The first Ohio State football game - 118 years later

[shetuck]

CPD: The first Ohio State football game - 118 years later

The first Ohio State football game - 118 years later

Posted by [URL="http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/about.html"][EMAIL="[email protected]"]Doug Lesmerises[/EMAIL][/URL] May 03, 2008 17:53PM

The plaque unveiled today commemorating the first football game in Ohio State history, at Ohio Wesleyan on May 3, 1890.

The field where the Buckeyes and Ohio Wesleyan first met. Word is those cardboard trash boxes weren't there in 1890.

Archie Griffin and Jim Tressel meet with Ohio Wesleyan football players after speaking at the 118 year anniversary of Ohio State's first football game.

cont'd (more pictures)...

 

[shetuck]

New York Times: Ohio Celebrates a Game of Foot Ball

Ohio Celebrates a Game of Foot Ball

The Ohio Wesleyan team, above, that played Ohio State.

By MICHAEL DAVID SMITH

May 4, 2008

On May 3, 1890, a group of Ohio State students rose early, boarded their horse-drawn wagons and made the 20-mile trip along the Olentangy River from Columbus to Delaware, the home of Ohio Wesleyan University, to play what that day's Delaware Gazette described as "the first game of Rugby foot ball."

Ohio State and Ohio Wesleyan now occupy opposite ends of the college football spectrum. The Buckeyes, whose Columbus campus has an enrollment in excess of 52,000, play in a stadium that seats more than 100,000 and field a team of players with N.F.L. aspirations. The Battling Bishops, who draw from a student body of 1,850, play in a stadium less than a tenth the size and offer no football scholarships. But the universities? football programs began together on that spring morning 118 years ago.

The site of that first game was a mystery until last year, when Dick Gordin, a former Ohio Wesleyan athletic director who has studied the history of the university's sports teams, uncovered a letter written by one player in that 1890 game, describing the playing field near a creek called Delaware Run. This weekend, Ohio Wesleyan has scheduled a ceremony to install a historical marker at the site, with dignitaries from both universities attending.

"Ohio Wesleyan, as the first team Ohio State played, is extremely important to our football history," said Archie Griffin, the Buckeyes' two-time Heisman Trophy winner, who was scheduled to attend the dedication. "They really got it started for Ohio State."

cont'd...

 

[HailToMichigan]

If Wesleyan had had more guys like Superman there on the left and 'Stache on the right I feel certain OSU would have abandoned the whole football deal then and there out of pure fear

Seriously....the 'stache itself probably recorded three sacks and a blocked punt.

 

[NFBuck]

Seriously....the 'stache itself probably recorded three sacks and a blocked punt.

I wouldn't want to have to block a man carrying a hand gun either. Seriously, looks like he's holding a nine or something.

 

[OSUsushichic]

Respect to OWU!

(I have this one framed on my wall.)

Ohio Wesleyan University | News & Media | OWU-OSU Event

 

[Flash TarHusky]

I wouldn't want to have to block a man carrying a hand gun either. Seriously, looks like he's holding a nine or something.

I grew up in Delaware. Its a rough area, and he likely had to pack heat for protection.

 

[OSUsushichic]

I grew up in Delaware. Its a rough area, and he likely had to pack heat for protection.

Delaware is a rough area??? It's not Stars Hollow, but it's not Youngstown either.

 

[shetuck]

Respect to OWU!

(I have this one framed on my wall.)

Ohio Wesleyan University | News & Media | OWU-OSU Event

Gotta get me one of those OWU hats that JT was sporting.

 

[OSUsushichic]

Gotta get me one of those OWU hats that JT was sporting.

I see they haven't changed the style since I went there. It looks good on Tressel, though. :)

 

[OSUsushichic]

Bob Hunter commentary: Site of first OSU game gets proper recognition

Sunday, May 4, 2008 3:41 AM
By Bob Hunter

DELAWARE, Ohio -- If you could pick one spot on earth for the birthplace of Ohio State football, this might be it. It is the perfect place for a pilgrimage.

BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : Bob Hunter commentary: Site of first OSU game gets proper recognition

I love this part:

If it all seems a little odd, so does this: At the time, Ohio State and Ohio Wesleyan were about the same size -- approximately 700 students -- and the Delaware school had been around 31 years longer. The Ohio State team was coached by Alexander Lilley, who rode an Indian pony to practice from his home on Main Street. Traveling by horse and buggy on unpaved roads, the OSU team had to leave at 6 a.m. to get to Delaware for the 9:30 a.m. start.

 

[BuckeyeBreeder]

Very cool article, would have been really cool to have been there yesterday.

 

[shetuck]

If Wesleyan had had more guys like Superman there on the left and 'Stache on the right I feel certain OSU would have abandoned the whole football deal then and there out of pure fear

Seriously....the 'stache itself probably recorded three sacks and a blocked punt.

Gangs of Delaware... "Ears and noses will be the trophies of the day..."