Ohio State — Big Ten
HC
Ryan Day · Ohio Stadium · Columbus, OH · 102,780 cap
PPA off / def
0.33 / -0.01
2025
Class rank
#4
class of 2026
Returning PPA
68%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (12–2)
Statistical comps — 2025 Ohio State's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (17 in / 37 out)
Origins
A cow college that became the sport's most relentless machine. Hayes ran 'three yards and a cloud of dust' into ten Big Ten titles, Archie Griffin remains the only two-time Heisman winner, and Columbus now treats a one-loss season as a crisis.
Founded 1870 · Land-grant college for the sons of Ohio farmers and mechanics · first football 1890 · defined by Woody Hayes
All-time record
All-time
884–286–40
1897–2025
Win %
74.7%
127 seasons played
Winning seasons
101
80% of seasons
By level: FBS 876–268–37 (1897–2025) · D-III 8–18–3 (1902–1912)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2002 | 14 | 0 | Big Ten |
| 2014 | 14 | 1 | Big Ten |
| 2024 | 14 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 2019 | 13 | 1 | Big Ten |
| 2018 | 13 | 1 | Big Ten |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1897 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 354 | 54% |
51% | 2 of 136 | 7.2 | 13% |
| 2nd down | 256 | 49% |
51% | 2 of 136 | 6.6 | 13% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 47 | 68% |
74% | — | 3.8 | 6% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 46 | 15% |
46% | — | 4.9 | 9% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 41 | 15% |
32% | — | 8.6 | 22% |
| 4th down | 16 | 44% |
63% | — | 5.8 | 13% |
144 drives · 50% ended in points · 7.4 plays and 47.6 yards per drive · 1.95 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 2 | Grambling |
Julian Sayin pass complete to Jeremiah Smith for 87 yds for a TD (Jayden Fielding KICK) |
87 | 6.70 |
| 14 | Michigan |
(11:50) Shotgun #10 J.Sayin pass complete deep right to #4 J.Smith caught at UOM08, for 35… |
35 | 5.00 |
| 3 | Ohio |
Julian Sayin pass complete to Carnell Tate for 49 yds for a TD (Jayden Fielding KICK) |
49 | 5.00 |
| 8 | Wisconsin |
Julian Sayin pass complete to Carnell Tate for 33 yds for a TD (Jayden Fielding KICK) |
33 | 4.51 |
| 13 | Rutgers |
Shotgun #20 J.Peoples rush right for 49 yards gain to the RU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 04:17, 1ST… |
49 | 4.41 |
| 11 | Purdue |
End of 1st quarter. |
65 | 4.40 |
| 2 | Grambling |
Bo Jackson run for 51 yds to the GRAM 26 for a 1ST down |
51 | 4.11 |
| 15 | Indiana |
(00:02) Shotgun #10 J.Sayin pass complete deep right to #4 J.Smith caught at IND39, for 46… |
46 | 4.10 |