2016 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

2016 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Big Ten East Division co-champion
Fiesta Bowl (CFP Semifinal), L 0–31 vs. Clemson
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionEast Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 6
Record11–2 (8–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorEd Warinner (5th season)
Co-offensive coordinatorTim Beck (2nd season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorLuke Fickell (11th; 16th overall season)
Co-defensive coordinatorGreg Schiano (1st season)
Base defenseMultiple
CaptainJ. T. Barrett
Pat Elflein
Raekwon McMillan
Curtis Samuel
Joe Burger
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
Seasons
← 2015
2017 →
2016 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 7 Penn State xy$   8 1     11 3  
No. 6 Ohio State x^   8 1     11 2  
No. 10 Michigan   7 2     10 3  
Indiana   4 5     6 7  
Maryland   3 6     6 7  
Michigan State   1 8     3 9  
Rutgers   0 9     2 10  
West Division
No. 9 Wisconsin xy   7 2     11 3  
Iowa   6 3     8 5  
Nebraska   6 3     9 4  
Minnesota   5 4     9 4  
Northwestern   5 4     7 6  
Illinois   2 7     3 9  
Purdue   1 8     3 9  
Championship: Penn State 38, Wisconsin 31
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the Buckeyes' 127th overall, the 104th as a member of the Big Ten Conference, and third as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was led by Urban Meyer, in his fifth year as head coach, and played its home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State was the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten,[1] and were ranked sixth in the preseason AP Poll. They began the year with six straight victories, including on the road against then-No. 14 Oklahoma and in double overtime against then-No. 8 Wisconsin, and rose to second in the AP Poll. However, the next week they suffered their first loss at Penn State in a White Out game at Beaver Stadium. The team won its remaining regular season games, and finished conference play with an overtime victory against third-ranked Michigan. Penn State and Ohio State both finished with conference records of 8–1, and Penn State advanced to the 2016 Big Ten Football Championship Game due to the head-to-head victory. Despite this, and Penn State's victory over Wisconsin in that game, Ohio State was ranked ahead of Penn State at third in the final College Football Playoff rankings, earning them a spot in the national semi-final Fiesta Bowl against second-ranked Clemson. The Buckeyes were shutout in that game 31–0 and ended the year at 11–2.

The Buckeyes were led on offense by quarterback J. T. Barrett, who finished with 2,555 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. Running back Mike Weber led the team with 1,096 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Center Pat Elflein was named a unanimous first-team All-American and was the recipient of the Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center. On defense, cornerback Malik Hooker led the Big Ten with seven interceptions (three returned for a touchdown) and was also a unanimous first-team All-American.

  1. ^ Lesmerises, Doug (July 22, 2016). "Ohio State picked to win Big Ten in cleveland.com 2016 preseason poll". Cleveland.com.