

See also: 2020 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–1	2019	W, 48–7

at Michigan State

Ohio State at Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Michigan State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 17, 2020 Location: Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI

See also: 2020 Michigan State Spartans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
33–15	2019	W, 34–10

Michigan

Ohio State vs Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 0 0 0 0 0 Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 24, 2020 Location: Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH

See also: 2020 Michigan Wolverines football team and Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
51–58–6	2019	W, 56–27

Ohio State will play Michigan in October for the first time since 1933 due to rescheduling from the COVID-19 pandemic.

at Maryland

Ohio State at Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Maryland 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 31, 2020 Location: Maryland Stadium College Park, MD

See also: 2020 Maryland Terrapins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–0	2019	W, 73–14

at Penn State

Ohio State at Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Penn State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 7, 2020 Location: Beaver Stadium University Park, PA

See also: 2020 Penn State Nittany Lions football team and Ohio State–Penn State football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
20–14	2019	W, 28–17

Iowa

Ohio State vs Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa 0 0 0 0 0 Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 21, 2020 Location: Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH

See also: 2020 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
46–15–3	2017	L, 24–55

References

1. "Big Ten Statement on 2020-21 Fall Season". bigten.org. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
2. Myerberg, Paul. "Big Ten football reduces season schedule to only conference games, maybe setting stage for others to follow". USA TODAY. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
3. "Amid tenuous times, Big Ten reveals makeshift 2020 football schedule". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
4. "Football Schedule". Ohio State Buckeyes. January 20, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.