History of Ohio State Buckeyes football
Encyclopedia
The history of Ohio State Buckeyes football covers 121 years through the 2010 season. The team has represented the Ohio State University
in the Western Conference
, its successor the Big Ten
, and in the NCAA Division I. Its history parallels the development of college football
as a major sport in the United States and demonstrates the status of the Buckeyes as one of its major programs.
, reached Columbus, Ohio. George Cole, an undergraduate, is generally given credit for organizing the first intercollegiate team at Ohio State. He persuaded Alexander S. Lilley to coach the squad and brought in a renowned Princeton
fullback
and soon-to-be coach of the Purdue Boilermakers
, Knowlton L. "Snake" Ames, to familiarize the team with fundamentals. The Buckeyes first game, played on Saturday, May 3, 1890, at Delaware, Ohio
, against Ohio Wesleyan University
, was a victory, but two other projected spring games could not be arranged.
Play resumed in November, with home games played at Recreation Park (near the current Schiller Park in south Columbus), but Ohio State lost all three. The next year representatives met with counterparts from Adelbert, Denison
, Buchtel
, and Kenyon College
s to agree to various terms and laid the groundwork for the informal "Big Six" conference of Ohio colleges. Throughout its first decade nearly all of Ohio State's opponents were in-state teams. In 1892 Jack Ryder became Ohio State's first paid coach, earning $15 a week during a ten-week season. After losing his first game, against Oberlin College
and its new coach John Heisman
, Ryder complied a 22-22-2 record.
Over the next eight years, under a number of coaches, the team played to a cumulative record of 31 wins, 39 losses, and 2 ties. Home games were moved to a field on campus at Neil and 11th Avenues, then in 1898 to Ohio Field
at High Street and Woodruff Avenue. Play was brutal and dangerous but continued to grow in popularity. The first game against Michigan, in Ann Arbor, was a 34-0 loss in 1897, a year that saw the low point in Buckeye football history with a 1-7-1 record.
In 1899 the university hired John Eckstorm away from Kenyon College (Kenyon had beaten Ohio State 29-0 the previous year). He brought professional coaching skills to the program and immediately won the Big Six for the first time by going undefeated, as well as beating Oberlin College
after previous teams had gone 0-6. His second season was almost as successful, as the 8-1-1 record included a scoreless tie against Michigan. In 1901, however, center
John Sigrist, a 27-year-old senior, was fatally injured in a game against Western Reserve
and the continuation of intercollegiate football at Ohio State was in serious question. Although the school's athletic board backed away from a confrontation and let the team decide its future, a faculty resolution to cancel the season was not easily defeated and Eckstorm resigned.
In 1902 the team won its first four games by a combined score of 86-0, then traveled to Ann Arbor and lost to the Wolverines—86-0. From that humiliation Fred Cornell, a freshman football player, wrote Carmen Ohio
, which became the school's alma mater
. In 1906, yet another coaching change saw the hiring of Albert A. Herrnstein, the coach of Purdue, who had been a running back for Michigan and had scored six touchdowns against Ohio State in 1902. Herrnstein's four years were successful (although not against his former team) and also saw the first use of the forward pass
by the Buckeyes.
In 1908 the name of University Field was changed to Ohio Field, and although the team continued to prosper, continuing losses to Michigan, Case, and Oberlin saw the cycle of coaching changes continue. By the end of the 1912 season, Ohio State's 23rd, the team had had eleven coaches, sixteen coaching changes, and stood 126-72-17, having never beaten Michigan. Among the oddities occurring during its formative years, the Buckeyes won a game by forfeit (its only win in 1897, over Ohio Medical), lost one by forfeit (Penn State in 1912), and had a player play for both teams in one game (Bob Hager, loaned to Marietta College
in 1898, a game which Marietta won).
s were re-valued to the six points they are now. On April 6, the Western Conference
approved Ohio State's application to join. The Bucks would play their first conference schedule in 1913 and be limited by its rules to just seven games a season. The price at the time was steep: Michigan had left the conference in 1906 and conference policy forbade playing the Wolverines.
The program itself was removed from the Department of Physical Education and made a part of the new Department of Athletics, an organization under faculty control, but a move which saw the hiring of full-time coaches with faculty status. The new football coach, John Richards, was also named the first Director of Athletics
but resigned from both positions at the end of the football season. Lynn Wilbur St. John
, a medical student who had just been hired as business manager for OSU athletics, was named the second AD and served in that capacity for 35 years.
brought a stability to the program not previously experienced, and in 1916 he also brought Charles W. "Chic" Harley
, OSU's first "triple threat
" (runner, passer, and kicker), to the varsity team. The Buckeyes had their first undefeated-untied season in 1916, and repeated as conference champions in 1917, going 8-0-1. Harley left school for wartime service in the U.S. Army Air Service, and the Buckeyes saw an undefeated streak broken at 22 games as a result. Harley returned in 1919, named an All-American for the third time, but Ohio State finished second in the Western Conference when Illinois, in the season's last game, scored the only touchdown of the year against the Buckeyes, then kicked a field goal
on the final play to win 9-7. However 1919 also saw the first Buckeye victory over Michigan (which had re-joined the conference in 1917), 13-3 in Ann Arbor, the first of three straight wins against its rival.
Harley's exploits prompted both a new surge of popularity in Ohio State football and higher attendance figures, with the demand far outreaching the capacity of Ohio Field. Discussion of a new, larger facility at a location away from High Street had begun as early as 1913 but plans took shape when a horseshoe
design was presented by alumnus Howard Dwight Smith
('07) in 1918 and a professionally-managed public fundraising drive
begun in October 1920 that quickly pledged more than $1 million of the $1.34 million cost stipulated in the April 1921 construction contract. Ground was broken on August 3, 1921, and Ohio Stadium
opened October 7, 1922.
With the opening of the new stadium, however, Buckeye fortunes on the gridiron
also turned sour. Ohio State had won its third Big Ten championship in 1920, losing its only game to California
in the Rose Bowl
, and a superb 1921 season had been marred by two inexplicable losses to Oberlin (the last Buckeye loss to an Ohio team) and to winless Illinois. The dedication game for Ohio Stadium was against Michigan, which became the first of six straight losses to the Wolverines, and the 1922 season the first of three losing seasons. The Buckeyes rebounded in 1926, losing only to Michigan as a result of a missed extra point
with two minutes to play. The game was also notable in that more than 90,000 attended, a "standing room only
" figure that exceeded stadium seating capacity
by nearly forty per cent.
However Ohio State had otherwise unspectacular seasons and never finished higher than third place in the conference, going 28-21-6 in Wilce's final seven years as head coach. Criticism of Wilce was widespread, particularly from the "downtown coaches" (a term that came into usage in the 1920s to describe vocal businessmen and other influential supporters of the program), for both failing to win the conference and for the extended losing streak to Michigan. Wilce forestalled further criticism and possible removal by resigning on June 3, 1928, effective at the end of the upcoming season, to practice medicine
. His sixteen years as coach had brought Ohio State to the forefront of intercollegiate football and his .695 winning percentage
remains impressive.
Wilce's assistant and former Buckeye letterman, Sam Willaman, was expected to inherit the head coaching position at the December meeting of the Athletic Board, but Athletic Director St. John refused to publicly commit the program to his succession. During 1928 there had been public speculation that Knute Rockne
, famed coach of Notre Dame
but enduring a mediocre season and stung by persistent criticisms of overemphasis of football at Notre Dame, might leave the Irish to take the position at Ohio State. At least two sources indicate that St. John and Rockne met in early January in New Orleans and that Rockne accepted the position at OSU contingent on his release by Notre Dame. Whether Rockne was merely trying to gain leverage for a new, larger stadium at Notre Dame and fewer road games, or whether he seriously contemplated coaching the Buckeyes will never be known, for history records that he was "unusually silent on the matter."
Willaman, a reticent, methodical man, was then selected and completely overhauled the coaching staff. Among the new coaches hired were Don Miller
, one of Notre Dame's famous "Four Horsemen
", and Ernie Godfrey
, who went on to coach at Ohio State for 33 years. Willaman's stint began auspiciously with three wins that included a victory over Michigan, but the team finished poorly with an overall 4-3-1, and although the 1930 team had a better record, it lost to its rival and still managed only a fourth place finish in the Big Ten. The situation grew worse in 1932 when an experienced Buckeye team disappointed expectations and the effects of the Great Depression
significantly lowered attendance. The 1933 team lost only once, but it was to Michigan and again cost the Bucks a conference title. Heavily criticized within and without the university, Willaman resigned in January 1934 to become head coach at Western Reserve, hounded out of Columbus (according to Time Magazine) by the "downtown coaches".
in March 1934 to coach its football team, Ohio State moved an already "big-time" program to a higher level of competition. Schmidt was a well-established high-profile coach, having successfully coached Tulsa
, Arkansas
, and Texas Christian University
, and he was both an appealingly eccentric personality and an acknowledged offensive innovator. His TCU teams had won two straight Southwest Conference championships and had only lost five times in five seasons. Schmidt's offensive schemes—which totaled more than 300 plays using seven formations predicated on speed, passing, trickery, and numerous lateral
s (a "wide-open" style called "razzle-dazzle")—were always changing. He did not neglect defensive play, either; his TCU teams had won 34 of their 47 victories by shutout
. Schmidt was the first Buckeye football coach granted a multi-year contract.
Schmidt's 1934 squad opened the season with a 33-0 victory over Indiana, the initial shutout of the 25 registered during Schmidt's 56-game career at Ohio State. The first touchdown scored by a Schmidt team was a fake reverse
that went for 78 yards, epitomizing his style. The Buckeyes won seven of their eight games in 1934, four by shutout (including a 34-0 defeat of Michigan, the first of 4 straight seasons in which the Buckeyes held the Wolverines scoreless), but finished second in the Big Ten to National Champion Minnesota
. The only loss of 1934, to Illinois in an away game that honored Red Grange
, resulted from a missed point after touchdown. A 76-0 rout of Ohio Wesleyan ended scheduling against other Ohio universities until 1992. (Its record against in-state college opponents through 1934 was 153—45—15.) Recognizing that he had been hired in part to beat Michigan, Schmidt's first four seasons saw victories over their archrival, all by shut-out, beginning with a 34-0 trouncing in 1934. Quarterback Tippy Dye
became the first Buckeye signal caller to win three consecutive games over Michigan.
The 1935 squad also went 7-1 but were co-champions of the Big Ten with Minnesota. The sole loss was to Notre Dame, 18-13, in the first contest between the programs. Ohio State had dominated the first half in all aspects, leading 13-0, but did not gain a yard in the second half. Notre Dame took advantage of a serious player substitution mistake by Schmidt that by the rules of the day deprived the Buckeyes of their first string backfield in the last quarter, and also recovered a Buckeye fumble
with less than a minute remaining in the game that set up the winning touchdown drive.
Schmidt's next three seasons were less successful, finishing second in the conference twice and just sixth in 1938. However in 1939 the Buckeyes won the Big Ten championship despite a final-game loss to Michigan; this has only occurred twice in the rivalry since, in 1982 and 2004, when Michigan won the Big Ten despite losing to Ohio State. Quarterback Don Scott
was named an All-American, and the team reached its highest ranking at number four following a win over Minnesota on October 21. The next week it hosted its first ever top-ten matchup, against No. 7 and eventual national champion Cornell
, but lost 23-14. Schmidt's popularity had been fading for a number of reasons, including the mediocre showing in 1938, but the championship in 1939 and anticipation of an even better season in 1940 with 21 returning lettermen appeared to have secured his job. However the Buckeyes lost three games in a row for the first time under Schmidt, culminated by 21-7 loss to Cornell in Ithaca, New York
, in its first-ever matchup against a No. 1 ranked team. Three weeks later the Buckeyes were routed by Michigan and its senior Heisman Trophy
winner Tom Harmon
, 40-0, to drop to 4-4. Schmidt's entire coaching staff resigned in early December, followed by Schmidt on December 17, 1940, widely believed to avoid being fired. The Athletic Board accepted all six resignations that same day.
Immediately following the resignations, the Massillon, Ohio
newspaper
, The Independent, touted the coach of Massillon Washington High School
's football team, Paul Brown
, to succeed Schmidt. Brown's Tigers had just won their sixth straight state championship and had outscored opponents 477-6 while drawing an attendance of 116,000. An organized movement to hire Brown spread with the endorsement of his candidacy by numerous Ohio periodicals, and by a statewide letter-writing campaign orchestrated by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association. The Athletic Department interviewed four candidates in a brief but intensive national selection process, and despite his having no previous experience coaching college football and being just 32 years of age, Brown was named head coach on January 14, 1941, with a 3-year contract.
Brown immediately changed Ohio State's style of offense from the complex "razzle-dazzle" schemes of Schmidt to a power attack using the single-wing
and T-formations, stressing precise play execution. He also hired a coaching staff of three former assistants from Massillon, two coaches he knew from rival high schools, and one member of Schmidt's deposed staff. Brown planned and organized his program in great detail, delegating to his assistant coaches and using highly-structured practices limited to 90 minutes duration to create a strong sense of team unity and identity
.
The 1941 season was colored by the possibility of America's entry into the Second World War and ended just two weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor
. In the opener against Missouri, the Tigers befuddled the Buckeyes with a new offensive formation, the Split-T
, but failed to score on a number of drives, allowing Ohio State to escape with a 12-7 victory. The Buckeyes then defeated a West Coast
school for the first time, stunning the USC Trojans
33-0 in the Los Angeles Coliseum. The remainder of its games were all close, losing only to Northwestern and tying Michigan. Northwestern was led by sophomore tailback
Otto Graham
, who so impressed Brown in dominating Ohio State that Brown later made him the centerpiece of his AAFC
-NFL Cleveland Browns
professional team. At 6-1-1 Ohio State tied Michigan for second place in the Big Ten.
. The Big Ten allowed an expanded season of ten games and Ohio State added a game against military football teams to both the beginning and end of their schedule.
The initial five games all resulted in victories, including a blowout of a U.S. Army team from Fort Knox
. Indiana, with a strong team, followed and Ohio State overcame a late Hoosier lead on a particularly hot, humid afternoon for a narrow win. USC came into Ohio Stadium and was again beaten, 28-12, resulting in the Buckeyes being ranked first in the Associated Press poll
.
On October 31 the Buckeyes traveled to Madison, Wisconsin
, to play the Badgers
. Wartime demands forced the team to travel on passenger cars that had been in storage when first-line equipment was diverted to the war effort
, and to be housed on the 6th floor of a downtown hotel
without elevator
s. The night before the game a massive attack of dysentery
struck the team, attributed to the water in the hotel. The subsequent 17-7 loss to Wisconsin has gone down in the annals of Ohio State as the "bad-water game". The Buckeyes' only score came on a drive of 96 yards in the 3rd quarter and they dropped to 6th in the AP poll.
The Buckeyes decisively won the remainder of their games in 1942. Despite defeating Pitt
by 40 points the Buckeyes dropped to 10th in the polls, but moved up five spots when they handily defeated Illinois in a game held in Cleveland. They then defeated 4th-ranked Michigan 21-7 before a Homecoming
crowd of nearly 72,000 to win the Big Ten championship, passing for three touchdowns in a heavy rain and taking the ball away from the Wolverines five times. In their second extra game, the Buckeyes went on to trounce a U.S. Navy service team coached by Bernie Bierman
and made up of former professional and college players. When Holy Cross
stunned their rival, top-ranked Boston College
, 55-12 and Georgia
overwhelmed second-ranked Georgia Tech
34-0, the Buckeyes topped Georgia in the final poll to win its first national championship.
Brown had recruited what was reputedly the finest freshman team in Ohio history in 1942 but lost virtually all of them to military service. In 1943 Ohio State was handicapped when the school affiliated itself with the U.S. Army's ASTP
officer training, which did not allow its trainees to participate in varsity sports, while schools such as Michigan and Purdue became part of the Navy's V-12 program
, which did. Although the Big Ten promulgated a special wartime exemption in 1943 allowing freshmen to play varsity football, Ohio State found itself in competition against older and larger teams (both military and college) featuring players such as Elroy Hirsch
. The 1943 "Baby Bucks" had only five returning players and one starter from the national champion team, six from the 1942 freshman team, and 33 17-year-old freshmen, going 3-6. Prominent on the 1942-44 teams was Bill Willis
, the Buckeye's first African-American star, honored in 2007 along with Chic Harley
and Archie Griffin
as one of the three most important players in Buckeye football history.
on April 12, 1944, and was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center at Chicago
. Brown submitted the name of his assistant coach, Carroll Widdoes, to direct the team in his absence. Widdoes had been an assistant to Brown since 1934 and had turned down the prestigious head coach position at Washington High School to go with Brown to Ohio State. Though his only head coaching experience was at Massillon's Longfellow Junior High School, Widdoes was appointed acting head coach by the OSU Athletic Board on April 14.
The 1944 team fielded only thirteen upperclassmen and 31 freshmen, and lost standout halfback
Dean Sensenbaugher to an appointment to West Point. However in August it received a tremendous boost when the U.S. Army's ASTP training program
was discontinued at Ohio State and the Big Ten granted dental school student Les Horvath
, discharged from ASTP, a fourth year of eligibility. Widdoes moved him to quarterback in the T formation and played him at tailback in the single wing in an otherwise freshman backfield, and as a result Ohio State went undefeated and untied. One of their victories was over Paul Brown's previously unbeaten Great Lakes Navy team, with Horvath scoring two of the Buckeyes' three final quarter touchdowns. The Buckeyes preserved their perfect season with a dramatic 4th quarter drive for a come-from-behind victory over Michigan. Ohio State finished second in the national rankings behind Army and Horvath became the first Buckeye to be awarded the Heisman Trophy
.
The football program took an unexpected turn when Paul Brown, still in the Navy and with the war continuing, signed a contract on February 6, 1945, to coach what would become the Cleveland Browns
of the professional All-America Football Conference
. A week later Carroll Widdoes was made the official head coach of Ohio State. World War II ended by the time the 1945 season began and Widdoes integrated a number of returning military veterans into his team, and although the Buckeyes had a creditable year at 7-2, they were manhandled at home by Purdue and lost a tight game to Michigan, finishing third in the conference behind Indiana and Michigan. Despite having the highest two-year winning percentage of any Buckeye coach, Widdoes asked to return to an assistant's position, which was granted. A few years later he left Ohio State to take the head coach and athletic director's position at Ohio University
.
Offensive coordinator Paul Bixler
switched positions with Widdoes in 1946. Bixler had been hired away from Colgate
in 1941 by Paul Brown, familiar with his work when Bixler was an assistant at Canton McKinley High School
, and had never head-coached a team before taking over the Buckeyes. Although personable and detail-oriented, Bixler did not garner the respect of his players, partly because he rarely played anyone but the starters, and Ohio State endured a mediocre 4-3-2 season. The season ended with a humiliating 58-6 loss to Michigan. Bixler resigned and returned to Colgate to be its football head coach. Talk of Ohio State being a "graveyard of coaches" became commonplace, a reputation that lingered for decades.
Wes Fesler
became head coach with a five-year contract as the result of a collaborative selection process by retiring Athletic Director Lynn St. John and his successor, Dick Larkins. Fesler was an Ohio State alumnus and had been a star athlete, winning nine letters (three in football), had been a three-time All-American, and was Big Ten MVP
in 1930. As head coach at Pittsburgh
he had nearly beaten Ohio State in 1946 and seemed the best choice to bring stability back to the program.
Fesler employed a single wing offense with returning Dean Sensenbaugher at tailback and Joe Whisler at fullback, but two of his key veterans, Tommy James and Tony Adamle
, had left school to play professional football and the Bucks had a dismal 2-6-1 record, shut out four times and scoring only 60 points the entire season. Finishing last in the Big Ten for the only time in team history, only an improbable win against Northwestern had kept the record from matching 1897's worst ever.
Trailing the Wildcats 6-0 and having already turned the ball over on downs with two minutes to play, Ohio State threw an interception
on what was apparently the last play of the game, but a penalty gave the Buckeyes an extra play after time had expired. That too was stopped and again negated by penalty. The Bucks then tied the game on a pass, only to have the try for extra point
blocked. Again a penalty negated the play, and on the fourth extra play of the game the Buckeyes made the conversion and won 7-6.
Although again hurt by players leaving to play pro football, Ohio State improved greatly in 1948, winning six games and losing three in a year when the Big Ten was an exceptionally strong conference. In 1949 the Buckeyes overcame an early lopsided loss to Minnesota to go on to a successful season, due in great part to the play of sophomore Vic Janowicz
. Tying Michigan in Ann Arbor to become Big Ten co-champions, Ohio State also received the Rose Bowl
invitation, where they came from behind to defeat California.
1950 was thought to be a rebuilding year for Ohio State after 21 seniors on the 1949 team graduated but that team's sophomores were a very strong class, having been recruited in part by an alumni organization known as "The Front-Liners", and Vic Janowicz was moved to quarterback
. Fesler, rumored to be resigning because of pressures associated with the position and abuse of his family by anonymous critics, returned to coach the Buckeyes on a run for a national championship.
Fesler's 5-4-2 defense while strong against the run, proved vulnerable to the pass, and an opening game matchup between Janowicz and SMU's
Kyle Rote
(the recipient and runner-up, respectively, for the 1950 Heisman Trophy
) was lost when the Mustangs overcame a 17-point deficit with four touchdown passes. Fesler responded by playing Janowicz at halfback again, although he continued to be a serious passing threat to opposing teams, and Ohio State won six games in a row, most by wide margins, to move into the top ranking in the AP poll. However the season fell completely apart in the final two games when the Buckeyes turned the ball over seven times to lose to Illinois, and in a game known to Ohio State fans as the "Snow Bowl", lost to Michigan 9-3 in a blizzard
. The teams punt
ed a combined 45 times and all the scoring—a Janowicz field goal
and a safety and touchdown for Michigan—resulted from blocked punts. Fesler's decision to punt on third down
with 47 seconds remaining in the first half, recovered for a touchdown by Michigan, was severely criticized.
Two weeks after the Snow Bowl, citing concerns about his health and family, Fesler resigned to go into real estate
. Less than two months later, however, he was named head coach at Minnesota. Detractors of Ohio State in general and Woody Hayes in particular have cited Fesler as a victim of unremitting abuse by "big football" at Ohio State but throughout the 1950 season speculation that Minnesota's Bernie Bierman
would retire had repeatedly suggested that Fesler was a prime candidate for his replacement.
While newspaper references to the "Buckeyes" date back to at least 1919, it was not until 1950 that the school officially adopted "Buckeyes" as the nickname of its athletic teams.
chief among them, to professional contracts before their college eligibility had ended.
A unanimous vote of the board of trustees endorsed the choice of the selection committee and on February 18, 1951, named as head coach Wayne Woodrow Hayes
, who had achieved success as head coach of both his alma mater Denison University
and Miami (Ohio). Hayes, ironically, had not been the committee's first choice. The head coach of Missouri
, Don Faurot
, had been offered and accepted the position a week earlier, but changed his mind two days later. Going into his first season, Hayes thus did not enjoy widespread support among Ohio State's following.
Hayes had Janowicz returning for his senior year but he converted the Buckeye offense from single-wing
to T-formation, limiting the tailback's effectiveness. He also instituted a demanding practice regimen and was both aggressive and vocal in enforcing it, alienating many players accustomed to Fesler's laid-back style. With the exception on a blowout of Iowa in mid-season, the 1951 Buckeyes were a low-scoring team that won 4, lost 3 (including a 7-0 loss to Michigan), and tied 2, leaving many to question the ability of the new coach. In 1952, however, Hayes continued his transformation of the team, playing Howard "Hopalong" Cassady as a freshman and installing a split-T
offense. The Buckeyes nearly doubled their point production, improved to 6-3, and recorded their first victory over Michigan in eight years, 27-7. The 1953 team was expected to improve further but also finished 6-3 when they were shut out by Michigan, and critics called for the replacement of Hayes.
In 1954 (even with Cassady now a seasoned junior) the Buckeyes were picked to finish no higher than 5th in the Big Ten. Hayes, however, had hired Lyal Clark back from Minnesota, where he had gone with Fesler, to coach the Buckeye defense and that season no opponent scored more than two touchdowns on the Buckeyes, and seven of the ten were held to a touchdown or less. An 88-yard interception return by Cassady against second-ranked Wisconsin
and a goal-line stand against Michigan propelled Ohio State to a perfect season that included a 20-7 victory over USC
in the Rose Bowl
. Woody Hayes won his first and the team's second national championship (which was shared with co-champions, UCLA).
In 1955 Hopalong Cassady won the Heisman Trophy, and the team again took the Big Ten championship with a 7-2 record, set an attendance record of 490,477, and won in Ann Arbor for the first time in 18 years with a 17-0 shutout in which Michigan crossed the 50-yard line only once, on a penalty. Ohio State passed only three times in the game; the sole reception was the only completion in the final three games of the year, leading to characterization of Hayes' style of offensive play as "three yards and a cloud of dust".
, through an article by Robert Shaplen, stated that Hayes had used money he received from his weekly television
show to make small personal loans to financially-needy players on his team for expenses such as clothing and travel expenses, stating:
The article resulted in an immediate furor over possible violations of NCAA rules, although Hayes insisted that the loans were made with his own personal funds and were to be repaid, and in effect plead ignorance of the rules. The faculty council, followed by the Big Ten and the NCAA, conducted lengthy investigations which went beyond the scope of the original allegations, and on April 26, 1956, Big Ten Commissioner Kenneth "Tug" Wilson found Hayes and the program guilty of violations and placed it on a year's probation, making all Buckeye sports teams ineligible for play in NCAA tournaments.
The 1956 season became one of mixed results. The Buckeyes began the season strong with impressive wins over Nebraska
and Stanford
, and won their Big Ten opener for their eighth victory in a row. The next week they were upset, however, in Ohio Stadium by three-touchdown underdog
Penn State, on a missed extra point (and Penn State had been scheduled only after Navy had canceled its game with Ohio State). Ohio State ran its conference game win streak to a record 17 with a victory over Indiana on November 10, but then lost back-to-back to Iowa and Michigan, both by shutouts and the first time a Hayes-coached team had lost 2 in a row. The Iowa game was marked by intemperate verbal exchanges between Iowa coach Forest Evashevski
and Hayes over the condition of the field in Iowa Stadium
, allegedly unmowed to slow down the Buckeyes. Iowa won the game, the Big Ten championship, and the Rose Bowl that followed.
In 1957 four Big Ten teams were picked in pre-season polls to finish in the Top 10, but Ohio State was not one of them, and in their opener, the Buckeyes lost to TCU
, their third defeat in a row. For the only time in its history, however, the team won all of its remaining games after an opening loss to claim the Big Ten championship, win the Rose Bowl over Oregon
, and share a national championship title with Auburn. Hayes was also named Coach of the Year.
Perhaps the most noted game during the season was the rematch with Iowa, which entered the game undefeated, higher-ranked, and a six-point favorite. Ohio State had lost its starting halfback, Don Clark, to a leg injury the week before, and with the discord between the coaches well-publicized, the week leading up to the game took on the frenzy of Michigan Week. The game drew a then-record attendance in Ohio Stadium, including Vice-President of the United States Richard Nixon
, and the Buckeyes beat Iowa 17-13 on a late 4th quarter drive featuring sophomore fullback Bob White. Nixon met Hayes after the game and the two became life-long friends.
In the ensuing years the Buckeyes finished 3rd twice and 8th once—the first of his two losing seasons at Ohio State. In 1961 the team went undefeated to be named national champions by the FWAA
but a growing conflict between academics and athletics over Ohio State's reputation as a "football school" came to a head when the faculty council voted on November 28 to decline the invitation to the Rose Bowl extended to the team (although they also voted to accept its share of the gate receipt
s). Nearly a year would pass before the council would rescind the decision, after much public protest and debate.
Over the next 6 seasons Ohio State finished no higher than 2nd, and had a losing season in 1966, although it did beat Michigan four times. When it lost three of its first five games in 1967 (all at home), public speculation that Hayes would be replaced as coach grew to its highest point since 1953. Jack Park, author of the program's official history, states that decision to turn down the Rose Bowl had "strongly impaired...(Ohio State)'s recruiting within its own state".
Ohio State opened the season with four wins at home, defeating SMU
, Oregon
, Purdue
and Northwestern
. The Big Ten opener matched them against the number one-ranked Boilermakers and although threatened three times in the first half, Purdue held Ohio State scoreless. In the 3rd quarter junior Ted Provost intercepted a pass, returning it for a touchdown, and after sophomore starting quarterback Rex Kern
was injured, senior Bill Long, who had quarterbacked the team the previous two seasons, returned to score the decisive final touchdown in the 13-0 upset. The Buckeyes continued to an undefeated season that saw wins over four ranked teams (three in the top ten), a 50-14 rout of Michigan, and a Rose Bowl victory over the USC Trojans
that resulted in the national championship.
The winning streak carried over to the 1969 season and reached 22 games as Ohio State traveled to Michigan. The Buckeyes had encountered little trouble disposing of every team on its schedule, unlike 1968 when a number of games had been closely contested, winning eight games by an average score of 46-9. Despite the fact that Michigan came into the game ranked twelfth and had outscored its four most recent opponents 178-22, the Buckeyes were 17-point favorites. Because of a "no-repeat" policy in the Big Ten regarding the Rose Bowl and guaranteed no worse than a co-championship of the conference, the number one-ranked Buckeyes were playing for a perfect record only. Michigan was directed by first-year coach Bo Schembechler
, a former Hayes protegé. Michigan shocked the Buckeyes and led 24-12 at the half, then totally shutdown the defending champions in the second half, intercepting six Buckeye passes. The 24-12 upset was one of the most significant in college football history, and arguably the greatest in the rivalry.
The super sophomores included three-year starters Rex Kern
, Jack Tatum
, Jim Stillwagon
, John Brockington
, Mike Sensibaugh
, Jan White, Bruce Jankowski, Tim Anderson, Larry Zelina, Mike Vladich, Doug Adams, and Mark Debevc. Kern, Tatum, and Stillwagon have since been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
.
Both teams used the annual game as motivation for entire seasons and after the initial win by Michigan, played dead even at four wins and a tie apiece. Hayes had the upper hand during the first part of the war, in which Ohio State won the conference championship and went to the Rose Bowl four straight years, while Michigan won the final three. It was also an era in which through television Ohio State football again came to the forefront of national attention.
Hayes set the tone in spring practice in 1970, placing a rug at the entrance to the Buckeye dressing room emblazoned with the words: "1969 MICH 24 OSU 12 — 1970 MICH:__ OSU:__" as a constant reminder of their objective. The "super sophomores", now seniors, used a strong fullback-oriented offense to smash their way through the season undefeated, struggling only with Purdue the week before the Michigan game. The return match in Columbus found both teams undefeated and untied, a "first" in the history of the rivalry, with Michigan ranked fourth and Ohio State fifth. Ohio State combined a powerful defense that held Michigan to only 37 yards rushing, a rushing offense employing two tight ends as blockers, and a 26-yard touchdown pass from Kern to Bruce Jankowski to win 20-9. The Buckeyes returned to the Rose Bowl to be upset by Stanford
27-17. The "super sophomores" had garnered a record of 27-2, the best winning percentage of any three-year period in team history, and won or shared the Big Ten title all three years. The National Football Foundation
named Ohio State its national champion for 1970.
1971 was less successful than the preceding seasons, but the middle four years of the 10-year war saw the greatest success for Hayes against Michigan, although the teams fell short of repeating their 1968 national championship. Archie Griffin
began his college football career in 1972, taking advantage of new NCAA eligibility rules that allowed freshmen to compete at the varsity level. In his second game, sent in against North Carolina late in the first quarter, Griffin set a new Buckeye rushing record with 239 yards and led the team in rushing for the season with 867.
The following season Hayes installed an I-formation attack with Griffin at tailback and fellow sophomore Cornelius Greene
at quarterback. The Buckeyes went undefeated with a powerful offense and equally impenetrable defense, achieving an average margin of victory of 31 points a game. The only blemish on their record was a 10-10 tie with Michigan after both teams had entered the game unbeaten. (The tie was more galling for the Wolverines, however, as the Big Ten selected Ohio State to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl.) Despite soundly defeating defending national champion USC
, however, the tie with Michigan resulted in the Buckeyes finishing second to Notre Dame
in the final AP
rankings. Griffin, Randy Gradishar
, Van DeCree
, and John Hicks
were named All-Americans; Hicks, an offensive tackle, not only won both the Outland
and Lombardi Trophies
, but placed second in the Heisman Trophy
competition.
1974 and 1975 were seasons of both elation and frustration. The Buckeyes twice more defeated Michigan and went to two Rose Bowls, but lost both. The 1974 team seemed bound for another national championship when it was derailed by a loss to unranked Michigan State
(Ohio State lost only twice in the regular season during Griffin's 4-year career, both to the Spartans), and the next year the #1-ranked Bucks lost 23-10 to 11th-ranked UCLA in the 1976 Rose Bowl. In all the Buckeyes were 40-5-1 from 1972–75, winning the Big Ten all four years and never losing to Michigan, but each loss and the tie were crucial in failing to win another championship. Archie Griffin, however, received the Heisman Trophy
for both years, off-setting much of the frustration, and amassed 5,589 yards in his career.
The falloff in success of Hayes' last three years was not great. His teams forged records of 9-2-1, 9-3, and 7-4-1, and made bowl appearances in all three years (the rules had changed to allow appearances in other than the Rose Bowl). However frustrations in losing three straight years to Michigan, and other factors, resulted in growing criticism of Hayes and his methods, particularly his on-the-field fits of temper. Even so his downfall was sudden and shocking when near the end of the nationally-televised Gator Bowl
, Hayes punched Clemson
middle guard Charlie Bauman after Bauman intercepted a pass to kill Ohio State's last chance to win. Hayes was fired after the game by Ohio State president Harold Enarson and athletic director Hugh Hindman.
. Bruce inherited a strong team led by sophomore quarterback Art Schlichter
but that had also lost eleven starters, and the 1979 squad exceeded pre-season expectations, ending the 3-year loss drought against Michigan and going to the Rose Bowl
with an opportunity once again to be national champions. The Buckeyes lost both by a single point, 17-16, but Bruce was named Coach of the Year. His success was hailed by those in the media who saw it as a rebuke of Hayes and the start of a "new era".
1980, however, saw the start of a trend that eventually brought criticism to Bruce, when Ohio State finished with a 9-3 record, the first of six consecutive years at 9-3. Though each of these seasons, and the 10-3 season that followed them, culminated in a bowl game, Ohio State did not appear to be any closer to a national championship than during the end of the Hayes era. Bruce's teams were not without impact players, however. All-Americans and future National Football League
stars included Keith Byars
, Cris Carter
, Chris Spielman
, John Frank
, Jim Lachey
, Tom Tupa
, Marcus Marek, and Pepper Johnson
. His program was also known for the number of notable assistant coaches on staff, including Jim Tressel
, Glen Mason
, Pete Carroll
, Nick Saban
, Urban Meyer
and Dom Capers
.
The 1980 team was selected as the top-ranked team of the pre-season AP poll and opened the season with four games at home, but were shocked in the fourth game by UCLA, shut out 17-0. The team rebounded to win its next six easily, but then were shut down by a ball-control Michigan team that allowed the Buckeyes only 23 minutes with the ball, then lost again to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl
.
In 1981, Ohio State opened strong, including a victory at Stanford
in which senior Art Schlichter out-dueled John Elway
, but then lost back-to-back games to Florida State
and Wisconsin
(their first victory over the Buckeyes in 22 games). The Buckeyes continued to struggle on defense, losing a third time, at Minnesota
. Victories over Michigan to gain a share of the Big Ten championship and over Navy
in the Liberty Bowl
salvaged the season.
For the first time since 1922 the Buckeyes lost three in a row in Ohio Stadium in 1982, including rematches with Stanford and Florida State, and for the second year in a row to Wisconsin, but then won seven straight, the last over BYU in the Holiday Bowl
. Sophomore running back Keith Byars had a stand-out season in 1983, rushing for 1,199 yards, and Ohio State defeated the Oklahoma Sooners
in Norman
, but three losses in conference meant a 4th-place finish. 1984 witnessed what Bruce called "the greatest comeback after the worst start" when Ohio State fell behind Illinois 24-0 at home but roared back on 274 yards rushing and five touchdowns by Byars to win 45-38. Ohio State also defeated Michigan to win an outright Big Ten championship. Byars led the nation in rushing and scoring but finished second in Heisman balloting.
Byars broke his toe just prior to the start of the 1985 season, ending his Heisman hopes and seriously handicapping the Buckeye attack. He returned against Purdue with Ohio State at 4-1 and scored twice, but then re-injured his foot the next week against Minnesota. Iowa was top-ranked nationally when they came into Ohio Stadium favored to end the longest home winning streak in the country, and were the first #1 team the Buckeyes faced since Purdue in 1968. Ohio State's defense dominated with four pass interceptions to win 22-13.
In 1986 Bruce received a 3-year contract, the first for the modern program but the team opened with two losses, which had not occurred in over 90 years. The Buckeyes then won 9 in a row before Michigan took a close game when kicker Matt Frantz missed a field goal with a minute to play. After the season Bruce was offered the position of head coach at the University of Arizona with a 5-year contract but was persuaded to stay at his alma mater
by Athletic Director Rick Bay. Hopes for a standout season in 1987 suffered a serious setback when All-American wide receiver Cris Carter
was dropped from the team for signing with an agent. Indiana defeated Ohio State for the first time since 1951, 31-10, in a game that came to be known as the "darkest day", and Ohio State lost three conference games in a row going into the Michigan game.
On the Monday of Michigan week, after a weekend of rumors and speculation, Ohio State President Edward Jennings
fired Bruce but tried to keep the dismissal secret until after the end of the season. Bay, who had been instrumental in keeping Bruce at Ohio State, disregarded Jennings' orders and announced the firing and his own resignation in protest. Jennings made his own situation worse by refusing to give a reason for the firing and the circumstances have been the subject of controversy since. The Buckeyes enjoyed an emotional come-from-behind victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor after the entire team wore headband
s bearing the word "EARLE", then declined an invitation to play in the Sun Bowl
.
was hired as the 21st football head coach at Ohio State before the end of 1987 and before he had coached his last game at Arizona State University
. Cooper's coaching record at ASU and at Tulsa
prior to that stood out among his credentials, as did a victory over Michigan in the 1987 Rose Bowl.
Cooper's thirteen years as Buckeye head coach are largely remembered in the litany of negative statistics associated with him: a notorious 2-10-1 record against Michigan, a 3-8 record in bowl games, a 5-year losing streak to Illinois to start his term and a 6-7 record overall, and blowing a 15 point 3rd quarter lead in a 28-24 loss to unranked Michigan State when the Buckeyes were the top-ranked team in the nation and en route to a national championship. However his record also has many positives: back-to-back victories over Notre Dame, two finishes second-ranked in the polls, and three Big Ten championships (albeit shared). Cooper also recruited 15 players who first-round draft picks in the National Football League
.
Both 1988 and 1989 began identically: an impressive season-opening win followed by an embarrassing loss to a highly-regarded team (Pitt and USC
); a rebound win against two other highly-regarded programs (LSU
and Boston College
) followed by a loss to Illinois in the conference opener. However 1988 saw Ohio State lose its first three conference games and a close game at home against Michigan for a 4-6-1 record, its first losing season in 22 years. In 1989 the Buckeyes won 6 consecutive Big Ten games before losing its last two to go 8-4. The most noteworthy victory occurred in Minneapolis when Ohio State overcame a 31-0 deficit to Minnesota to win 41-37.
1990 continued the pattern with a 2-win 2-loss start and an overall 7-4-1 record that included an embarrassing loss to Air Force
in the Liberty Bowl
. 1991 was 9-4, notable primarily as the season that sophomore running back Robert Smith
quit the team. 1992, with senior Kirk Herbstreit
at quarterback, was 8-3-1, but the losing string to Michigan was broken with a 13-13 tie. Persistent rumors that Cooper would resign or be fired were laid to rest when University President Gordon Gee
announced he would be back in 1993.
The next 6 seasons were very successful, winning ten or more games in 5 of the 6 and sharing the conference championship in three. Eddie George
won the Heisman Trophy
in 1995 after a tremendous senior season, Ohio State defeated Notre Dame in 1995 and 1996, and won half its bowl games. But in three seasons (1993, 1995, and 1996) the Buckeyes entered the Michigan game undefeated, with the possibility of a national championship in at least one, and lost all three to underdog Wolverine teams. Ohio State had won 62 games and lost only 12, but a third of those were to Michigan.
After renewing his contract and becoming a member of the "million dollar coaching club", Cooper started sophomore Austin Moherman against the Miami Hurricanes
in the nationally-televised Kickoff Classic
and was soundly beaten. That presaged a mediocre season in which the Buckeyes finished 6-6, ending their successful 90's run. The 2000 team was more successful, going 8-4, but criticism of Cooper among fans had risen to a clamor again and touched on many areas of the program beyond specific game records. The negative publicity rose to a peak in the days leading up to Ohio State's matchup with South Carolina
in the Outback Bowl
, when wide receiver Reggie Germany was suspended for having a 0.0 GPA, team captain Matt Wilhelm
publicly criticized fellow player Ken-Yon Rambo
, and one Buckeye lineman sued another.
In January 2001, the Ohio State University dismissed Cooper. His loss in the Outback Bowl to a team that had not even won a single game the year before was a factor in his subsequent firing, as was negative publicity regarding player behavior before and during the game. Other contributing factors included the record against Michigan (which was actually considered by most people to be the biggest reason for his firing), a reputation of inability to win "big games", the lack of a national championship, the perception of him as an outsider by many alumni, the poor bowl game record, and finally a perceived lack of discipline on the team.
. With a winning tradition at Youngstown State
(4 NCAA Division I-AA National Champions from 1986–2000) Tressel, formerly an assistant coach at Ohio State for Earle Bruce, was an Ohioan who was considered to be appreciative of the Buckeyes' football tradition. Although there were some doubts whether Tressel could repeat his earlier success at the Division 1A level, most fans and alumni met the coaching change with enthusiasm. The day of his hiring, Jim Tressel, speaking to fans and students at a Buckeye basketball game, made a prophetic implication that he would lead the Buckeyes to beat Michigan in Ann Arbor the following November.
Tressel's first season was difficult as the Buckeyes went 7-5. At a university that was accustomed to experiencing fewer than 2 or 3 losses a season, 2001 was considered a disappointment until Tressel made good on his promise and did what his predecessor could not, beating Michigan in Ann Arbor. Even more impressive was the fact that Tressel gave the quarterback reins to untested sophomore Craig Krenzel
after senior starter Steve Bellisari
was suspended following a DWI
arrest just prior to the Illinois game, a decision applauded as finally drawing the line on a program perceived as "getting out of hand". Despite its average record, Ohio State elected to accept an invitation to the Outback Bowl for a rematch with South Carolina. Although Ohio State lost this game also, it was marked by a strong second half comeback and were a presentiment that 33 years of frustration at not winning a national championship were about to come to an immediate end.
While fans were optimistic about the chance for success of the 2002 team, most observers were surprised by the Ohio State's National Championship
. After good offensive performances against Texas Tech
and Kent State
, and the emergence of freshman Maurice Clarett
as a standout running back, Ohio State used strong defense, ball-control play-calling, and field position tactics to win numerous close games, a style of play characterized as "Tresselball", and disparaged by detractors as "the Luckeyes". One of the most notable examples occurred against Purdue on November 9, when quarterback Craig Krenzel
threw a 4th down touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins late in the game to win, on a play that has gone down in Buckeye lore as "Holy Buckeye," a phrase coined by ABC Television
's Brent Musberger's during his call of the play. (Buckeye Commentary - Holy Buckeye)
A dramatic second-straight victory over Michigan propelled them into the BCS National Championship Game
at the Fiesta Bowl
, where they beat the Miami Hurricanes
in two overtime
s in one of the greatest championship games in college football history.
Following their championship season, Tressel and the school administration became entangled in a major controversy over allegations of NCAA violations by tailback Maurice Clarett. Clarett accused Tressel of orchestrating a benefits system, including free cars, cash for no-work jobs, and improper academic assistance. However, the NCAA was unable to verify the claims due to a lack of evidence. Clarett left Ohio State and tried to apply to the NFL draft, but was unsuccessful. In 2004, however, Troy Smith's acceptance of $500 from former OSU booster Robert Q. Baker led to a 2-game suspension from the team, which continued into the 2005 season. The businessman was also sanctioned.
Tressel's success continued with two additional Big Ten championships in 2005 and 2006 (the 2006 title outright) and a record through the 2006 regular season of 62-14. The 2005 team was characterized by slow development of the offense and early losses to Texas and Penn State, followed by an offensive explosion that saw the Buckeyes score 40 or more points in five consecutive games, the first time in the team's history. The Buckeyes again defeated Michigan in Ann Arbor and then Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
However after posting a 12-0 regular season in 2006, and going wire-to-wire during the regular season as the top-ranked team to advance to the BCS National Championship game on January 8, 2007, the Buckeyes endured a shocking defeat to the Florida Gators
, 41-14. In the spring of 2007, the NCAA released figures on the football program's Academic Progress Rate
(APR) that showed an increase its score from the penalty cut-off point of 925 to 928.
Following the loss to Florida, the team lost senior Troy Smith
to the end of his college eligibility and juniors Ted Ginn, Jr.
, Antonio Pittman
, and Anthony Gonzalez
to the NFL. Preseason speculation in the sports media anticipated a finish in 2007 of no higher than 3rd in the Big Ten. However, playing what was sometimes criticized as a weak schedule, and behind the statistically best defense among Bowl Series teams, Ohio State finished the season at 11-1, its only defeat in its final home game, against Illinois. Despite this, numerous defeats of top-ranked teams propelled Ohio State back into the top position in the BCS. On January 7, 2008, it lost its second straight BCS National Championship game, this time to the LSU Tigers
by a score of 38-24.
The following season would see the arrival of heavily recruited high school quarterback Terrelle Pryor
at Ohio State. After a 35-3 loss to the USC Trojans
Pryor would get the starting job at quarterback, replacing senior Todd Boeckman
. The next three seasons would see the Buckeyes amass a 31-5 record, win or share three Big Ten championships, and win two BCS bowls. In late 2010, however it was found that five Buckeye players,including Pryor, had improperly sold memorabilia to the owner of a tattoo parlor.The players were to be suspended for the first five games of the 2011-2012 season. There were calls for Tressell to suspend the players for the 2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl. Tressel decided against it however, and the Buckeyes went on to claim 31-26 victory over Arkansas and their fifth BCS bowl victory since hiring Tressel. In March 2011, it was discovered that Tressel had prior knowledge of the violations committed by his players, and he was suspended for the first five games of the next season. However, after facing months of intense criticism and damning reports, Tressel resigned as head coach on May 31,2011. Assistant coach, and former Buckeye player, Luke Fickell was hired as the interim coach for the 2011-2012 season. Tressel left Ohio State as its third-winningest coach and won or shared 7 Big Ten titles( including 2010 title vacated by NCAA).
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
in the Western Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
, its successor the Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
, and in the NCAA Division I. Its history parallels the development of college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
as a major sport in the United States and demonstrates the status of the Buckeyes as one of its major programs.
1890-1912: Beginnings
In the spring of 1890 the growing fever of the Walter Camp-style of football, formulated between 1880 and 1883 among colleges of the future Ivy LeagueIvy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
, reached Columbus, Ohio. George Cole, an undergraduate, is generally given credit for organizing the first intercollegiate team at Ohio State. He persuaded Alexander S. Lilley to coach the squad and brought in a renowned Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
and soon-to-be coach of the Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue Boilermakers
Boilermakers is the official nickname for the intercollegiate athletic teams of Purdue University. As is common with athletic nicknames, it is also used as colloquial designation of Purdue's students and alumni at large....
, Knowlton L. "Snake" Ames, to familiarize the team with fundamentals. The Buckeyes first game, played on Saturday, May 3, 1890, at Delaware, Ohio
Delaware, Ohio
The City of Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County in the United States state of Ohio. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area...
, against Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
, was a victory, but two other projected spring games could not be arranged.
Play resumed in November, with home games played at Recreation Park (near the current Schiller Park in south Columbus), but Ohio State lost all three. The next year representatives met with counterparts from Adelbert, Denison
Denison University
Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital...
, Buchtel
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a coeducational public research university located in Akron, Ohio, United States. The university is part of the University System of Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a small college affiliated with the Universalist Church. In 1913 ownership was transferred to the City of...
, and Kenyon College
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio...
s to agree to various terms and laid the groundwork for the informal "Big Six" conference of Ohio colleges. Throughout its first decade nearly all of Ohio State's opponents were in-state teams. In 1892 Jack Ryder became Ohio State's first paid coach, earning $15 a week during a ten-week season. After losing his first game, against Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
and its new coach John Heisman
John Heisman
John William Heisman was an American player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College , Buchtel College, now known as the University of Akron , Auburn University , Clemson University , Georgia Tech , the...
, Ryder complied a 22-22-2 record.
Over the next eight years, under a number of coaches, the team played to a cumulative record of 31 wins, 39 losses, and 2 ties. Home games were moved to a field on campus at Neil and 11th Avenues, then in 1898 to Ohio Field
Ohio Field
Ohio Field, home to the football team at The Ohio State University before Ohio Stadium, was built in 1898 and dedicated ten years later. Seating capacity was approximately 5,000 until 1907, when a grandstand and bleachers were added. Another renovation in 1910 saw a second grandstand added, with...
at High Street and Woodruff Avenue. Play was brutal and dangerous but continued to grow in popularity. The first game against Michigan, in Ann Arbor, was a 34-0 loss in 1897, a year that saw the low point in Buckeye football history with a 1-7-1 record.
In 1899 the university hired John Eckstorm away from Kenyon College (Kenyon had beaten Ohio State 29-0 the previous year). He brought professional coaching skills to the program and immediately won the Big Six for the first time by going undefeated, as well as beating Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
after previous teams had gone 0-6. His second season was almost as successful, as the 8-1-1 record included a scoreless tie against Michigan. In 1901, however, center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
John Sigrist, a 27-year-old senior, was fatally injured in a game against Western Reserve
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
and the continuation of intercollegiate football at Ohio State was in serious question. Although the school's athletic board backed away from a confrontation and let the team decide its future, a faculty resolution to cancel the season was not easily defeated and Eckstorm resigned.
In 1902 the team won its first four games by a combined score of 86-0, then traveled to Ann Arbor and lost to the Wolverines—86-0. From that humiliation Fred Cornell, a freshman football player, wrote Carmen Ohio
Carmen Ohio
"Carmen Ohio" is the oldest school song still used by Ohio State University. The song was composed by freshman Fred Cornell on the train ride home from Ann Arbor, Michigan, after Ohio State suffered an 86-0 loss to the University of Michigan Wolverines...
, which became the school's alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
. In 1906, yet another coaching change saw the hiring of Albert A. Herrnstein, the coach of Purdue, who had been a running back for Michigan and had scored six touchdowns against Ohio State in 1902. Herrnstein's four years were successful (although not against his former team) and also saw the first use of the forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
by the Buckeyes.
In 1908 the name of University Field was changed to Ohio Field, and although the team continued to prosper, continuing losses to Michigan, Case, and Oberlin saw the cycle of coaching changes continue. By the end of the 1912 season, Ohio State's 23rd, the team had had eleven coaches, sixteen coaching changes, and stood 126-72-17, having never beaten Michigan. Among the oddities occurring during its formative years, the Buckeyes won a game by forfeit (its only win in 1897, over Ohio Medical), lost one by forfeit (Penn State in 1912), and had a player play for both teams in one game (Bob Hager, loaned to Marietta College
Marietta College
Marietta College is a co-educational private college in Marietta, Ohio, USA, which was the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. The school offers 42 majors along with a large number of minors, all of which are grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation...
in 1898, a game which Marietta won).
1912: A watershed year
Football underwent a number of developments in 1912 that mark the year as a watershed point in Buckeye history. In the game itself, touchdownTouchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s were re-valued to the six points they are now. On April 6, the Western Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
approved Ohio State's application to join. The Bucks would play their first conference schedule in 1913 and be limited by its rules to just seven games a season. The price at the time was steep: Michigan had left the conference in 1906 and conference policy forbade playing the Wolverines.
The program itself was removed from the Department of Physical Education and made a part of the new Department of Athletics, an organization under faculty control, but a move which saw the hiring of full-time coaches with faculty status. The new football coach, John Richards, was also named the first Director of Athletics
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
but resigned from both positions at the end of the football season. Lynn Wilbur St. John
Lynn St. John
Lynn Wilbur "The Saint" St. John was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach and college athletics administrator. The Union City, Pennsylvania native was the head basketball coach at Ohio State University from 1911 to 1919, and served as the school's second athletic director, a...
, a medical student who had just been hired as business manager for OSU athletics, was named the second AD and served in that capacity for 35 years.
1913-1933: Conference, stadium, and "downtown coaches"
Ohio State's entry into the Western Conference initially saw a reduction in the number of games played each season but otherwise continued success for the program, with their first three seasons' record 14-5-2 and finishes in conference standings of 6th, 4th, and 3rd place. Coach John WilceJohn Wilce
John Woodworth "Jack" Wilce was an American football player and coach, physician, and university professor. He served as the head football coach at Ohio State University from 1913 to 1928, compiling a record of 78–33–9...
brought a stability to the program not previously experienced, and in 1916 he also brought Charles W. "Chic" Harley
Chic Harley
Charles William "Chic" Harley was one of the outstanding American football players of the first half of the 20th century and the player who first brought the Ohio State University football program to national attention. Harley was Ohio State's first consensus first-team All-America selection and...
, OSU's first "triple threat
Triple threat man
In gridiron football, the phrase triple-threat man refers to a player who excels at all three of the skills of running, passing, and kicking. In modern usage, such a player would be referred to as a utility player....
" (runner, passer, and kicker), to the varsity team. The Buckeyes had their first undefeated-untied season in 1916, and repeated as conference champions in 1917, going 8-0-1. Harley left school for wartime service in the U.S. Army Air Service, and the Buckeyes saw an undefeated streak broken at 22 games as a result. Harley returned in 1919, named an All-American for the third time, but Ohio State finished second in the Western Conference when Illinois, in the season's last game, scored the only touchdown of the year against the Buckeyes, then kicked a field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
on the final play to win 9-7. However 1919 also saw the first Buckeye victory over Michigan (which had re-joined the conference in 1917), 13-3 in Ann Arbor, the first of three straight wins against its rival.
Harley's exploits prompted both a new surge of popularity in Ohio State football and higher attendance figures, with the demand far outreaching the capacity of Ohio Field. Discussion of a new, larger facility at a location away from High Street had begun as early as 1913 but plans took shape when a horseshoe
Horseshoe
A horseshoe, is a fabricated product, normally made of metal, although sometimes made partially or wholly of modern synthetic materials, designed to protect a horse's hoof from wear and tear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall...
design was presented by alumnus Howard Dwight Smith
Howard Dwight Smith
Howard Dwight Smith was an architect most known for his designs of the Ohio Stadium for which he was awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Public Building Design....
('07) in 1918 and a professionally-managed public fundraising drive
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
begun in October 1920 that quickly pledged more than $1 million of the $1.34 million cost stipulated in the April 1921 construction contract. Ground was broken on August 3, 1921, and Ohio Stadium
Ohio Stadium
Ohio Stadium is the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is located on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The stadium was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service on March 22, 1974...
opened October 7, 1922.
With the opening of the new stadium, however, Buckeye fortunes on the gridiron
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
also turned sour. Ohio State had won its third Big Ten championship in 1920, losing its only game to California
California Golden Bears
The California Golden Bears is the nickname used for 29 varsity athletic programs and various club teams of the University of California, Berkeley...
in the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
, and a superb 1921 season had been marred by two inexplicable losses to Oberlin (the last Buckeye loss to an Ohio team) and to winless Illinois. The dedication game for Ohio Stadium was against Michigan, which became the first of six straight losses to the Wolverines, and the 1922 season the first of three losing seasons. The Buckeyes rebounded in 1926, losing only to Michigan as a result of a missed extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
with two minutes to play. The game was also notable in that more than 90,000 attended, a "standing room only
Standing room only
An event is described as standing room only when it is so well-attended that all of the chairs in the venue are occupied, leaving only flat spaces of pavement or flooring for other attendees to stand. Some venues issue standing-room-only tickets for a reduced cost since it can become very...
" figure that exceeded stadium seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
by nearly forty per cent.
However Ohio State had otherwise unspectacular seasons and never finished higher than third place in the conference, going 28-21-6 in Wilce's final seven years as head coach. Criticism of Wilce was widespread, particularly from the "downtown coaches" (a term that came into usage in the 1920s to describe vocal businessmen and other influential supporters of the program), for both failing to win the conference and for the extended losing streak to Michigan. Wilce forestalled further criticism and possible removal by resigning on June 3, 1928, effective at the end of the upcoming season, to practice medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. His sixteen years as coach had brought Ohio State to the forefront of intercollegiate football and his .695 winning percentage
Winning percentage
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win...
remains impressive.
Wilce's assistant and former Buckeye letterman, Sam Willaman, was expected to inherit the head coaching position at the December meeting of the Athletic Board, but Athletic Director St. John refused to publicly commit the program to his succession. During 1928 there had been public speculation that Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
, famed coach of Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
but enduring a mediocre season and stung by persistent criticisms of overemphasis of football at Notre Dame, might leave the Irish to take the position at Ohio State. At least two sources indicate that St. John and Rockne met in early January in New Orleans and that Rockne accepted the position at OSU contingent on his release by Notre Dame. Whether Rockne was merely trying to gain leverage for a new, larger stadium at Notre Dame and fewer road games, or whether he seriously contemplated coaching the Buckeyes will never be known, for history records that he was "unusually silent on the matter."
Willaman, a reticent, methodical man, was then selected and completely overhauled the coaching staff. Among the new coaches hired were Don Miller
Don Miller
Don Miller may refer to:*Don Miller , member of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team*Don Miller Don Miller may refer to:*Don Miller (American football), member of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team*Don...
, one of Notre Dame's famous "Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (football)
The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...
", and Ernie Godfrey
Ernie Godfrey
-External links:...
, who went on to coach at Ohio State for 33 years. Willaman's stint began auspiciously with three wins that included a victory over Michigan, but the team finished poorly with an overall 4-3-1, and although the 1930 team had a better record, it lost to its rival and still managed only a fourth place finish in the Big Ten. The situation grew worse in 1932 when an experienced Buckeye team disappointed expectations and the effects of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
significantly lowered attendance. The 1933 team lost only once, but it was to Michigan and again cost the Bucks a conference title. Heavily criticized within and without the university, Willaman resigned in January 1934 to become head coach at Western Reserve, hounded out of Columbus (according to Time Magazine) by the "downtown coaches".
1934-1943: Francis Schmidt and Paul Brown
In hiring Francis SchmidtFrancis Schmidt
Francis Albert Schmidt was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at the University of Tulsa , the University of Arkansas , Texas Christian University , Ohio State University , and the University of Idaho , compiling a...
in March 1934 to coach its football team, Ohio State moved an already "big-time" program to a higher level of competition. Schmidt was a well-established high-profile coach, having successfully coached Tulsa
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
, Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
, and Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
, and he was both an appealingly eccentric personality and an acknowledged offensive innovator. His TCU teams had won two straight Southwest Conference championships and had only lost five times in five seasons. Schmidt's offensive schemes—which totaled more than 300 plays using seven formations predicated on speed, passing, trickery, and numerous lateral
Lateral pass
In American football, a lateral pass or lateral, officially backward pass , occurs when the ball carrier throws the football to any teammate behind him or directly next to him...
s (a "wide-open" style called "razzle-dazzle")—were always changing. He did not neglect defensive play, either; his TCU teams had won 34 of their 47 victories by shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
. Schmidt was the first Buckeye football coach granted a multi-year contract.
Schmidt's 1934 squad opened the season with a 33-0 victory over Indiana, the initial shutout of the 25 registered during Schmidt's 56-game career at Ohio State. The first touchdown scored by a Schmidt team was a fake reverse
Reverse (American football)
A reverse is a relatively common trick play in American football that involves one or more abrupt changes in the lateral flow of a rushing play.-Variations:...
that went for 78 yards, epitomizing his style. The Buckeyes won seven of their eight games in 1934, four by shutout (including a 34-0 defeat of Michigan, the first of 4 straight seasons in which the Buckeyes held the Wolverines scoreless), but finished second in the Big Ten to National Champion Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers football
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as...
. The only loss of 1934, to Illinois in an away game that honored Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
, resulted from a missed point after touchdown. A 76-0 rout of Ohio Wesleyan ended scheduling against other Ohio universities until 1992. (Its record against in-state college opponents through 1934 was 153—45—15.) Recognizing that he had been hired in part to beat Michigan, Schmidt's first four seasons saw victories over their archrival, all by shut-out, beginning with a 34-0 trouncing in 1934. Quarterback Tippy Dye
Tippy Dye
William Henry Harrison "Tippy" Dye is a noted former college athlete, coach, and athletic director in the United States. As a basketball head coach, Dye led the University of Washington to their only NCAA Final Four appearance...
became the first Buckeye signal caller to win three consecutive games over Michigan.
The 1935 squad also went 7-1 but were co-champions of the Big Ten with Minnesota. The sole loss was to Notre Dame, 18-13, in the first contest between the programs. Ohio State had dominated the first half in all aspects, leading 13-0, but did not gain a yard in the second half. Notre Dame took advantage of a serious player substitution mistake by Schmidt that by the rules of the day deprived the Buckeyes of their first string backfield in the last quarter, and also recovered a Buckeye fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
with less than a minute remaining in the game that set up the winning touchdown drive.
Schmidt's next three seasons were less successful, finishing second in the conference twice and just sixth in 1938. However in 1939 the Buckeyes won the Big Ten championship despite a final-game loss to Michigan; this has only occurred twice in the rivalry since, in 1982 and 2004, when Michigan won the Big Ten despite losing to Ohio State. Quarterback Don Scott
Don Scott (American football)
Donald E. Scott was a star of American football. He was a two-time All-America quarterback at the Ohio State University. He died on October 1, 1943 when his bomber crashed while he was training as a pilot in England during World War II.-High school star:...
was named an All-American, and the team reached its highest ranking at number four following a win over Minnesota on October 21. The next week it hosted its first ever top-ten matchup, against No. 7 and eventual national champion Cornell
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, but lost 23-14. Schmidt's popularity had been fading for a number of reasons, including the mediocre showing in 1938, but the championship in 1939 and anticipation of an even better season in 1940 with 21 returning lettermen appeared to have secured his job. However the Buckeyes lost three games in a row for the first time under Schmidt, culminated by 21-7 loss to Cornell in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, in its first-ever matchup against a No. 1 ranked team. Three weeks later the Buckeyes were routed by Michigan and its senior Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winner Tom Harmon
Tom Harmon
Thomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
, 40-0, to drop to 4-4. Schmidt's entire coaching staff resigned in early December, followed by Schmidt on December 17, 1940, widely believed to avoid being fired. The Athletic Board accepted all six resignations that same day.
Immediately following the resignations, the Massillon, Ohio
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, The Independent, touted the coach of Massillon Washington High School
Massillon Washington High School
Massillon Washington High School, is a 9 to 12 grade secondary school within the Massillon City School District located in the city of Massillon, Ohio. It serves students within the city of Massillon as well as parts of Tuscarawas Township...
's football team, Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
, to succeed Schmidt. Brown's Tigers had just won their sixth straight state championship and had outscored opponents 477-6 while drawing an attendance of 116,000. An organized movement to hire Brown spread with the endorsement of his candidacy by numerous Ohio periodicals, and by a statewide letter-writing campaign orchestrated by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association. The Athletic Department interviewed four candidates in a brief but intensive national selection process, and despite his having no previous experience coaching college football and being just 32 years of age, Brown was named head coach on January 14, 1941, with a 3-year contract.
Brown immediately changed Ohio State's style of offense from the complex "razzle-dazzle" schemes of Schmidt to a power attack using the single-wing
Single-wing
In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation is any offensive formation having exactly one wingback and one tight end aligned together. The single-wing formation, created by Glenn "Pop" Warner, was a precursor to the modern spread or shotgun formation...
and T-formations, stressing precise play execution. He also hired a coaching staff of three former assistants from Massillon, two coaches he knew from rival high schools, and one member of Schmidt's deposed staff. Brown planned and organized his program in great detail, delegating to his assistant coaches and using highly-structured practices limited to 90 minutes duration to create a strong sense of team unity and identity
Team building
Team building refers to a wide range of activities, presented to businesses, schools, sports teams, religious or nonprofit organizations designed for improving team performance...
.
The 1941 season was colored by the possibility of America's entry into the Second World War and ended just two weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
. In the opener against Missouri, the Tigers befuddled the Buckeyes with a new offensive formation, the Split-T
Split-T
The split-T is an offensive formation in American football that was popular in the 1940s and 50s. Developed by Missouri Tigers head coach Don Faurot as a variation on the T formation, the split-T was first used in the 1941 season and allowed the Tigers to win all but their season-opening match...
, but failed to score on a number of drives, allowing Ohio State to escape with a 12-7 victory. The Buckeyes then defeated a West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
school for the first time, stunning the USC Trojans
University of Southern California Trojans football
The USC Trojans football program, established in 1888, represents the University of Southern California in college football. USC is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I FBS and the Pacific-12 Conference . The Trojans have been a football powerhouse throughout NCAA...
33-0 in the Los Angeles Coliseum. The remainder of its games were all close, losing only to Northwestern and tying Michigan. Northwestern was led by sophomore tailback
Tailback
Tailback can mean:* Halfback * A line of motor vehicles caught up in traffic congestion; a traffic jam...
Otto Graham
Otto Graham
Otto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
, who so impressed Brown in dominating Ohio State that Brown later made him the centerpiece of his AAFC
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
-NFL Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
professional team. At 6-1-1 Ohio State tied Michigan for second place in the Big Ten.
1942: First national championship
World War II immediately decimated the rosters of most college football teams. Ohio State lost 22 veteran players, 18 of them lettermen, of its 1941 team to graduation and military service, and fielded a team of 24 sophomores, 16 juniors, and 3 seniors, including tailback Les HorvathLes Horvath
Leslie "Les" Horvath was the 1944 Heisman Trophy winner, who played quarterback and halfback for the Ohio State University.- Early life :He was born in South Bend, Indiana, and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area....
. The Big Ten allowed an expanded season of ten games and Ohio State added a game against military football teams to both the beginning and end of their schedule.
The initial five games all resulted in victories, including a blowout of a U.S. Army team from Fort Knox
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
. Indiana, with a strong team, followed and Ohio State overcame a late Hoosier lead on a particularly hot, humid afternoon for a narrow win. USC came into Ohio Stadium and was again beaten, 28-12, resulting in the Buckeyes being ranked first in the Associated Press poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
.
On October 31 the Buckeyes traveled to Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, to play the Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...
. Wartime demands forced the team to travel on passenger cars that had been in storage when first-line equipment was diverted to the war effort
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
, and to be housed on the 6th floor of a downtown hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
without elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s. The night before the game a massive attack of dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
struck the team, attributed to the water in the hotel. The subsequent 17-7 loss to Wisconsin has gone down in the annals of Ohio State as the "bad-water game". The Buckeyes' only score came on a drive of 96 yards in the 3rd quarter and they dropped to 6th in the AP poll.
The Buckeyes decisively won the remainder of their games in 1942. Despite defeating Pitt
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
by 40 points the Buckeyes dropped to 10th in the polls, but moved up five spots when they handily defeated Illinois in a game held in Cleveland. They then defeated 4th-ranked Michigan 21-7 before a Homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
crowd of nearly 72,000 to win the Big Ten championship, passing for three touchdowns in a heavy rain and taking the ball away from the Wolverines five times. In their second extra game, the Buckeyes went on to trounce a U.S. Navy service team coached by Bernie Bierman
Bernie Bierman
Bernard W. "Bernie" Bierman was an American football player and coach. He coached from 1919 to 1950 except for a span during World War II when he served in the U.S. armed forces...
and made up of former professional and college players. When Holy Cross
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
stunned their rival, top-ranked Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
, 55-12 and Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
overwhelmed second-ranked Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in collegiate level football. While the team is officially designated as the Yellow Jackets, it is also referred to as the Ramblin' Wreck. The Yellow Jackets are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
34-0, the Buckeyes topped Georgia in the final poll to win its first national championship.
Brown had recruited what was reputedly the finest freshman team in Ohio history in 1942 but lost virtually all of them to military service. In 1943 Ohio State was handicapped when the school affiliated itself with the U.S. Army's ASTP
Army Specialized Training Program
The Army Specialized Training Program was a military training program instituted by the United States Army during World War II at a number of American universities to meet wartime demands for junior officers and soldiers with technical skills...
officer training, which did not allow its trainees to participate in varsity sports, while schools such as Michigan and Purdue became part of the Navy's V-12 program
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...
, which did. Although the Big Ten promulgated a special wartime exemption in 1943 allowing freshmen to play varsity football, Ohio State found itself in competition against older and larger teams (both military and college) featuring players such as Elroy Hirsch
Elroy Hirsch
Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch was an American football running back and receiver for the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Rockets, nicknamed for his unusual running style.-Early life:...
. The 1943 "Baby Bucks" had only five returning players and one starter from the national champion team, six from the 1942 freshman team, and 33 17-year-old freshmen, going 3-6. Prominent on the 1942-44 teams was Bill Willis
Bill Willis
William Karnet Willis was one of the dominant American football players of the 1940s and 1950s, and is an inductee in the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame. Willis was one of the first African American football players to play professional football...
, the Buckeye's first African-American star, honored in 2007 along with Chic Harley
Chic Harley
Charles William "Chic" Harley was one of the outstanding American football players of the first half of the 20th century and the player who first brought the Ohio State University football program to national attention. Harley was Ohio State's first consensus first-team All-America selection and...
and Archie Griffin
Archie Griffin
Archie Mason Griffin is a former American football running back. Griffin played seven seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. He is college football's only two-time Heisman Trophy winner...
as one of the three most important players in Buckeye football history.
1944-1950: The graveyard of coaches
Eligible for call-up into the military by the Selective Service, Paul Brown accepted a commission as a lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
on April 12, 1944, and was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center at Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Brown submitted the name of his assistant coach, Carroll Widdoes, to direct the team in his absence. Widdoes had been an assistant to Brown since 1934 and had turned down the prestigious head coach position at Washington High School to go with Brown to Ohio State. Though his only head coaching experience was at Massillon's Longfellow Junior High School, Widdoes was appointed acting head coach by the OSU Athletic Board on April 14.
The 1944 team fielded only thirteen upperclassmen and 31 freshmen, and lost standout halfback
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
Dean Sensenbaugher to an appointment to West Point. However in August it received a tremendous boost when the U.S. Army's ASTP training program
Army Specialized Training Program
The Army Specialized Training Program was a military training program instituted by the United States Army during World War II at a number of American universities to meet wartime demands for junior officers and soldiers with technical skills...
was discontinued at Ohio State and the Big Ten granted dental school student Les Horvath
Les Horvath
Leslie "Les" Horvath was the 1944 Heisman Trophy winner, who played quarterback and halfback for the Ohio State University.- Early life :He was born in South Bend, Indiana, and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area....
, discharged from ASTP, a fourth year of eligibility. Widdoes moved him to quarterback in the T formation and played him at tailback in the single wing in an otherwise freshman backfield, and as a result Ohio State went undefeated and untied. One of their victories was over Paul Brown's previously unbeaten Great Lakes Navy team, with Horvath scoring two of the Buckeyes' three final quarter touchdowns. The Buckeyes preserved their perfect season with a dramatic 4th quarter drive for a come-from-behind victory over Michigan. Ohio State finished second in the national rankings behind Army and Horvath became the first Buckeye to be awarded the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
.
The football program took an unexpected turn when Paul Brown, still in the Navy and with the war continuing, signed a contract on February 6, 1945, to coach what would become the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the professional All-America Football Conference
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
. A week later Carroll Widdoes was made the official head coach of Ohio State. World War II ended by the time the 1945 season began and Widdoes integrated a number of returning military veterans into his team, and although the Buckeyes had a creditable year at 7-2, they were manhandled at home by Purdue and lost a tight game to Michigan, finishing third in the conference behind Indiana and Michigan. Despite having the highest two-year winning percentage of any Buckeye coach, Widdoes asked to return to an assistant's position, which was granted. A few years later he left Ohio State to take the head coach and athletic director's position at Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
.
Offensive coordinator Paul Bixler
Paul Bixler
-External links:* at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com...
switched positions with Widdoes in 1946. Bixler had been hired away from Colgate
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
in 1941 by Paul Brown, familiar with his work when Bixler was an assistant at Canton McKinley High School
Canton McKinley High School
Canton McKinley Senior High School is a public high school in Canton, Stark County, Ohio, U.S. It is one of the largest and oldest high schools in Ohio.-Athletics:...
, and had never head-coached a team before taking over the Buckeyes. Although personable and detail-oriented, Bixler did not garner the respect of his players, partly because he rarely played anyone but the starters, and Ohio State endured a mediocre 4-3-2 season. The season ended with a humiliating 58-6 loss to Michigan. Bixler resigned and returned to Colgate to be its football head coach. Talk of Ohio State being a "graveyard of coaches" became commonplace, a reputation that lingered for decades.
Wes Fesler
Wes Fesler
Wesley Eugene "Wes" Fesler was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He was three-sport athlete at Ohio State University and a consensus first-team selection to the College Football All-America Team three straight years...
became head coach with a five-year contract as the result of a collaborative selection process by retiring Athletic Director Lynn St. John and his successor, Dick Larkins. Fesler was an Ohio State alumnus and had been a star athlete, winning nine letters (three in football), had been a three-time All-American, and was Big Ten MVP
Chicago Tribune Silver Football
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois was the award's first recipient.The winner of the Silver...
in 1930. As head coach at Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh Panthers
The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams of University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, faculty, and students...
he had nearly beaten Ohio State in 1946 and seemed the best choice to bring stability back to the program.
Fesler employed a single wing offense with returning Dean Sensenbaugher at tailback and Joe Whisler at fullback, but two of his key veterans, Tommy James and Tony Adamle
Tony Adamle
Anthony "Tony" Adamle was a professional American football linebacker and fullback in the All-America Football Conference and the National Football League...
, had left school to play professional football and the Bucks had a dismal 2-6-1 record, shut out four times and scoring only 60 points the entire season. Finishing last in the Big Ten for the only time in team history, only an improbable win against Northwestern had kept the record from matching 1897's worst ever.
Trailing the Wildcats 6-0 and having already turned the ball over on downs with two minutes to play, Ohio State threw an interception
Interception (football)
An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...
on what was apparently the last play of the game, but a penalty gave the Buckeyes an extra play after time had expired. That too was stopped and again negated by penalty. The Bucks then tied the game on a pass, only to have the try for extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
blocked. Again a penalty negated the play, and on the fourth extra play of the game the Buckeyes made the conversion and won 7-6.
Although again hurt by players leaving to play pro football, Ohio State improved greatly in 1948, winning six games and losing three in a year when the Big Ten was an exceptionally strong conference. In 1949 the Buckeyes overcame an early lopsided loss to Minnesota to go on to a successful season, due in great part to the play of sophomore Vic Janowicz
Vic Janowicz
Victor Felix "Vic" Janowicz was an American football halfback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Ohio State University and was drafted in the seventh round of the 1952 NFL Draft...
. Tying Michigan in Ann Arbor to become Big Ten co-champions, Ohio State also received the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
invitation, where they came from behind to defeat California.
1950 was thought to be a rebuilding year for Ohio State after 21 seniors on the 1949 team graduated but that team's sophomores were a very strong class, having been recruited in part by an alumni organization known as "The Front-Liners", and Vic Janowicz was moved to quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
. Fesler, rumored to be resigning because of pressures associated with the position and abuse of his family by anonymous critics, returned to coach the Buckeyes on a run for a national championship.
Fesler's 5-4-2 defense while strong against the run, proved vulnerable to the pass, and an opening game matchup between Janowicz and SMU's
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
Kyle Rote
Kyle Rote
William Kyle Rote, Sr. was an American football player and sports announcer.-Early life:Rote attended Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, where he was an all-state basketball and football player....
(the recipient and runner-up, respectively, for the 1950 Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
) was lost when the Mustangs overcame a 17-point deficit with four touchdown passes. Fesler responded by playing Janowicz at halfback again, although he continued to be a serious passing threat to opposing teams, and Ohio State won six games in a row, most by wide margins, to move into the top ranking in the AP poll. However the season fell completely apart in the final two games when the Buckeyes turned the ball over seven times to lose to Illinois, and in a game known to Ohio State fans as the "Snow Bowl", lost to Michigan 9-3 in a blizzard
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...
. The teams punt
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
ed a combined 45 times and all the scoring—a Janowicz field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
and a safety and touchdown for Michigan—resulted from blocked punts. Fesler's decision to punt on third down
Down (football)
A down is a period in which a play transpires in American and Canadian football.-Description:A down begins with a snap or free kick , and ends when the ball or the player in possession of it is declared down by an official, a team scores, or the ball or player in possession of it leaves the field...
with 47 seconds remaining in the first half, recovered for a touchdown by Michigan, was severely criticized.
Two weeks after the Snow Bowl, citing concerns about his health and family, Fesler resigned to go into real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
. Less than two months later, however, he was named head coach at Minnesota. Detractors of Ohio State in general and Woody Hayes in particular have cited Fesler as a victim of unremitting abuse by "big football" at Ohio State but throughout the 1950 season speculation that Minnesota's Bernie Bierman
Bernie Bierman
Bernard W. "Bernie" Bierman was an American football player and coach. He coached from 1919 to 1950 except for a span during World War II when he served in the U.S. armed forces...
would retire had repeatedly suggested that Fesler was a prime candidate for his replacement.
While newspaper references to the "Buckeyes" date back to at least 1919, it was not until 1950 that the school officially adopted "Buckeyes" as the nickname of its athletic teams.
Early criticism and a national championship
The search for a coach to replace Wes Fesler was in some ways a replay of the talent search to replace Francis Schmidt: Paul Brown, even though he had become a successful coach on the professional level, was the immediate "favorite" and had a well-organized corps of supporters boosting his cause. As in 1940, the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association voiced their support for Brown early on. However Brown had also alienated many Buckeye alumni by failing to return to the coaching position reserved for him at the end of World War II, and the athletics department by signing Buckeye players, Lou GrozaLou Groza
Louis Roy Groza was an American football placekicker and offensive tackle who played his entire career for the Cleveland Browns....
chief among them, to professional contracts before their college eligibility had ended.
A unanimous vote of the board of trustees endorsed the choice of the selection committee and on February 18, 1951, named as head coach Wayne Woodrow Hayes
Woody Hayes
Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University , Miami University , and Ohio State University , compiling a career college football record of 238–72–10.During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio...
, who had achieved success as head coach of both his alma mater Denison University
Denison University
Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital...
and Miami (Ohio). Hayes, ironically, had not been the committee's first choice. The head coach of Missouri
Missouri Tigers
The Missouri Tigers athletics programs include the extramural and intramural sports teams of the University of Missouri, located in Columbia, Missouri, United States...
, Don Faurot
Don Faurot
Donald Burrows Faurot was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, now Truman State University, from 1926 to 1934 and at the University of Missouri from 1935 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1956...
, had been offered and accepted the position a week earlier, but changed his mind two days later. Going into his first season, Hayes thus did not enjoy widespread support among Ohio State's following.
Hayes had Janowicz returning for his senior year but he converted the Buckeye offense from single-wing
Single-wing
In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation is any offensive formation having exactly one wingback and one tight end aligned together. The single-wing formation, created by Glenn "Pop" Warner, was a precursor to the modern spread or shotgun formation...
to T-formation, limiting the tailback's effectiveness. He also instituted a demanding practice regimen and was both aggressive and vocal in enforcing it, alienating many players accustomed to Fesler's laid-back style. With the exception on a blowout of Iowa in mid-season, the 1951 Buckeyes were a low-scoring team that won 4, lost 3 (including a 7-0 loss to Michigan), and tied 2, leaving many to question the ability of the new coach. In 1952, however, Hayes continued his transformation of the team, playing Howard "Hopalong" Cassady as a freshman and installing a split-T
Split-T
The split-T is an offensive formation in American football that was popular in the 1940s and 50s. Developed by Missouri Tigers head coach Don Faurot as a variation on the T formation, the split-T was first used in the 1941 season and allowed the Tigers to win all but their season-opening match...
offense. The Buckeyes nearly doubled their point production, improved to 6-3, and recorded their first victory over Michigan in eight years, 27-7. The 1953 team was expected to improve further but also finished 6-3 when they were shut out by Michigan, and critics called for the replacement of Hayes.
In 1954 (even with Cassady now a seasoned junior) the Buckeyes were picked to finish no higher than 5th in the Big Ten. Hayes, however, had hired Lyal Clark back from Minnesota, where he had gone with Fesler, to coach the Buckeye defense and that season no opponent scored more than two touchdowns on the Buckeyes, and seven of the ten were held to a touchdown or less. An 88-yard interception return by Cassady against second-ranked Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...
and a goal-line stand against Michigan propelled Ohio State to a perfect season that included a 20-7 victory over USC
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...
in the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
. Woody Hayes won his first and the team's second national championship (which was shared with co-champions, UCLA).
In 1955 Hopalong Cassady won the Heisman Trophy, and the team again took the Big Ten championship with a 7-2 record, set an attendance record of 490,477, and won in Ann Arbor for the first time in 18 years with a 17-0 shutout in which Michigan crossed the 50-yard line only once, on a penalty. Ohio State passed only three times in the game; the sole reception was the only completion in the final three games of the year, leading to characterization of Hayes' style of offensive play as "three yards and a cloud of dust".
NCAA probation, other difficulties, and a third national title
In its issue of October 24, 1955, Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, through an article by Robert Shaplen, stated that Hayes had used money he received from his weekly television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show to make small personal loans to financially-needy players on his team for expenses such as clothing and travel expenses, stating:
Once signed, a recruit can count on some financial help from Hayes if he is “in need”. Woody insists that he never forks up for a luxury- another narrow line- but it’s certainly also true that he makes sure he won’t lose any valuable men by financial default.
The article resulted in an immediate furor over possible violations of NCAA rules, although Hayes insisted that the loans were made with his own personal funds and were to be repaid, and in effect plead ignorance of the rules. The faculty council, followed by the Big Ten and the NCAA, conducted lengthy investigations which went beyond the scope of the original allegations, and on April 26, 1956, Big Ten Commissioner Kenneth "Tug" Wilson found Hayes and the program guilty of violations and placed it on a year's probation, making all Buckeye sports teams ineligible for play in NCAA tournaments.
The 1956 season became one of mixed results. The Buckeyes began the season strong with impressive wins over Nebraska
Nebraska Cornhuskers football
The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
and Stanford
Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams...
, and won their Big Ten opener for their eighth victory in a row. The next week they were upset, however, in Ohio Stadium by three-touchdown underdog
Underdog (competition)
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. The party, team or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the rare case where an underdog wins, the outcome is an upset. These...
Penn State, on a missed extra point (and Penn State had been scheduled only after Navy had canceled its game with Ohio State). Ohio State ran its conference game win streak to a record 17 with a victory over Indiana on November 10, but then lost back-to-back to Iowa and Michigan, both by shutouts and the first time a Hayes-coached team had lost 2 in a row. The Iowa game was marked by intemperate verbal exchanges between Iowa coach Forest Evashevski
Forest Evashevski
Forest "Evy" Evashevski was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1940 and with the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks in 1942...
and Hayes over the condition of the field in Iowa Stadium
Kinnick Stadium
Kinnick Stadium, formerly known as Iowa Stadium, and known in the area simply as Kinnick, is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, in the sport of college football...
, allegedly unmowed to slow down the Buckeyes. Iowa won the game, the Big Ten championship, and the Rose Bowl that followed.
In 1957 four Big Ten teams were picked in pre-season polls to finish in the Top 10, but Ohio State was not one of them, and in their opener, the Buckeyes lost to TCU
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
, their third defeat in a row. For the only time in its history, however, the team won all of its remaining games after an opening loss to claim the Big Ten championship, win the Rose Bowl over Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
, and share a national championship title with Auburn. Hayes was also named Coach of the Year.
Perhaps the most noted game during the season was the rematch with Iowa, which entered the game undefeated, higher-ranked, and a six-point favorite. Ohio State had lost its starting halfback, Don Clark, to a leg injury the week before, and with the discord between the coaches well-publicized, the week leading up to the game took on the frenzy of Michigan Week. The game drew a then-record attendance in Ohio Stadium, including Vice-President of the United States Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, and the Buckeyes beat Iowa 17-13 on a late 4th quarter drive featuring sophomore fullback Bob White. Nixon met Hayes after the game and the two became life-long friends.
In the ensuing years the Buckeyes finished 3rd twice and 8th once—the first of his two losing seasons at Ohio State. In 1961 the team went undefeated to be named national champions by the FWAA
Football Writers Association of America
The Football Writers Association of America is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the NCAA...
but a growing conflict between academics and athletics over Ohio State's reputation as a "football school" came to a head when the faculty council voted on November 28 to decline the invitation to the Rose Bowl extended to the team (although they also voted to accept its share of the gate receipt
Receipt
A receipt is a written acknowledgment that a specified article or sum of money has been received as an exchange for goods or services. The receipt is evidence of purchase of the property or service obtained in the exchange.-Printed:...
s). Nearly a year would pass before the council would rescind the decision, after much public protest and debate.
Over the next 6 seasons Ohio State finished no higher than 2nd, and had a losing season in 1966, although it did beat Michigan four times. When it lost three of its first five games in 1967 (all at home), public speculation that Hayes would be replaced as coach grew to its highest point since 1953. Jack Park, author of the program's official history, states that decision to turn down the Rose Bowl had "strongly impaired...(Ohio State)'s recruiting within its own state".
OSU's super sophomores
The Class of 1970 was one of the strongest to ever play for Ohio State, and might have won three consecutive undisputed national championships except for what may have been the bitterest loss in Buckeye history. In 1968 Hayes regularly played 13 members during their sophomore season (ten as starters), a practice he had once predicted would cost a loss per sophomore played. While the 1968 team also returned a significant number of veteran players, particularly the offensive line, the Class of 1970 had such an impact on the season that they became known as the "super sophomores."Ohio State opened the season with four wins at home, defeating SMU
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, Oregon
Oregon Ducks
The Oregon Ducks refers to the sports teams of the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon. The Oregon Ducks are part of the Pacific-12 Conference in the Division 1 of the NCAA. With seventeen varsity teams, the Oregon Ducks are best known for their football team and Track and Field...
, Purdue
Purdue Boilermakers
Boilermakers is the official nickname for the intercollegiate athletic teams of Purdue University. As is common with athletic nicknames, it is also used as colloquial designation of Purdue's students and alumni at large....
and Northwestern
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. The Big Ten opener matched them against the number one-ranked Boilermakers and although threatened three times in the first half, Purdue held Ohio State scoreless. In the 3rd quarter junior Ted Provost intercepted a pass, returning it for a touchdown, and after sophomore starting quarterback Rex Kern
Rex Kern
Rex William Kern is a former American football player. He played quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 1968 to 1970, and played professional football in the National Football League at defensive back for the Baltimore Colts and Buffalo Bills...
was injured, senior Bill Long, who had quarterbacked the team the previous two seasons, returned to score the decisive final touchdown in the 13-0 upset. The Buckeyes continued to an undefeated season that saw wins over four ranked teams (three in the top ten), a 50-14 rout of Michigan, and a Rose Bowl victory over the USC Trojans
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...
that resulted in the national championship.
The winning streak carried over to the 1969 season and reached 22 games as Ohio State traveled to Michigan. The Buckeyes had encountered little trouble disposing of every team on its schedule, unlike 1968 when a number of games had been closely contested, winning eight games by an average score of 46-9. Despite the fact that Michigan came into the game ranked twelfth and had outscored its four most recent opponents 178-22, the Buckeyes were 17-point favorites. Because of a "no-repeat" policy in the Big Ten regarding the Rose Bowl and guaranteed no worse than a co-championship of the conference, the number one-ranked Buckeyes were playing for a perfect record only. Michigan was directed by first-year coach Bo Schembechler
Bo Schembechler
Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8...
, a former Hayes protegé. Michigan shocked the Buckeyes and led 24-12 at the half, then totally shutdown the defending champions in the second half, intercepting six Buckeye passes. The 24-12 upset was one of the most significant in college football history, and arguably the greatest in the rivalry.
The super sophomores included three-year starters Rex Kern
Rex Kern
Rex William Kern is a former American football player. He played quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 1968 to 1970, and played professional football in the National Football League at defensive back for the Baltimore Colts and Buffalo Bills...
, Jack Tatum
Jack Tatum
John David Tatum was an American football defensive back who played ten seasons from 1971 through 1980 for the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers in the National Football League...
, Jim Stillwagon
Jim Stillwagon
Jim Stillwagon is a former all star American college football player and Canadian Football League player.Stillwagon was a three-year starter with the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was a consensus All-America selection as a junior and senior, and won the Outland Trophy and was the first-ever winner of...
, John Brockington
John Brockington
John Stanley Brockington is a former American football running back. He was the National Football League's Green Bay Packers' 1st round draft choice out of the Ohio State University, and was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1971.-College career:Brockington played halfback and fullback for...
, Mike Sensibaugh
Mike Sensibaugh
James Michael "Mike" Sensibaugh is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He played eight seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs and the St. Louis Cardinals...
, Jan White, Bruce Jankowski, Tim Anderson, Larry Zelina, Mike Vladich, Doug Adams, and Mark Debevc. Kern, Tatum, and Stillwagon have since been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
.
The Ten Year War
The 1969 loss to Michigan initiated what came to be known as "The Ten Year War," in which the rivalry, which pitted some of OSU’s and UM’s strongest teams ever, rose to the uppermost level of all sports and the competition between Schembechler and Hayes became legendary. Four times between 1970 and 1975, Ohio State and Michigan were both ranked in the top five of the AP Poll before their matchup. The Wolverines entered every game during those years undefeated and won only once, a 10-7 victory in Ann Arbor on November 20, 1971.Both teams used the annual game as motivation for entire seasons and after the initial win by Michigan, played dead even at four wins and a tie apiece. Hayes had the upper hand during the first part of the war, in which Ohio State won the conference championship and went to the Rose Bowl four straight years, while Michigan won the final three. It was also an era in which through television Ohio State football again came to the forefront of national attention.
Hayes set the tone in spring practice in 1970, placing a rug at the entrance to the Buckeye dressing room emblazoned with the words: "1969 MICH 24 OSU 12 — 1970 MICH:__ OSU:__" as a constant reminder of their objective. The "super sophomores", now seniors, used a strong fullback-oriented offense to smash their way through the season undefeated, struggling only with Purdue the week before the Michigan game. The return match in Columbus found both teams undefeated and untied, a "first" in the history of the rivalry, with Michigan ranked fourth and Ohio State fifth. Ohio State combined a powerful defense that held Michigan to only 37 yards rushing, a rushing offense employing two tight ends as blockers, and a 26-yard touchdown pass from Kern to Bruce Jankowski to win 20-9. The Buckeyes returned to the Rose Bowl to be upset by Stanford
Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams...
27-17. The "super sophomores" had garnered a record of 27-2, the best winning percentage of any three-year period in team history, and won or shared the Big Ten title all three years. The National Football Foundation
National Football Foundation
The National Football Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1947 by General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army Black Knights football coach Earl "Red" Blaik and journalist Grantland Rice...
named Ohio State its national champion for 1970.
1971 was less successful than the preceding seasons, but the middle four years of the 10-year war saw the greatest success for Hayes against Michigan, although the teams fell short of repeating their 1968 national championship. Archie Griffin
Archie Griffin
Archie Mason Griffin is a former American football running back. Griffin played seven seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. He is college football's only two-time Heisman Trophy winner...
began his college football career in 1972, taking advantage of new NCAA eligibility rules that allowed freshmen to compete at the varsity level. In his second game, sent in against North Carolina late in the first quarter, Griffin set a new Buckeye rushing record with 239 yards and led the team in rushing for the season with 867.
The following season Hayes installed an I-formation attack with Griffin at tailback and fellow sophomore Cornelius Greene
Cornelius Greene
Cornelius Greene is a former American football quarterback who played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and professionally in the Canadian Football League. He played under legendary coach Woody Hayes. He was the first African American quarterback to start at Ohio State.-References:...
at quarterback. The Buckeyes went undefeated with a powerful offense and equally impenetrable defense, achieving an average margin of victory of 31 points a game. The only blemish on their record was a 10-10 tie with Michigan after both teams had entered the game unbeaten. (The tie was more galling for the Wolverines, however, as the Big Ten selected Ohio State to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl.) Despite soundly defeating defending national champion USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, however, the tie with Michigan resulted in the Buckeyes finishing second to Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade, , recollected among other places in the poetry of Joyce Kilmer who served with one of the Irish Brigade regiments during World War I...
in the final AP
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
rankings. Griffin, Randy Gradishar
Randy Gradishar
Randy Charles Gradishar is a former college and professional American football linebacker who played in the 1970s and 1980s. Randy Gradishar is currently the Director of Corporate Communications for the Phil Long Dealerships in Colorado...
, Van DeCree
Van DeCree
Van Ness DeCree, from Warren, Ohio, is a former football defensive end who was a two-time All-American at Ohio State University. DeCree is a member of the Ohio State Football Hall of Fame He was also a three-year starter and a three-time All-Big 10 selection at defensive end, having been voted...
, and John Hicks
John Hicks
Sir John Richard Hicks was a British economist and one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economics were his statement of consumer demand theory in microeconomics, and the IS/LM model , which...
were named All-Americans; Hicks, an offensive tackle, not only won both the Outland
Outland Trophy
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best United States college football interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named All-America at two positions, Outland garnered consensus All-America honors in...
and Lombardi Trophies
Lombardi Trophy
Lombardi Trophy may refer to:*Vince Lombardi Trophy, awarded to the winning team of the Super Bowl*Lombardi Award, an annual award to the best college football lineman or linebacker...
, but placed second in the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
competition.
1974 and 1975 were seasons of both elation and frustration. The Buckeyes twice more defeated Michigan and went to two Rose Bowls, but lost both. The 1974 team seemed bound for another national championship when it was derailed by a loss to unranked Michigan State
Michigan State Spartans
The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic team that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 25 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white...
(Ohio State lost only twice in the regular season during Griffin's 4-year career, both to the Spartans), and the next year the #1-ranked Bucks lost 23-10 to 11th-ranked UCLA in the 1976 Rose Bowl. In all the Buckeyes were 40-5-1 from 1972–75, winning the Big Ten all four years and never losing to Michigan, but each loss and the tie were crucial in failing to win another championship. Archie Griffin, however, received the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
for both years, off-setting much of the frustration, and amassed 5,589 yards in his career.
The falloff in success of Hayes' last three years was not great. His teams forged records of 9-2-1, 9-3, and 7-4-1, and made bowl appearances in all three years (the rules had changed to allow appearances in other than the Rose Bowl). However frustrations in losing three straight years to Michigan, and other factors, resulted in growing criticism of Hayes and his methods, particularly his on-the-field fits of temper. Even so his downfall was sudden and shocking when near the end of the nationally-televised Gator Bowl
Gator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Held continuously since 1946, it is the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nationally...
, Hayes punched Clemson
Clemson Tigers
The Clemson Tigers are any team that represents Clemson University as a member of the NCAA's Division I or in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference....
middle guard Charlie Bauman after Bauman intercepted a pass to kill Ohio State's last chance to win. Hayes was fired after the game by Ohio State president Harold Enarson and athletic director Hugh Hindman.
1979-1987: Earle Bruce
Hayes was replaced by a former protegé, Earle BruceEarle Bruce
Earle Bruce is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tampa , Iowa State University , Ohio State University , the University of Northern Iowa , and Colorado State University , compiling a career college football record of 154–90–2...
. Bruce inherited a strong team led by sophomore quarterback Art Schlichter
Art Schlichter
Arthur Ernest Schlichter is a retired college and professional American football quarterback, sometimes known for his compulsive gambling and the legal problems especially gambling that arose from it...
but that had also lost eleven starters, and the 1979 squad exceeded pre-season expectations, ending the 3-year loss drought against Michigan and going to the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
with an opportunity once again to be national champions. The Buckeyes lost both by a single point, 17-16, but Bruce was named Coach of the Year. His success was hailed by those in the media who saw it as a rebuke of Hayes and the start of a "new era".
1980, however, saw the start of a trend that eventually brought criticism to Bruce, when Ohio State finished with a 9-3 record, the first of six consecutive years at 9-3. Though each of these seasons, and the 10-3 season that followed them, culminated in a bowl game, Ohio State did not appear to be any closer to a national championship than during the end of the Hayes era. Bruce's teams were not without impact players, however. All-Americans and future National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
stars included Keith Byars
Keith Byars
Keith Alan Byars is an American sports broadcaster and former American football player in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets.-Early life:...
, Cris Carter
Cris Carter
Cristopher D. Carter is a former American football player in the National Football League. He played wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles , the Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins ....
, Chris Spielman
Chris Spielman
Charles Christopher "Chris" Spielman is a former American football player and is currently an analyst for ESPN's coverage of college football games.-Football career:...
, John Frank
John Frank
John G. Frank was an American football player who played tight end in the NFL from 1984 to 1988 and earned two Super Bowl rings.-High school & college:He attended Mt...
, Jim Lachey
Jim Lachey
James Michael Lachey is a former American football offensive tackle who played for ten seasons in the National Football League with the San Diego Chargers, the Los Angeles Raiders and the Washington Redskins from 1985 to 1995, missing the 1993 season with a knee injury.Lachey graduated from St...
, Tom Tupa
Tom Tupa
Thomas Joseph Tupa, Jr. is a former American football punter and quarterback in the National Football League.-Personal life and high school career:...
, Marcus Marek, and Pepper Johnson
Pepper Johnson
Thomas "Pepper" Johnson is a former American football linebacker, and the current defensive line coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League.-College:...
. His program was also known for the number of notable assistant coaches on staff, including Jim Tressel
Jim Tressel
James Patrick Tressel is a gameday consultant for the Indianapolis Colts, and former collegiate football head coach at both The Ohio State University from 2001 to 2011 and at Youngstown State University from 1986 to 2000. Tressel is most notable for his time at Ohio State. He was hired by the...
, Glen Mason
Glen Mason
Glen O. Mason is an American football coach. Mason previously served as the head football coach at Kent State University, the University of Kansas, and the University of Minnesota, compiling a career college football record of 123–121–1.-Playing career:Mason played college football at...
, Pete Carroll
Pete Carroll
Peter Clay Carroll is the head coach and executive Vice-President of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He is a former head coach of the New York Jets, New England Patriots and the University of Southern California Trojans football team.-Early life:Carroll attended Redwood High...
, Nick Saban
Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou "Nick" Saban is the head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide football team. Saban has previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and three other NCAA universities: LSU, Michigan State and Toledo...
, Urban Meyer
Urban Meyer
Urban Frank Meyer, III is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at Ohio State University, having been hired for the position in November 2011...
and Dom Capers
Dom Capers
Ernest Dominic "Dom" Capers is an American football coach, the current defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, and the only man to serve two different National Football League expansion teams as their inaugural head coach....
.
The 1980 team was selected as the top-ranked team of the pre-season AP poll and opened the season with four games at home, but were shocked in the fourth game by UCLA, shut out 17-0. The team rebounded to win its next six easily, but then were shut down by a ball-control Michigan team that allowed the Buckeyes only 23 minutes with the ball, then lost again to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
.
In 1981, Ohio State opened strong, including a victory at Stanford
Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams...
in which senior Art Schlichter out-dueled John Elway
John Elway
John Albert Elway, Jr. is a former American football quarterback and currently is the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played college football at Stanford and his entire professional career with the Denver Broncos...
, but then lost back-to-back games to Florida State
Florida State Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles are the men's and women's sports teams of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State participates in the NCAA's Division I . FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1991, and competes in the Atlantic Division in any sports split into a...
and Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...
(their first victory over the Buckeyes in 22 games). The Buckeyes continued to struggle on defense, losing a third time, at Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports team for the University of Minnesota. The university fields both men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, golf, ice hockey, swimming, tennis, and track and field. Men's-specific sports include baseball, football, and...
. Victories over Michigan to gain a share of the Big Ten championship and over Navy
Navy Midshipmen football
The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I-A college football. They are a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent school and coached by Ken Niumatalolo since December 2007...
in the Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...
salvaged the season.
For the first time since 1922 the Buckeyes lost three in a row in Ohio Stadium in 1982, including rematches with Stanford and Florida State, and for the second year in a row to Wisconsin, but then won seven straight, the last over BYU in the Holiday Bowl
Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that has been played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, since 1978. Beginning with the 2010 playing the bowl will officially be known as the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl after...
. Sophomore running back Keith Byars had a stand-out season in 1983, rushing for 1,199 yards, and Ohio State defeated the Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners
The University of Oklahoma features 19 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's teams are called the Sooners, a nickname given to the early participants in the land rushes which initially opened the Oklahoma Indian Territory to non-native settlement. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A,...
in Norman
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
, but three losses in conference meant a 4th-place finish. 1984 witnessed what Bruce called "the greatest comeback after the worst start" when Ohio State fell behind Illinois 24-0 at home but roared back on 274 yards rushing and five touchdowns by Byars to win 45-38. Ohio State also defeated Michigan to win an outright Big Ten championship. Byars led the nation in rushing and scoring but finished second in Heisman balloting.
Byars broke his toe just prior to the start of the 1985 season, ending his Heisman hopes and seriously handicapping the Buckeye attack. He returned against Purdue with Ohio State at 4-1 and scored twice, but then re-injured his foot the next week against Minnesota. Iowa was top-ranked nationally when they came into Ohio Stadium favored to end the longest home winning streak in the country, and were the first #1 team the Buckeyes faced since Purdue in 1968. Ohio State's defense dominated with four pass interceptions to win 22-13.
In 1986 Bruce received a 3-year contract, the first for the modern program but the team opened with two losses, which had not occurred in over 90 years. The Buckeyes then won 9 in a row before Michigan took a close game when kicker Matt Frantz missed a field goal with a minute to play. After the season Bruce was offered the position of head coach at the University of Arizona with a 5-year contract but was persuaded to stay at his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
by Athletic Director Rick Bay. Hopes for a standout season in 1987 suffered a serious setback when All-American wide receiver Cris Carter
Cris Carter
Cristopher D. Carter is a former American football player in the National Football League. He played wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles , the Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins ....
was dropped from the team for signing with an agent. Indiana defeated Ohio State for the first time since 1951, 31-10, in a game that came to be known as the "darkest day", and Ohio State lost three conference games in a row going into the Michigan game.
On the Monday of Michigan week, after a weekend of rumors and speculation, Ohio State President Edward Jennings
Edward Harrington Jennings
Edward Harrington Jennings was the 10th President of the The Ohio State University from September 1, 1981 to August 31, 1990 and also the acting president from July 1, 2002 until October 1, 2002 after Bill Kirwan left the office...
fired Bruce but tried to keep the dismissal secret until after the end of the season. Bay, who had been instrumental in keeping Bruce at Ohio State, disregarded Jennings' orders and announced the firing and his own resignation in protest. Jennings made his own situation worse by refusing to give a reason for the firing and the circumstances have been the subject of controversy since. The Buckeyes enjoyed an emotional come-from-behind victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor after the entire team wore headband
Headband
A headband is a clothing accessory worn in the hair or around the forehead, usually to hold hair away from the face or eyes. Headbands generally consist of a loop of elastic material or a horseshoe-shaped piece of flexible plastic or metal...
s bearing the word "EARLE", then declined an invitation to play in the Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl
The Sun Bowl is an annual U.S. college football bowl game that is usually played at the end of December in El Paso, Texas. The Sun Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl are the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind the Rose Bowl...
.
1988-2000: John Cooper
John CooperJohn Cooper (coach)
John Cooper is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tulsa , Arizona State University , and Ohio State University , compiling a career record of 192–84–6...
was hired as the 21st football head coach at Ohio State before the end of 1987 and before he had coached his last game at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
. Cooper's coaching record at ASU and at Tulsa
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
prior to that stood out among his credentials, as did a victory over Michigan in the 1987 Rose Bowl.
Cooper's thirteen years as Buckeye head coach are largely remembered in the litany of negative statistics associated with him: a notorious 2-10-1 record against Michigan, a 3-8 record in bowl games, a 5-year losing streak to Illinois to start his term and a 6-7 record overall, and blowing a 15 point 3rd quarter lead in a 28-24 loss to unranked Michigan State when the Buckeyes were the top-ranked team in the nation and en route to a national championship. However his record also has many positives: back-to-back victories over Notre Dame, two finishes second-ranked in the polls, and three Big Ten championships (albeit shared). Cooper also recruited 15 players who first-round draft picks in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
.
Both 1988 and 1989 began identically: an impressive season-opening win followed by an embarrassing loss to a highly-regarded team (Pitt and USC
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...
); a rebound win against two other highly-regarded programs (LSU
LSU Tigers
The LSU Tigers are the athletic teams of Louisiana State University. They participate in the NCAA's Division I, in the Southeastern Conference. It fields teams in 14 varsity sports . Its official team nickname is the Fighting Tigers and the school mascot is Mike the Tiger...
and Boston College
Boston College Eagles
The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams representing Boston College. They compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in Hockey East. The women's crew team competes in the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing...
) followed by a loss to Illinois in the conference opener. However 1988 saw Ohio State lose its first three conference games and a close game at home against Michigan for a 4-6-1 record, its first losing season in 22 years. In 1989 the Buckeyes won 6 consecutive Big Ten games before losing its last two to go 8-4. The most noteworthy victory occurred in Minneapolis when Ohio State overcame a 31-0 deficit to Minnesota to win 41-37.
1990 continued the pattern with a 2-win 2-loss start and an overall 7-4-1 record that included an embarrassing loss to Air Force
Air Force Falcons football
The Air Force Falcons are a college football team from the United States Air Force Academy, located just outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the NCAA Division I and the Mountain West Conference.-Style:...
in the Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...
. 1991 was 9-4, notable primarily as the season that sophomore running back Robert Smith
Robert Smith (football)
Robert Scott Smith is a former American football running back who played with the Ohio State Buckeyes and later with the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL. While in college, he openly criticized the Ohio State football staff for not allowing him to concentrate on academics as he wanted to go to medical...
quit the team. 1992, with senior Kirk Herbstreit
Kirk Herbstreit
Kirk Herbstreit is an Emmy Award-winning analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, a television program covering college football and a provider of color commentary during college football games on ESPN and ABC. He appears annually as a commentator in EA Sports' NCAA Football. He was a quarterback on...
at quarterback, was 8-3-1, but the losing string to Michigan was broken with a 13-13 tie. Persistent rumors that Cooper would resign or be fired were laid to rest when University President Gordon Gee
Gordon Gee
Elwood Gordon Gee is an American academic. He is in his second term as the president of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio; he was previously president from 1990 to 1998....
announced he would be back in 1993.
The next 6 seasons were very successful, winning ten or more games in 5 of the 6 and sharing the conference championship in three. Eddie George
Eddie George
Edward Nathan "Eddie" George, Jr. is a former American football running back in the National Football League. He played for the Tennessee Titans both in Tennessee and in Houston when the franchise was known as the Houston Oilers, and spent his final season with the Dallas Cowboys...
won the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
in 1995 after a tremendous senior season, Ohio State defeated Notre Dame in 1995 and 1996, and won half its bowl games. But in three seasons (1993, 1995, and 1996) the Buckeyes entered the Michigan game undefeated, with the possibility of a national championship in at least one, and lost all three to underdog Wolverine teams. Ohio State had won 62 games and lost only 12, but a third of those were to Michigan.
After renewing his contract and becoming a member of the "million dollar coaching club", Cooper started sophomore Austin Moherman against the Miami Hurricanes
Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes, of Coral Gables, Florida, are the varsity sports teams of the University of Miami. They compete in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference . The university fields 15 athletic teams for 17 varsity sports...
in the nationally-televised Kickoff Classic
Kickoff Classic
The Kickoff Classic was a season-opening college football game played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey from 1983 to 2002.-History:...
and was soundly beaten. That presaged a mediocre season in which the Buckeyes finished 6-6, ending their successful 90's run. The 2000 team was more successful, going 8-4, but criticism of Cooper among fans had risen to a clamor again and touched on many areas of the program beyond specific game records. The negative publicity rose to a peak in the days leading up to Ohio State's matchup with South Carolina
South Carolina Gamecocks
The University of South Carolina's 19 varsity sports teams are known as the "Gamecocks". The unique moniker is held in honor of Thomas Sumter, a South Carolina war hero who was given the name "The Carolina Gamecock" during the American Revolution for his fierce fighting tactics, regardless of his...
in the Outback Bowl
Outback Bowl
The Outback Bowl is an annual New Year's Day college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The event was originally called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1994 until being renamed in 1995 for its new title sponsor, Outback Steakhouse...
, when wide receiver Reggie Germany was suspended for having a 0.0 GPA, team captain Matt Wilhelm
Matt Wilhelm
Matthew Wilhelm is an American football linebacker who's currently a free agent in the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
publicly criticized fellow player Ken-Yon Rambo
Ken-Yon Rambo
Ken-Yon Rambo is a professional American and Canadian football wide receiver, currently with the Canadian Football League team Calgary Stampeders.-Early life:...
, and one Buckeye lineman sued another.
In January 2001, the Ohio State University dismissed Cooper. His loss in the Outback Bowl to a team that had not even won a single game the year before was a factor in his subsequent firing, as was negative publicity regarding player behavior before and during the game. Other contributing factors included the record against Michigan (which was actually considered by most people to be the biggest reason for his firing), a reputation of inability to win "big games", the lack of a national championship, the perception of him as an outsider by many alumni, the poor bowl game record, and finally a perceived lack of discipline on the team.
2001-2010:The Jim Tressel Era
Ohio State quickly sought a replacement for Cooper before the 2001 recruiting season, and after a nationwide search hired Jim TresselJim Tressel
James Patrick Tressel is a gameday consultant for the Indianapolis Colts, and former collegiate football head coach at both The Ohio State University from 2001 to 2011 and at Youngstown State University from 1986 to 2000. Tressel is most notable for his time at Ohio State. He was hired by the...
. With a winning tradition at Youngstown State
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University, founded in 1908, is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2010, there were 15,194 students and a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. It is recognized as being one of the premier schools in the country, comparable to Ivy League...
(4 NCAA Division I-AA National Champions from 1986–2000) Tressel, formerly an assistant coach at Ohio State for Earle Bruce, was an Ohioan who was considered to be appreciative of the Buckeyes' football tradition. Although there were some doubts whether Tressel could repeat his earlier success at the Division 1A level, most fans and alumni met the coaching change with enthusiasm. The day of his hiring, Jim Tressel, speaking to fans and students at a Buckeye basketball game, made a prophetic implication that he would lead the Buckeyes to beat Michigan in Ann Arbor the following November.
Tressel's first season was difficult as the Buckeyes went 7-5. At a university that was accustomed to experiencing fewer than 2 or 3 losses a season, 2001 was considered a disappointment until Tressel made good on his promise and did what his predecessor could not, beating Michigan in Ann Arbor. Even more impressive was the fact that Tressel gave the quarterback reins to untested sophomore Craig Krenzel
Craig Krenzel
Craig Krenzel is a former college and professional American football quarterback. He is currently a radio commentator for WBNS 97.1 The FAN in Columbus, which broadcasts the Ohio State Buckeyes football games.-High school career:...
after senior starter Steve Bellisari
Steve Bellisari
Steve Bellisari is an Arena football quarterback who is currently a free agent in the Arena Football League. Bellisari is best known as an Ohio State University Buckeye from 1998 to 2001.-College career:...
was suspended following a DWI
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
arrest just prior to the Illinois game, a decision applauded as finally drawing the line on a program perceived as "getting out of hand". Despite its average record, Ohio State elected to accept an invitation to the Outback Bowl for a rematch with South Carolina. Although Ohio State lost this game also, it was marked by a strong second half comeback and were a presentiment that 33 years of frustration at not winning a national championship were about to come to an immediate end.
While fans were optimistic about the chance for success of the 2002 team, most observers were surprised by the Ohio State's National Championship
2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
The 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was the national champion of the 2002 college football season. The team was the first in Division I-A history to finish its season at 14–0, and the second to win 14 games, following BYU's 14–1 season in 1996...
. After good offensive performances against Texas Tech
Texas Tech Red Raiders
The Texas Tech Red Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University . The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders; however, the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raiders" name. The university's athletic program fields teams in 15 varsity sports and 30 club sports...
and Kent State
Kent State Golden Flashes
Kent State University's intercollegiate athletic teams are known as the Golden Flashes or simply as the Flashes. The university fields sixteen varsity athletic teams, all of whom play in the Mid-American Conference and in the NCAA's Division I...
, and the emergence of freshman Maurice Clarett
Maurice Clarett
Maurice Edward Clarett is an American football running back for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. During his freshman year at Ohio State University in 2002, he helped lead the Buckeyes to a national championship...
as a standout running back, Ohio State used strong defense, ball-control play-calling, and field position tactics to win numerous close games, a style of play characterized as "Tresselball", and disparaged by detractors as "the Luckeyes". One of the most notable examples occurred against Purdue on November 9, when quarterback Craig Krenzel
Craig Krenzel
Craig Krenzel is a former college and professional American football quarterback. He is currently a radio commentator for WBNS 97.1 The FAN in Columbus, which broadcasts the Ohio State Buckeyes football games.-High school career:...
threw a 4th down touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins late in the game to win, on a play that has gone down in Buckeye lore as "Holy Buckeye," a phrase coined by ABC Television
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Brent Musberger's during his call of the play. (Buckeye Commentary - Holy Buckeye)
A dramatic second-straight victory over Michigan propelled them into the BCS National Championship Game
BCS National Championship Game
The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, is the final bowl game of the annual Bowl Championship Series and is intended by the organizers of the BCS to determine the U.S. national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision...
at the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
, where they beat the Miami Hurricanes
Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes, of Coral Gables, Florida, are the varsity sports teams of the University of Miami. They compete in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference . The university fields 15 athletic teams for 17 varsity sports...
in two overtime
Overtime (sports)
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw. In most sports, this extra period is only played if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination...
s in one of the greatest championship games in college football history.
Following their championship season, Tressel and the school administration became entangled in a major controversy over allegations of NCAA violations by tailback Maurice Clarett. Clarett accused Tressel of orchestrating a benefits system, including free cars, cash for no-work jobs, and improper academic assistance. However, the NCAA was unable to verify the claims due to a lack of evidence. Clarett left Ohio State and tried to apply to the NFL draft, but was unsuccessful. In 2004, however, Troy Smith's acceptance of $500 from former OSU booster Robert Q. Baker led to a 2-game suspension from the team, which continued into the 2005 season. The businessman was also sanctioned.
However after posting a 12-0 regular season in 2006, and going wire-to-wire during the regular season as the top-ranked team to advance to the BCS National Championship game on January 8, 2007, the Buckeyes endured a shocking defeat to the Florida Gators
Florida Gators
The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
, 41-14. In the spring of 2007, the NCAA released figures on the football program's Academic Progress Rate
Academic Progress Rate
The Academic Progress Rate, sometimes also known as Academic Performance Rating and generally abbreviated as APR, is a metric established by the NCAA to indicate the success of collegiate athletic teams in moving student athletes towards graduation . It was instituted in February of 2005...
(APR) that showed an increase its score from the penalty cut-off point of 925 to 928.
Following the loss to Florida, the team lost senior Troy Smith
Troy Smith
Troy James Smith is an American football quarterback for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State.Smith has also played for the San Francisco 49ers. He...
to the end of his college eligibility and juniors Ted Ginn, Jr.
Ted Ginn, Jr.
-College career:OSU track coach Russ Rogers recruited Ginn to run track, believing that he could qualify for the 2008 Olympics. However, his track career was put on hold in order to focus on football. Ginn was recruited as a defensive back by Ohio State....
, Antonio Pittman
Antonio Pittman
Antonio Pittman is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State....
, and Anthony Gonzalez
Anthony Gonzalez
Anthony E. Gonzalez is an American football wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Colts in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State.-Early years:Gonzalez attended St...
to the NFL. Preseason speculation in the sports media anticipated a finish in 2007 of no higher than 3rd in the Big Ten. However, playing what was sometimes criticized as a weak schedule, and behind the statistically best defense among Bowl Series teams, Ohio State finished the season at 11-1, its only defeat in its final home game, against Illinois. Despite this, numerous defeats of top-ranked teams propelled Ohio State back into the top position in the BCS. On January 7, 2008, it lost its second straight BCS National Championship game, this time to the LSU Tigers
LSU Tigers
The LSU Tigers are the athletic teams of Louisiana State University. They participate in the NCAA's Division I, in the Southeastern Conference. It fields teams in 14 varsity sports . Its official team nickname is the Fighting Tigers and the school mascot is Mike the Tiger...
by a score of 38-24.
The following season would see the arrival of heavily recruited high school quarterback Terrelle Pryor
Terrelle Pryor
Terrelle Pryor is an American football quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2008−2010...
at Ohio State. After a 35-3 loss to the USC Trojans
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...
Pryor would get the starting job at quarterback, replacing senior Todd Boeckman
Todd Boeckman
Todd Boeckman is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent in the National Football League. He was signed by the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent on June 17, 2009...
. The next three seasons would see the Buckeyes amass a 31-5 record, win or share three Big Ten championships, and win two BCS bowls. In late 2010, however it was found that five Buckeye players,including Pryor, had improperly sold memorabilia to the owner of a tattoo parlor.The players were to be suspended for the first five games of the 2011-2012 season. There were calls for Tressell to suspend the players for the 2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl. Tressel decided against it however, and the Buckeyes went on to claim 31-26 victory over Arkansas and their fifth BCS bowl victory since hiring Tressel. In March 2011, it was discovered that Tressel had prior knowledge of the violations committed by his players, and he was suspended for the first five games of the next season. However, after facing months of intense criticism and damning reports, Tressel resigned as head coach on May 31,2011. Assistant coach, and former Buckeye player, Luke Fickell was hired as the interim coach for the 2011-2012 season. Tressel left Ohio State as its third-winningest coach and won or shared 7 Big Ten titles( including 2010 title vacated by NCAA).
2011-Present:The Urban Meyer Era
On November 28, 2011, Ohio State announced that Urban Meyer would become head coach. Having great success as the head coach at Bowling Green, Utah, and Florida, Meyer comes to Columbus with 2 BCS National Championships to his resume'.External links
- Buckeye birthplace Columbus Dispatch article on first Ohio State football game location