Ohio State Football History/Tidbits

[Best Buckeye]

Starting at the beginning we can post some interesting items about the history of our football team.
The great great grandfather of Geo. Bush was a volunteer ass't coach for tOSU in the 1890's


If there is a thread started I couldn't find it, so mods move if necessary.

 

[kippy1040]

Since this thread deals with the History of Ohio State football. I understand that the colors were not scarlet and gray in the earlier years and now I am wondering when they started with the nickname of the Buckeyes. I think it has something to do with an old Indian fokelore or something

 

[Jaxbuck]

According to Jack Park* the colors were originally orange and black but changed to SNG once they found out/realized Princeton was using that color scheme.


* Like we'd have a bleepin clue on this if it weren't for him.

 

[Best Buckeye]

Ohio State Played it's first game on May 3, 1890 against Ohio Wesleyan.
We won 20 -14 with Td's counting as 4 points, PA and safeties as two , and field goals as 5.
The team had Alexander Lilley as its coach and the team members were;
Richard Ellis
Charles Foulk
David Hegler
John Huggins
Herbert Johnston
Jesse Jones
Arthur Kennedy
Joseph Large
Paul Lincoln
Edward Martin
Walter Miller
Charles Morrey
Frank Rane
Hamilton Richardson
Hiram Rutan
Large scored the first ever touchdown for Ohio State and the team captains were Jones and Lincoln

 

[BuckeyeParalgl]

Ohio State is one of three universities to have won an NCAA National Championship in Football, Basketball, and Baseball. The other two being scUM and Cal.

Found this and a bunch of other tidbits on Wikipedia.

Ohio State Buckeyes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[osugrad21]

tOSU Football History

Searched for a relevant thread...if anyone finds one, please merge or PM me.

Dispatch

Buckeye birthplace
A meadow next to Dishwater Run in Delaware christened the beginning of Ohio State football's Saturday-based religion
Tuesday, September 18, 2007 3:32 AM
By Michael Arace


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

JONATHAN QUILTER | Dispatch
Dick Gordin, right, and Brent Carson stand on the OWU campus on what is believed to be the site of Ohio State's first football game.





DELAWARE, Ohio -- Much is known about the first Ohio State football game, but there is one important fact -- something elemental, an absolute must have -- that has been lost in time. Now, it is found. Thanks to a dedicated Delaware historian, a 79-year-old ex-coach and a dead man named C. Rollin Jones, we can suddenly see the picture of the way it was in 1890, the year a new state religion dug its cleats into a meadow next to Dishwater Run.

Cont...

 

[BB73]

Here's a good read on the history of the 'Shoe.

official.site

Ohio Stadium Celebrates its 500th Game Saturday vs. Northwestern

Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Release: 09/19/2007

Saturday, Ohio State opens the 2007 Big Ten season vs. Northwestern at 3:30 p.m. The game not only is significant because the Buckeyes kick off their defense of two-consecutive conference titles, but the contest Saturday also serves as the 500th game in Ohio Stadium history.

The Buckeyes have posted an all-time winning percentage of 77 percent at the ?Horseshoe,? compiling a record of 375-104-20. As impressive as the win total has become, the experiences have trumped the victories. From the inaugural game vs. Ohio Wesleyan in 1922, to the first Script Ohio in 1936, to the Snow Bowl in 1950, the first night game in 1985 and the record crowd of 105,708 that saw the Buckeyes outpace Michigan to win the Big Ten title last season, Ohio Stadium?s lore continues to grow each and every Saturday.

1920
A landmark year for Ohio State football. Thomas E. French, a professor and member of the athletic board, and Lynn Wilbur St. John, director of athletics, decided it was time to take advantage of the soaring interest in Ohio State football. The growth and popularity of the game had outgrown Ohio Field, mainly because of the high-level of play the Buckeyes had reached behind three-time All-American Chic Harley.

An extensive stadium campaign was launched in the fall, with hopes of building a new football facility. With the campaign in full force, head coach John Wilce?s team kept interest levels high by finishing the regular season 7-0 and capturing the school?s third Western Conference title. The undefeated season drove Buckeye football into the national spotlight and earned Ohio State its first Rose Bowl bid.

1921
The fact Ohio State went 5-2 and collected its third-consecutive win over Michigan was dwarfed by the construction occurring just a few blocks from Ohio Field in 1921. On Aug. 3, Ohio Governor Harry Davis joined a crowd of over 2,500 to officially break ground on the new stadium. The massive project was scheduled to take only 14 months and originally was to be completed at a cost of $1,341,017. After speculation the new stadium would seat about 35,000, it was officially announced it would actually seat over 60,000, a figure that drew harsh criticism from many. Upon completion, the final cost of the stadium exceeded $1,500,000. More than $1,000,000 of that cost had been pledged by proud and dedicated Ohio State football fans.

1922
Those that cited concerns of Ohio Stadium being too large looked on in awe as the stadium was dedicated prior to the Michigan game Oct. 21. Temporary stands were erected in the south end of the stadium, and a crowd of 72,500 was estimated. The dedication game against the Wolverines was actually the third contest played in Ohio Stadium. Ohio State christened its new home with a 5-0 win over Ohio Wesleyan in front of 25,000 people.

Cont'd ...

 

[lvbuckeye]

from BB73's link:

1950: Vic Janowicz puts on arguably the greatest individual display in college football history against Iowa at Ohio Stadium. He sent two kickoffs out of the endzone for touchbacks, recovered two fumbles on defense, scored on an 11-yard touchdown run, returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown, threw a 12-yard scoring strike, and kicked three extra points ? all in the first five minutes of the game.

 

[OWUBuckeye51]

Searched for a relevant thread...if anyone finds one, please merge or PM me.

Dispatch

Buckeye birthplace
A meadow next to Dishwater Run in Delaware christened the beginning of Ohio State football's Saturday-based religion
Tuesday, September 18, 2007 3:32 AM
By Michael Arace


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

JONATHAN QUILTER | Dispatch
Dick Gordin, right, and Brent Carson stand on the OWU campus on what is believed to be the site of Ohio State's first football game.





DELAWARE, Ohio -- Much is known about the first Ohio State football game, but there is one important fact -- something elemental, an absolute must have -- that has been lost in time. Now, it is found. Thanks to a dedicated Delaware historian, a 79-year-old ex-coach and a dead man named C. Rollin Jones, we can suddenly see the picture of the way it was in 1890, the year a new state religion dug its cleats into a meadow next to Dishwater Run.

Cont...

a great read...especially for us OWU alums...

EDIT: didn't see the last bullet in BB73's thread.

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

Buckeyes' recent 5-year span stacks up against any in program's history

Success is measured in conference and national titles, wins over Michigan, and OSU has all of those.

​

By Doug Harris
Staff Writer

Thursday, October 04, 2007
Ohio State fans view the era when Woody Hayes was fielding dominant teams as the glory years for the football program. But when a future generation of fans is asked about the good old days, they might point to the recent wave of success.
From 2002-06, the Buckeyes won one national title, captured three Big Ten crowns and had a 55-9 record ? an .859 winning percentage. They went 4-1 against Michigan and 4-1 in bowls.



Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

Buckeyes have built a winning tradition

Tressel's run over the last five years ranks with the best over the past century of Ohio State football.

​

By Doug Harris
Staff Writer

Thursday, October 04, 2007
COLUMBUS ? John Cooper's futility against the University of Michigan will overshadow anything else he did as Ohio State's coach, but he also engineered one of the most successful runs ever for the football program midway through his 13-year tenure.
"We were pretty good there for five or six years in the mid-'90s," he said. "The best feeling you can have in coaching is when you take the field to warm up before a game and know, hey, if we don't screw this thing up, we're going to kick their butts. That's the feeling we had for the most part. We were better than most teams we were playing."



Cont...

 

[ChicJanowicz]

I understand that the colors were not scarlet and gray

According to Jack Park* the colors were originally orange and black but changed to SNG once they found out/realized Princeton was using that color scheme.

This is not quite correct. The school colors were always scarlet and gray. Just before the first graduation in 1878 the school appointed a three person committee to choose school colors. (The school wanted to adorn the diplomas with the school's colors, and discovered none had been chosen yet.) The color committee chose orange and black. Before they filed their recommendation, however, they learned that those were Princeton's colors. The committee reassembled and chose scarlet and gray. They then filed the report.

Orange and black were the OSU school colors only in the minds of three individuals, and even then only briefly.

now I am wondering when they started with the nickname of the Buckeyes. I think it has something to do with an old Indian fokelore or something

Ohioans were nicknamed buckeyes long before Ohio State opened. Ohio was called "the buckeye state" almost since the beginning. William Henry Harrison was called "Buckeye" in his 1840 presidential campaign before his other nickname "Tippecanoe" kicked in.

The first Columbus pro baseball team, in the early 1880s, was called the Buckeyes.

 

[Zurp]

This is not quite correct. The school colors were always scarlet and gray. Just before the first graduation in 1878 the school appointed a three person committee to choose school colors. (The school wanted to adorn the diplomas with the school's colors, and discovered none had been chosen yet.) The color committee chose orange and black. Before they filed their recommendation, however, they learned that those were Princeton's colors. The committee reassembled and chose scarlet and gray. They then filed the report.

Orange and black were the OSU school colors only in the minds of three individuals, and even then only briefly.

Of course, I'm no expert on the subject, but I'd heard the same story. Orange and black were chosen, but never officially chosen, much like your story.

Ohioans were nicknamed buckeyes long before Ohio State opened. Ohio was called "the buckeye state" almost since the beginning. William Henry Harrison was called "Buckeye" in his 1840 presidential campaign before his other nickname "Tippecanoe" kicked in.

The first Columbus pro baseball team, in the early 1880s, was called the Buckeyes.

I don't know when the name "Buckeyes" started. But I had heard that Ohio State kinda didn't want to choose a nickname, originally. So they chose to call themselves the "Buckeyes." I had always thought it was weird - naming themselves after a nut. But then I heard that it was just naming them after the people who are from Ohio. That's like "Hoosiers" are from Indiana, and "Sooners" are from Oklahoma.

 

[Ttown]

The history of the shoe Bucyrus version.
LINK
The Shoe - Ohio Stadium
By Larry Phillips
Gannett News Service
COLUMBUS -- Ohio Stadium has long been a shrine to college football, not only for what has happened on site but for the facility itself.

It was born when Ohio State star running back Chic Harley drew overwhelming crowds to Ohio Field, culminating in his last game against Illinois in 1919. Ohio State administrators figured they could've sold 50,000 tickets to that contest, but Ohio Field seated only about 12,000. Clearly, a new football site was needed and the school, led by faculty member Thomas French and athletic director Lynn St. John, addressed the problem with a revolutionary building.
Designed by architect Howard Dwight Smith, Ohio Stadium, nestled along the Olentangy River, is characterized by its great arches and grand rotunda at the north entrance. Smith's travels to Italy became a prominent architectural flavor in the project. Ohio Stadium's design draws direct influence from the Roman Coliseum and the Pantheon, giving a classic feel to the structure.
It was the first double-decked facility of its kind, and the original horseshoe shape had a practical purpose, to house the school's track and field program as well as the football team.
The building was completed in October, 1922, with capacity listed at 66,210. The final cost approached $1.6 million. The first $1 million was paid for by private donation, much of it from alumni contributions and a three-month public fund drive that seemed to galvanize central Ohio behind the school's football team, a bond that exists to this day.
Attendance through World War II rarely bubbled above 50,000. However, when the war ended, interest steadily increased and school officials constantly tinkered with the facility to add seating. The great success of teams under coach Woody Hayes (1951-1978) made Buckeye games a tough ticket, especially in the 1970s, a trend that continues to this day. The building underwent a three-year renovation project that was completed in 2001 at a cost of $194 million. This upgrade pushed seating to a capacity of 101,568. The largest crowd to date was 105,532 for the Nov. 23, 2002 victory over Michigan, a 14-9 decision.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

The largest crowd to date was 105,532 for the Nov. 23, 2002 victory over Michigan, a 14-9 decision.

That info is a tad outdated. We set the attendance record last year at The Game (105,708 per NCAA)...