The 2017 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Buckeyes played their home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. It was the Buckeyes' 128th overall, the 105th as a member of the Big Ten Conference, and fourth as a member of the Eastern Division. They were led by Urban Meyer, who was in his 6th season as head coach at the school.

Coming off a College Football Playoff appearance in 2016, the Buckeyes began the year ranked second in the preseason AP Poll and were the overwhelming favorites to win the Big Ten. In the second game of the year, they suffered their first loss at the hands of No. 5 Oklahoma in Columbus, whom Ohio State had beaten on the road the previous year. Ohio State won their following six games, including a 39–38 victory over No. 2 Penn State, but lost in a blowout on the road to Iowa the following week. The Buckeyes won their remaining regular season games and earned a spot in the 2017 Big Ten Championship Game by winning the East Division with an 8–1 conference record.

Ohio State would play then-undefeated No. 4 Wisconsin as a heavy favorite. The Buckeyes would win in Indianapolis, causing the last-undefeated FBS team to incur a loss. There was huge controversy over the College Football Playoff committee as to who would get into the final four; Alabama, which didn't play in the SEC Championship, was given a spot over both the Buckeyes and Badgers, both of whom just missed out on a playoff spot. Ohio State instead received an invitation to the Cotton Bowl. They defeated USC in that bowl to end the season at 12–2 and ranked fifth in the final polls.

Ohio State was led on offense by quarterback J. T. Barrett, who was named first-team All-Big Ten. Barrett was both a passing and a running threat, finishing with 3,053 yards and a Big Ten-leading 35 touchdowns through the air, and 798 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. His 47 total touchdowns were second in FBS behind Baker Mayfield. Freshman running back J. K. Dobbins finished second in the Big Ten with 1,403 rushing yards. Center Billy Price was a consensus first-team All-American, as was cornerback Denzel Ward. Both players were selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft; Price was awarded the Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center.

Spring Game The 2017 LiFE Sports Spring Game took place in Columbus Ohio at 12:30pm on April 15, 2017.

Date Time Spring Game Site TV Result Attendance April 15 12:30pm Scarlet vs. Gray Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH BTN Scarlet 38–31

Recruiting

Recruits

The Buckeyes signed a total of 21 recruits.

Schedule The Buckeyes' 2017 schedule consisted of seven home games and 5 away games. Ohio State hosted all three of its non-conference games; against Oklahoma of the Big 12, against independent Army, and against UNLV of the Mountain West.

The Buckeyes played nine conference games; they hosted Maryland, Penn State, Michigan State, and Illinois. They traveled to Indiana, Rutgers, Nebraska, Iowa, and rival Michigan.

1 – ESPN's College GameDay was held in Bloomington for the first time in the show's broadcast history.

Rankings

Game summaries

At Indiana

The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes went on the road for their first game of the season, a conference game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. This marked the first time that the Buckeyes opened a season on the road since their 42–24 victory over Virginia Tech in 2015 and their first time opening with a Big Ten opponent since 1976 when they defeated Michigan State 49–21.

Ohio State began the game well, driving the ball 66 yards on 11 plays, but were stalled in the redzone, settling for a Sean Nuernberger field goal to take an early 3–0 lead. The Hoosiers answered with an 87-yard drive that was capped with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Richard Lagow to tight end Ian Thomas to take a four-point lead. The teams continued to trade punts until the second quarter when the Buckeyes' Jordan Fuller intercepted an Indiana pass in the endzone. Ohio State mounted a 58-yard drive that ended came up short at Indiana two-yard line that resulted in another Nuernberger field goal to bring the score to 7–6. Each team would score on touchdown drives of more than 75 yards on the next two possessions to give the Hoosiers a 14–13 lead at halftime.

The third quarter started off looking like it would continue to be a back-and-forth game as the teams again traded touchdowns, but the Buckeye passing offense, led by J. T. Barrett, threw touchdown passes to Parris Campbell for 74 yards and to Johnnie Dixon for 54 yard to give the Buckeyes a 35–21 lead. The Buckeye defense took over from there turning the Hoosiers over two times, each resulting in an Ohio State touchdown. The Buckeyes held on for the win, 49–21.

Two Buckeye records were set during the game: J. K. Dobbins broke Maurice Clarett's 2002 debut rushing performance of 175 yards by amassing 181 yards on the ground, and J. T. Barrett also moved onto the list of the most career offensive yards by a Buckeye with his 365-yard performance. Barrett was named co-Offensive Big Ten Player of the Week for the seventh time in his career and Dobbins was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for their performances in week one.

Game Statistics StatisticOSUIUTotal yards596437Passing yards304420Rushing yards29217Penalties5–505–33Turnovers03Time of Possession31:5028:10 Game Leaders StatisticOSUIUPassingJ. T. Barrett (304)Richard Lagow (410)RushingJ. K. Dobbins (181)Morgan Ellison (24)ReceivingParris Campbell (136)Simmie Cobbs (149)

No. 5 Oklahoma

The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes hosted the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, in a top-five matchup. College GameDay made its record 16th visit to Ohio State's campus and the program's 39th appearance overall, including its fourth in a row. It was the fourth meeting between the two programs.

In the first quarter, Oklahoma moved into Buckeye territory on each of its first three drives, but came away without points because of two fumbles and a failed fourth-down conversion. Ohio State opened with two consecutive punts, and the game remained scoreless at the end of the quarter. The first points came with 11:11 remaining in the second quarter, when Sean Nuernberger made a 24-yard field goal after the Buckeyes failed to convert in the red zone. Eight plays later, Oklahoma again came up empty in Ohio State territory, missing a 37-yard field-goal attempt. After an Ohio State punt, the Sooners put together a 55-yard drive and tied the game at 3–3 on a 35-yard field goal before halftime.

Ohio State opened the second half with a 56-yard kickoff return by Parris Campbell, followed by a 6-yard touchdown run by J. K. Dobbins, to take a 10–3 lead. Oklahoma answered 1:47 later, as Baker Mayfield threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Dimitri Flowers to tie the game. Ohio State did not score another touchdown and added only two more field goals by Nuernberger. Mayfield finished with 386 passing yards and three touchdowns as Oklahoma pulled away in the second half. A touchdown run by Jordan Smallwood completed the scoring in the Sooners' 31–16 victory. After the game, Mayfield planted Oklahoma's flag at midfield while teammates celebrated on the Ohio State logo. He later apologized for the incident.

Ohio State (1–1, 1–0) fell to No. 8 in the AP Poll, while Oklahoma (2–0) rose to No. 2.

Game statistics StatisticOSUOUTotal yards350490Passing yards183386Rushing yards167104Penalties9–873–26Turnovers12Time of possession24:4335:17 Game leaders StatisticOSUOUPassingJ. T. Barrett (183)Baker Mayfield (386)RushingJ. K. Dobbins (72)Trey Sermon (62)ReceivingK. J. Hill (44)Dimitri Flowers (98)

Army

The No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (1–1, 1–0) took on the Army Black Knights (2–0) at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. This was the Buckeyes first-ever match-up against the Black Knights and the seventh match-up against a military academy. Ohio State is 5–1 all-time against the other two major military academies with the most recent win coming in 2014 against Navy and the only loss coming in 1990 against Air Force. A week after seemingly nothing went right in a prime-time loss to Oklahoma, Ohio State couldn't have scripted a better start in its bounce-back attempt against Army. The Buckeyes purred on their first two drives, covering 75 and then 94 yards, to race to a 14–0 lead. Army limited the Buckeyes to one possession in the second quarter and outscored OSU to draw to 17–7. Army started the quarter with an 11-play drive that ended when Blake Wilson missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt. Finally getting the ball back in the second half, the Buckeyes wasted little time taking it to the end zone. J. K. Dobbins ripped off a 22-yard run on first down from the 26, then went 52 yards on a run around left end, a play in which the freshman juked Army cornerback Mike Reynolds almost into the ground. That made the score 24–7, and after Kendall Sheffield recovered a fumbled snap on Army's next drive, OSU went to the air to increase its lead. J. T. Barrett completed all three of his passes on the next drive, including a 31-yarder across the middle to tight end Marcus Baugh to move the ball to the 22. Two plays later, Barrett threw a fastball strike to Terry McLaurin, who headed downfield until he found an open spot in the end zone. With a 31–7 lead, the Buckeyes forced a three-and-out but couldn't put the game away and punted from inside Army territory late in the quarter. The Buckeyes were winning big on the scoreboard, and that continued to the end. Barrett's 9-yard touchdown pass to Austin Mack, which gave the senior quarterback the Big Ten record by accounting for his 107th career touchdown. Another three-and-out gave OSU the ball back with 4:36 remaining, and backup QB Dwayne Haskins guided the offense 72 yards before the time arrived for victory formation.

Game Statistics StatisticOSUArmyTotal yards586278Passing yards31619Rushing yards270259Penalties5–552–22Turnovers01Time of Possession23:0336:57 Game Leaders StatisticOSUArmyPassingJ. T. Barrett (270)Ahmad Bradshaw (19)RushingJ. K. Dobbins (172)Darnell Woolfolk (74)ReceivingK. J. Hill (74)Kell Walker (10)

UNLV

The No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes improved to 3–1 with a 54–21 win at Ohio Stadium over the UNLV Rebels, who fell to 1–2. The Buckeyes were led by quarterback J. T. Barrett, who threw 12 completions for 209 yards for 5 touchdowns in just one half before being replaced by Dwayne Haskins who threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, but tarnished by one interception that was thrown for a Rebel touchdown. The Buckeye receivers accumulated seven touchdowns by seven different receivers, which is a Big Ten record. The Rebels' highlights came on an 11-play, 83 yard drive at the end of the second quarter, a 55-yard Lexington Thomas run in the third quarter and a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown by Javin White in the fourth.

Game statistics StatisticOSUUNLVTotal yards664264Passing yards47488Rushing yards190176Penalties8–854–30Turnovers32Time of possession26:4833:12 Game leaders StatisticOSUUNLVPassingDwayne Haskins (228)Armani Rogers (88)RushingJ. K. Dobbins (95)Lexington Thomas (84)ReceivingParris Campbell (105)Devonte Boyd (48)

At Rutgers