1890 - 1915: The Early Days
Ohio State played its first football game on May 5, 1890, a 20-14 win over Ohio Wesleyan. For the next twenty-six years, Ohio State was a middle of the road football program, with an overall record of 140-77-19 (.634 winning percentage). The only real highlights during the early days were the Buckeyes' first undefeated season in 1899 when the team went 9-0-1 (a 5-5 tie with Case Institute of Technology ruined the perfect season); Ohio State's admission into the Big Ten Conference in 1913; and the Buckeyes' first All American, end Boyd Cherry in 1914.
1916 - 1919: The Chic Harley Era
The Buckeyes first gained national attention with the arrival of halfback Charles "Chic" Harley in 1916. In his first year of eligibility, Harley led the Buckeyes to their first perfect season (7-0-0) and first Big Ten title. The highlight of the season was a 128-0 splattering of Oberlin, the Buckeyes' largest margin of victory of all time. At the end of the season, Harley was named an All American, just the second in the history of Ohio State football.
Harley led the Buckeyes to another undefeated season in 1917 (8-0-1), with the only blemish being a 0-0 tie with Auburn on a "neutral" field in Montgomery, Alabama. For the year, the Ohio State defense gave up only two field goals and registered seven shut outs. Harley repeated as an All American, and Ohio State repeated as the outright champions of the Big Ten.
Harley enlisted in the army in 1918 and the Buckeyes record fell to 3-3 in his absence. Harley returned for the 1919 season, and the Buckeyes were perfect through their first six games, including their first ever win over Michigan (the Buckeyes went 0-13-2 in the first fifteen meetings, a deficit which has yet to be fully erased). In their seventh and final game of the season, Ohio State played powerhouse Illinois, and the Buckeyes led the game 7-6 late in the fourth quarter. The Illini went on a long drive and kicked a game-winning field goal with just seconds remaining on the clock to record a 9-7 victory. Both teams finished 6-1 for the year, but by virtue of winning their head-to-head matchup, Illinois was awarded a retroactive national championship for 1919. If the Buckeyes had held on for a few seconds longer, then they would have won their first ever national title.
Chic Harley would be named an All American for the 1919 season, thus becoming Ohio State's first (of eight) three-time All Americans. Harley is considered to be one of the greatest college football players of all time, and he was a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame when it opened in 1951. His career record at Ohio State was 21-1-1, with his only loss being to Illinois in the last game of his Buckeye career. His teams outscored their opponents by a combined 726 to 47 (or 32 to 2 on a per game basis) and recorded 15 shutouts in 23 games.
Because of Harley's popularity and the team's success during his tenure, Ohio State built a new 66,000-seat stadium in 1922 to replace the old Ohio Field which had a capacity of only 20,000 spectators. To this day, people refer to that new venue - Ohio Stadium - as the House That Harley Built.
Ohio State played its first football game on May 5, 1890, a 20-14 win over Ohio Wesleyan. For the next twenty-six years, Ohio State was a middle of the road football program, with an overall record of 140-77-19 (.634 winning percentage). The only real highlights during the early days were the Buckeyes' first undefeated season in 1899 when the team went 9-0-1 (a 5-5 tie with Case Institute of Technology ruined the perfect season); Ohio State's admission into the Big Ten Conference in 1913; and the Buckeyes' first All American, end Boyd Cherry in 1914.
1916 - 1919: The Chic Harley Era
The Buckeyes first gained national attention with the arrival of halfback Charles "Chic" Harley in 1916. In his first year of eligibility, Harley led the Buckeyes to their first perfect season (7-0-0) and first Big Ten title. The highlight of the season was a 128-0 splattering of Oberlin, the Buckeyes' largest margin of victory of all time. At the end of the season, Harley was named an All American, just the second in the history of Ohio State football.
Harley led the Buckeyes to another undefeated season in 1917 (8-0-1), with the only blemish being a 0-0 tie with Auburn on a "neutral" field in Montgomery, Alabama. For the year, the Ohio State defense gave up only two field goals and registered seven shut outs. Harley repeated as an All American, and Ohio State repeated as the outright champions of the Big Ten.
Harley enlisted in the army in 1918 and the Buckeyes record fell to 3-3 in his absence. Harley returned for the 1919 season, and the Buckeyes were perfect through their first six games, including their first ever win over Michigan (the Buckeyes went 0-13-2 in the first fifteen meetings, a deficit which has yet to be fully erased). In their seventh and final game of the season, Ohio State played powerhouse Illinois, and the Buckeyes led the game 7-6 late in the fourth quarter. The Illini went on a long drive and kicked a game-winning field goal with just seconds remaining on the clock to record a 9-7 victory. Both teams finished 6-1 for the year, but by virtue of winning their head-to-head matchup, Illinois was awarded a retroactive national championship for 1919. If the Buckeyes had held on for a few seconds longer, then they would have won their first ever national title.
Chic Harley would be named an All American for the 1919 season, thus becoming Ohio State's first (of eight) three-time All Americans. Harley is considered to be one of the greatest college football players of all time, and he was a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame when it opened in 1951. His career record at Ohio State was 21-1-1, with his only loss being to Illinois in the last game of his Buckeye career. His teams outscored their opponents by a combined 726 to 47 (or 32 to 2 on a per game basis) and recorded 15 shutouts in 23 games.
Because of Harley's popularity and the team's success during his tenure, Ohio State built a new 66,000-seat stadium in 1922 to replace the old Ohio Field which had a capacity of only 20,000 spectators. To this day, people refer to that new venue - Ohio Stadium - as the House That Harley Built.