The 1955 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was an American football team that represented the Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1955 Big Ten season. In their fifth year under head coach Woody Hayes, the Buckeyes compiled a 7–2 record (6–0 in conference games), won the Big Ten championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 201 to 97. In games against ranked opponents, they lost to No. 11 Duke (14-20) and defeated No. 15 Wisconsin (26-16), No 20 Iowa (20-10), and No. 6 Michigan (17–0). They were ranked No. 5 in the final AP poll.

Halfback Howard "Hopalong" Cassady led the team with 958 rushing yards (6.0 yards per carry) and 14 touchdowns. He won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football. Cassady was also a consensus All-American. Guard Jim Parker also received first-team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Central Press (CP), and Jet magazine. Cassady and Parker were both later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Quarterback Frank Ellwood led the team in passing with only nine completed passes for 60 passing yards.

Four Ohio State players received first team honors on the 1955 All-Big Ten Conference football team: Cassady (AP-1, UP-1, INS-1); Parker (AP-1, UP-1); center Ken Vargo (AP-1, UP-1, INS-1); and lineman Francis Machinsky (AP-2, UP-1).

The team played its home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio

Schedule

Game summaries Nebraska

+Team Statistics Statistic Ohio State Nebraska Pass Atts. 3 26 Pass Comps. 1 11 Pass Yards 17 189 Yds./Pass 17.0 17.2 Rush Atts. 61 36 Rush Yards 321 138 Yds./Rush 5.3 3.8 Total Yards 338 327 Fumbles Lost 1 3 Interceptions 0 1 Total Turnovers 1 4

Stanford

+Team Statistics Statistic Stanford Ohio State Pass Atts. 13 12 Pass Comps. 6 5 Pass Yards 66 41 Yds./Pass 11.0 8.2 Rush Atts. 41 57 Rush Yards 152 187 Yds./Rush 3.7 3.3 Total Yards 218 228 Fumbles Lost 1 1 Interceptions 0 1 Total Turnovers 1 2

Illinois

+Team Statistics Statistic Ohio State Illinois Pass Atts. 9 15 Pass Comps. 4 7 Pass Yards 17 175 Yds./Pass 4.3 25.0 Rush Atts. 55 51 Rush Yards 334 196 Yds./Rush 6.1 3.8 Total Yards 351 371 Fumbles Lost 0 2 Interceptions 0 1 Total Turnovers 0 3

Duke

+Team Statistics Statistic Ohio State Duke Pass Atts. 10 13 Pass Comps. 2 9 Pass Yards 27 125 Yds./Pass 13.5 13.9 Rush Atts. 34 65 Rush Yards 138 218 Yds./Rush 4.1 3.4 Total Yards 165 343 Fumbles Lost 4 3 Interceptions 2 1 Total Turnovers 6 4

Wisconsin

+Team Statistics Statistic Wisconsin Ohio State Pass Atts. 18 4 Pass Comps. 7 2 Pass Yards 94 32 Yds./Pass 13.4 16.0 Rush Atts. 50 59 Rush Yards 284 272 Yds./Rush 5.7 4.6 Total Yards 378 304 Fumbles Lost 2 1 Interceptions 1 0 Total Turnovers 3 1

Northwestern

+Team Statistics Statistic Ohio State Northwestern Pass Atts. 5 19 Pass Comps. 2 8 Pass Yards 24 75 Yds./Pass 12.0 9.4 Rush Atts. 65 46 Rush Yards 395 166 Yds./Rush 6.1 3.6 Total Yards 419 241 Fumbles Lost 0 1 Interceptions 0 5 Total Turnovers 0 6

Indiana

+Team Statistics Statistic Ohio State Indiana Pass Atts. 2 18 Pass Comps. 0 11 Pass Yards 0 142 Yds./Pass 0.0 12.9 Rush Atts. 52 47 Rush Yards 251 159 Yds./Rush 4.8 3.4 Total Yards 251 301 Fumbles Lost 2 1 Interceptions 0 0 Total Turnovers 2 1

Iowa

+Team Statistics Statistic Ohio State Iowa Pass Atts. 3 14 Pass Comps. 0 9 Pass Yards 0 101 Yds./Pass 0.0 11.2 Rush Atts. 53 45 Rush Yards 274 171 Yds./Rush 5.2 3.8 Total Yards 273 272 Fumbles Lost 0 1 Interceptions 0 1 Total Turnovers 0 2

Michigan

+Team Statistics Statistic Michigan Ohio State Pass Atts. 9 3 Pass Comps. 3 1 Pass Yards 14 4 Yds./Pass 4.7 4.0 Rush Atts. 31 72 Rush Yards 95 333 Yds./Rush 3.1 4.6 Total Yards 109 337 Fumbles Lost 0 2 Interceptions 2 0 Total Turnovers 2 2

Coaching staff Woody Hayes - Head Coach - 5th year

Awards and honors Howard Cassady, Heisman Trophy

In popular culture The November 12 game against Iowa was mentioned in the movie Back to the Future Part II. A radio announcer telling the scores of the day's games mentions that Ohio State beat Iowa 20–10.

1956 NFL draftees Howard Cassady 1 3 Halfback Detroit Lions Fran Machinsky 4 41 Tackle Washington Redskins Ken Vargo 9 106 Center Chicago Bears Jerry Harkrader 22 261 Back New York Giants

References