1970Ohio State Buckeyes football
NFF co-national champion Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 17–27 vs.Stanford
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 5
Record	9–1 (7–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Woody Hayes (20th season)
Offensive scheme	Heavy run
Base defense	5–2
MVP	Jim Stillwagon
Captains	Doug Adams Rex Kern Jim Stillwagon Jan White
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium
Seasons ← 1969 1971 →

The1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team representedOhio State University in theBig Ten Conference during the1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Buckeyes won all nine games in the regular season and were ranked second inboth major polls. Ohio State won the Big Ten title and a berth in theRose Bowl inPasadena onNew Year's Day against theStanford Indians, ranked No. 12 and champions of thePac-8. The Buckeyes were upset, 27–17, and finished with a 9–1 record.

This was the last year Ohio State played a nine-game regular-season schedule (the Big Ten first allowed a 10th regular season game in 1965). Many major colleges added an eleventh game in 1970, although no Big Ten school did so until the following season.

The Buckeyes were recognized asco-national champions, along withTexas, by theNational Football Foundation at the end of the regular season. The teams were jointly awarded theMacArthur Bowl.^[1]

This was the fifth and last national title that head coach Woody Hayes won for the Buckeyes; they did not win another national championship until2002.

Both Ohio State and Texas would go on to lose their bowl games; the 11–0–1Nebraska Cornhuskers won theAP national championship when they finished No. 1 in final post-bowlAP Poll.

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Top-ranked Ohio State rolled up 513 yards of offense and scored touchdowns off five Texas A&M turnovers in a 56–13 rout. FullbackJohn Brockington scored twice and six other players accounted for touchdowns. The Buckeyes' defense forced three fumbles and an interception which led to four scores in an eight-minute span in the third quarter even though head coachWoody Hayes pulled the starters a little after halftime.^[13]

This was the first of nine consecutive losses for the Aggies, who were riding high into Columbus following a shocking 20-18 victory atLSU seven days earlier.

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Woody Hayes received a congratulatory phone call from PresidentRichard Nixon after the game and then asked to speak to Fred Schram, who made the game-winning field goal.John Brockington carried the ball for 136 yards and Leo Hayden added 64 yards on 16 carries.^[24]

Ohio State clinched a Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl berth and some measure of revenge for the 1969 upset.

In theCotton Bowl inDallas, top-ranked and defending national championTexas was upset 24–11 by #6Notre Dame, ending the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak.

Heavily favored Ohio State could claim their second outrightnational title in three years that afternoon with aRose Bowl victory over Stanford in Pasadena.Stanford (8–3) was led by quarterbackJim Plunkett, the 1970Heisman Trophy winner. The Indians had climbed to a 6–0 conference record and 8–1 overall, but lost their final two regular season games, toSugar Bowl-boundAir Force and arch-rivalCalifornia. Stanford lost earlier in the season at home toPurdue, a team OSU defeated on the road.

The Buckeyes led Stanford by four points after three quarters, but were outscored 14–0 in the fourth quarter and lost 27–17. Later that night, #3Nebraska won theOrange Bowl 17–12 over #5LSU inMiami to claim the top spot in the AP writers poll.

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• 1970 Big Ten Conference football season
• Ohio State Buckeyes football seasons
• College football national champions
• Big Ten Conference football champion seasons
• 1970 in sports in Ohio

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