American college football season
The1964 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was anAmerican football team that represented theOhio State University as a member of theBig Ten Conference during the1964 Big Ten season . In their 14th year under head coachWoody Hayes , the Buckeyes compiled a 7–2 record (5–1 in conference games), finished second in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 146 to 76.[ 1]
The team's statistical leaders included quarterbackDon Unverferth (871 passing yards, 45.6 completion percentage), Willard Sander (626 rushing yards, 4.3 yards per carry), andBo Rein (28 receptions for 281 yards).[ 2] 1964 All-Big Ten Conference football team : offensive guard Dan Porretta (AP-1, UPI-1); linebackerIke Kelley (AP-1, UPI-1); defensive back Arnie Chonko (AP-1, UPI-1); offensive tackle Jim Davidson (UPI-1); defensive end Bill Spahr (UPI-1); and linebacker Tom Bugel (UPI-1).[ 3] [ 4]
The team played its home games atOhio Stadium inColumbus, Ohio
Date Time Opponent Rank Site Result Attendance Source September 26 1:30 p.m. SMU * No. 5 W 27–880,737 [ 5] October 3 1:30 p.m. Indiana No. 5 W 17–981,834 [ 6] October 10 2:00 p.m. at No. 2Illinois No. 4 W 26–071,227 [ 7] October 17 1:30 p.m. USC * No. 2 W 17–084,315 [ 8] October 24 1:30 p.m. Wisconsin No. 1 W 28–384,365 [ 9] October 31 2:30 p.m. atIowa No. 1 W 21–1958,700 [ 10] November 7 1:30 p.m. Penn State * No. 2 L 0–2784,279 [ 11] November 14 1:30 p.m. Northwestern No. 7 W 10–083,525 [ 12] November 21 1:30 p.m. No. 6Michigan No. 7 L 0–1084,685 [ 13] *Non-conference game Rankings fromAP Poll released prior to the game All times are inEastern time
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Southern Methodist 0 0 0 8 8 • Ohio State 10 3 7 7 27
Date: September 26Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 80,737Game weather: Clear, wind SW 12-20 mph, 80 °F (27 °C)
Scoring summary Q1 6:54 OSU Funk 39 yard field goal OSU 3–0 Q1 0:10 OSU Barrington 37 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 10–0 Q2 12:19 OSU Funk 28 yard field goal OSU 13–0 Q3 13:56 OSU Spahr 31 yard interception/fumble recovery (Funk kick) OSU 20–0 Q4 14:18 OSU Sander 42 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 27–0 Q4 0:25 SMU Oefinger 12 yard pass to Taylor (Oefinger rush) OSU 27–8
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Indiana 3 0 0 6 9 • Ohio State 0 10 7 0 17
Date: October 3Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 81,834Game weather: Clear, wind SSW 9 mph (gusts to 15 mph), 67 °F (19 °C)
Scoring summary Q1 5:58 IND Nowatzke 50 yard field goal IND 0–3 Q2 3:44 OSU Unverferth 24 yard pass to Stock (Funk kick) OSU 7–3 Q2 0:24 OSU Funk 25 yard field goal OSU 10–3 Q3 1:25 OSU Rein 3 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 17–3 Q4 8:04 IND Badar 5 yard pass to Kuechenberg (pass intercepted) OSU 17–9
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 6 10 7 3 26 Illinois 0 0 0 0 0
Scoring summary Q1 10:55 OSU Unverferth 24 yard run (kick failed) OSU 6–0 Q2 8:00 OSU Sander 1 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 13–0 Q2 3:25 OSU Funk 29 yard field goal OSU 16–0 Q3 7:15 OSU Sander 4 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 23–0 Q4 13:35 OSU Funk 28 yard field goal OSU 26–0
Team 1 2 3 4 Total USC 0 0 0 0 0 • Ohio St 7 7 0 3 17
Date: October 17Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 84,315Game weather: Clear, wind N 10 mph, 76 °F (24 °C)
Scoring summary Q1 8:12 OHST Sander 2 yard run (Funk kick) Ohio St 7-0 Q2 1:03 OHST Lashtuka 10 yard pass from Unverferth (Funk kick) Ohio St 14-0 Q4 6:40 OHST Funk 24 yard field goal Ohio St 17-0
[ 14]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Wisconsin 0 0 3 0 3 • Ohio State 14 0 0 14 28
Date: October 24Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 84,365Game weather: Clear, wind SW 12 mph, 55 °F (13 °C)
Scoring summary Q1 9:23 OSU Rein 6 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 7–0 Q1 3:51 OSU Sander 1 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 14–0 Q3 9:47 WIS Kaye 28 yard field goal OSU 14–3 Q4 7:37 OSU Sander 1 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 21–3 Q4 5:49 OSU Unverferth 9 yard pass to Lindsey (Funk kick) OSU 28–3
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 7 7 7 0 21 Iowa 7 6 0 6 19
Scoring summary Q1 14:19 OSU Dreffer 36 yard interception return (Funk kick) OSU 0–7 Q1 5:28 IOWA Snook 1 yard run (Simpson kick) TIED 7–7 Q2 6:41 OSU Unverferth 2 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 7–14 Q2 0:57 IOWA Snook 30 yard pass to Noonan (kick failed) OSU 13-14 Q3 14:39 OSU Unverferth 23 yard pass to Rein (Funk kick) OSU 13–21 Q4 0:02 IOWA Nourse 1 yard run (run failed) OSU 19–21
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Penn State 7 7 6 7 27 Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0
Date: November 7Location: Ohio Stadium Game weather: Cloudy, 60 °F (16 °C)
Scoring summary Q1 6:36 PSU Nye recovered fumble in end zone (Sanker kick) PSU 0–7 Q2 8:06 PSU Wydman 3 yard run (Sanker kick) PSU 0–14 Q3 0:52 PSU Kunit 2 yard run (Sanker kick) PSU 0–20 Q4 4:34 PSU Kunit 5 yard run (Sanker kick) PSU 0–27
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 0 0 0 0 0 • Ohio State 7 3 0 0 10
Date: November 14Location: Ohio Stadium Game weather: Clear, wind SE 14 mph, 60 °F (16 °C)
Scoring summary Q1 5:03 OSU Sander 5 yard run (Funk kick) OSU 7–0 Q2 2:47 OSU Funk 27 yard field goal OSU 10–0
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 0 7 0 3 10 Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0
Date: November 21Location: Ohio Stadium Game attendance: 84,685Game weather: Clear, wind W 18 mph, 20 °F (−7 °C)
Scoring summary Q2 0:44 UM Timberlake 17 yard pass to Detwiler (Evassheski kick) UM 0–7 Q4 14:52 UM Timberlake 27 yard kick UM 0–10
^ "1964 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedJuly 29, 2025 .^ "1964 Ohio State Buckeyes Stats" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedJuly 29, 2025 .^ "All Big Ten Picks Tough; Talent Tops" .The Spokesman-Review (AP story)^ "Butkus, Yearby, Timberlake Head Coaches' Big Ten Stars" .The Daily Register (Harrisburg, Illinois) . November 27, 1964. p. 11.^ "Buckeyes Bash SMU In Grid Debut, 27-8" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . September 27, 1964. p. 4D – viaNewspapers.com .^ "OSU Air Artistry Surprises: Bucks Biff Indiana, 17-9" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . October 4, 1964. p. 1F – viaNewspapers.com .^ Dick Forbes (October 11, 1964)."OSU Pulverizes Illini, 26-0" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . p. 1E – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Al Heim (October 18, 1964)."Buckeyes Bid For No. 1 As Sanders Piledrives By Southern Cal, 17-0" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . p. 2H – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Jim Schottelkotte (October 25, 1964)."Top-Ranked Ohio State Bombards Badgers, 28-3" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . p. 2E – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Maury White (November 1, 1964)."Iowa Misses Last-Second Tie! No. 1 Ohio Escapes, 21-19, as Hawkeyes' 2-Point Run Falls Foot Short" .The Des Moines Register . p. Sports 1, 7 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ "Penn State Dumps OSU From Unbeaten Ranks, 27-0" .The Sunday Times Recorder . November 8, 1964. p. 1D – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Ohio State Clips Northwestern 10-0 For 7th Win" .The Sunday Times Recorder . November 15, 1964. p. 1D – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Michigan Stops Ohio State 10-0 For Big Ten Title" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . November 22, 1964. p. 1D – viaNewspapers.com .^ Palm Beach Post . 1964 Oct 18.
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