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, 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.

Offseason

Players lost QB Cardale Jones – drafted by the Buffalo Bills in Round 4 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 139th overall pick RB Ezekiel Elliott – drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in Round 1 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 4th overall pick WR Jalin Marshall – undrafted, signed with the New York Jets WR Michael Thomas – drafted by the New Orleans Saints in Round 2 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 47th overall pick WR Braxton Miller – drafted by the Houston Texans in Round 3 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 85th overall pick TE Nick Vannett – drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in Round 3 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 94th overall pick OT Taylor Decker – drafted by the Detroit Lions in Round 1 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 16th overall pick OL Chase Farris – undrafted, signed with the Detroit Lions DE Joey Bosa – drafted by the San Diego Chargers in Round 1 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 3rd overall pick DT Adolphus Washington – drafted by the Buffalo Bills in Round 3 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 80th overall pick LB Darron Lee – drafted by the New York Jets in Round 1 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 20th overall pick LB Joshua Perry – drafted by the San Diego Chargers in Round 4 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 102nd overall pick CB Eli Apple – drafted by the New York Giants in Round 1 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 10th overall pick S Tyvis Powell – undrafted, signed with the Seattle Seahawks S Vonn Bell – drafted by the New Orleans Saints in Round 2 of the 2016 NFL draft with the 61st overall pick

Schedule

‡Ohio Stadium attendance record

Roster

Depth chart

Rankings

Game summaries

Bowling Green

Sources:

The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Bowling Green Falcons by a score of 77–10 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State's offense started off slow by QB, J. T. Barrett throwing an interception returned for a touchdown to Brandon Harris. Ohio State then went on to score 21 unanswered points before BGSU made a field goal midway through the second quarter. Ohio State scored two more times and led at halftime 35–10. The Buckeyes went on to score six more touchdowns in the second half and allowing no scoring.

Ohio State's offense gained 776 yards, which broke the record of most yards in a game held since 1930, and scored ten touchdowns. The Ohio State defense, commonly known as the Silver Bullets, allowed 244 yards and scored a defensive touchdown. Ohio State's J. T. Barrett set a record for the most touchdowns in a game with seven and tied the single-game record of six passing touchdowns. For his performance Barrett was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

Game Statistics StatisticOSUBGSUTotal yards776244Passing yards417175Rushing yards35969Penalties9–665–45Turnovers13Time of Possession38:2521:25 Game Leaders StatisticOSUBGSUPassingJ. T. Barrett (349)James Knapke (110)RushingMike Weber (136)Fred Coppet (38)ReceivingCurtis Samuel (177)Ronnie Moore (45)

Tulsa

Ohio State (1–0) took on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1–0) and won by a final of 48–3 in Columbus, Ohio. Following the kickoff by Ohio State, Dane Evans' pass was intercepted by Ohio State's Marshon Lattimore during the first offensive possession of the game. Ohio State was unable to find their way into the endzone and settled for a 29-yard Tyler Durbin field goal to make the score 3–0. Tulsa and Ohio State went on to trade field goals to make it 6–3, Ohio State. The OSU defense then forced turnovers on the next three Tulsa possessions, scoring two defensive touchdowns, to end the half up 20–3.

There was a weather delay of 50 minutes at halftime due to lightning strikes in the general vicinity of the stadium.

The Buckeyes scored to open the second half on a 9-play, 72-yard drive, capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by J. T. Barrett. The OSU offense went on to add three more touchdowns. The Silver Bullet defense of Ohio State forced two second-half turnovers and allowed no offensive points from the Golden Hurricane.

Game Statistics StatisticOSUTulsaTotal yards417188Passing yards149127Rushing yards26861Penalties9–675–46Turnovers16Time of Possession33:5326:07 Game Leaders StatisticOSUTulsaPassingJ. T. Barrett (149)Dane Evans (127)RushingMike Weber (92)D'Angelo Brewer (58)ReceivingCurtis Samuel (62)Keevan Lucas (53)

At Oklahoma

After kickoff was delayed from the original start time of 7:30 p.m. due to lightning and thunderstorms in the vicinity of the University of Oklahoma, the Buckeyes (2–0) and Sooners (1–1) began play at 9:00 p.m. in Norman, Oklahoma. Ohio State struck first, midway through the first quarter on a Curtis Samuel 36-yard touchdown run. On Oklahoma's next possession, Ohio State's Jerome Baker intercepted Baker Mayfield's pass to score a touchdown on a 68-yard interception return. This was Ohio State's fourth defensive score in their first three games. During the ensuing kickoff, Oklahoma's Joe Mixon returned the kick for a 97-yard touchdown, to make the score 14–7, Ohio State. Though not caught, Mixon dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line and fumbled into the end zone. Ohio State scored another two touchdowns and Oklahoma made a field goal to make the score 28–10. With six minutes to go in the half, Oklahoma scored on a 35-yard Mayfield pass to A.D. Miller to give the OSU defense their first allowed offensive touchdown of the year and brought the Sooners within 11. The Buckeye offense drove 75 yards to end the first half on a behind-the-back grab by Noah Brown to give the Buckeyes a 35–17 halftime advantage.

Ohio State scored on their opening possession of the half with Noah Brown's school record tying fourth touchdown reception. Oklahoma scored again with four minutes to go in the third quarter to make the score 42–24, Ohio State. The final score of the game was a 31-yard Tyler Durbin field goal with 10:33 to go making the final 45–24.

Noah Brown was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Jerome Baker was named conference co-Defensive Player of the Week for their performances.

Baker Mayfield (the Sooners starting QB) claimed that the Ohio State team and fans who traveled to Norman sang their fight song after their win. Baker Mayfield cites this as his reasoning for spiking the flag on the Ohio State symbol at the 50 yard line in the 2017 rematch in Columbus.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:

Game Statistics StatisticOSUOklaTotal yards443403Passing yards152226Rushing yards291177Penalties11–754–28Turnovers02Time of Possession35:4924:11 Game Leaders StatisticOSUOklaPassingJ. T. Barrett (152)Baker Mayfield (226)RushingMike Weber (123)Joe Mixon (78)ReceivingNoah Brown (72)A.D. Miller (72)

Rutgers

The Ohio State Buckeyes (4–0, 1–0) played the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2–3, 0–2) in Columbus, Ohio on Oct. 1, 2016. The Buckeyes won by a score of 58–0. Ohio State allowed only 121 total yards (33 passing, 83 rushing) and gained 669 (259 passing, 410 rushing.) This was their largest regular season conference shut out since 1981 and their first since 2013. Ohio State's J. T. Barrett, set the Ohio State record for most career passing touchdowns with 59.

Mike Weber was named the conference's Freshman player of the week for his performance in the game. He rushed for 144 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries and caught one pass for three yards.

Former head coach Earle Bruce dotted the "i" in Script Ohio prior to the game.

Game Statistics StatisticOSURUTTotal yards669116Passing yards25933Rushing yards41083Penalties6–644–21Turnovers10Time of Possession38:4821:12 Game Leaders StatisticOSURUTPassingJ. T. Barrett (238)Chris Laviano (33)RushingMike Weber (144)Robert Martin (40)ReceivingCurtis Samuel (86)Jawuan Harris (33)

Indiana

Ohio State (5–0, 2–0) defeated Indiana (3–2, 2–1) by a score of 38–17. This Buckeye victory extended the longest current Big Ten win streak against a single opponent to 21, with the Hoosiers' last win over the Buckeyes coming in 1988.

The Indiana secondary held the Buckeye pass offense to only 93 yards passing, but allowed 290 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. This included a career-high of 26 careers for J. T. Barrett. The Buckeye defense forced two turnovers and allowed only 99 yards rushing on 40 attempts.

Game Statistics StatisticOSUINDTotal yards383281Passing yards93182Rushing yards29099Penalties9–835–40Turnovers22Time of Possession32:5827:02 Game Leaders StatisticOSUINDPassingJ. T. Barrett (93)Richard Lagow (182)RushingJ. T. Barrett (137)Devine Redding (78)ReceivingDontre Wilson (42)Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (67)

At Wisconsin

The #2 Ohio State Buckeyes (6–0, 3–0) defeated the #8 Wisconsin Badgers (4–2, 1–2) in overtime, in a cross-divisional Big Ten match up on Oct. 15, at Camp Randall Stadium, by a score of 30–23. With both teams ranked in the top ten of both major college football polls, ESPN had chosen Madison, Wisconsin as the host of College GameDay. This was Wisconsin's second appearance on GameDay for 2016 and Ohio State's first. Ohio State extended their current win streak over the Badgers to five, dating back to 2011. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is 4–0 versus Wisconsin and this was Badgers' coach Paul Chryst's first game against the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes started the game off slow by gaining only 23 yards on their first two drives, both resulting in punts, while allowing 147 yards for the Badger's offense on their first two drives that resulted in a ten-point lead for #8 Wisconsin. Neither team could find the endzone for the remainder of the first half and both settled for two additional field goals apiece for a halftime score of 16–6 favoring the Badgers.