Ohio State Football in The 20th Century – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/23/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
1900
Because of overwhelming support, it becomes apparent Ohio State’s home facility, University Field, needs to be expanded. The field seated about 700, but standing-room-only crowds regularly circled the sidelines.
1901
Football crowds and support grow at an alarming rate. Columbus newspapers begin devoting more space to football, and most importantly, for the first time after 12 seasons of football, the sport turned a modest profit for the ever struggling university Athletic Association. Concerned with the size of the expected crowd in the last game of the season against Kenyon, the Athletic Association rented seats from a circus, increasing the capacity to over 2,000. But not even the added seats could contain the 6,000 fans that jammed University Field to watch OSU beat Kenyon 11-6. Once again, University Field is dubbed inadequate by the school and the public.
1902
Coaching hero John Eckstorm shocks the university community, announcing his resignation as head football coach. Perry Hale, a star player at Yale, takes the reigns from Eckstorm but fails to live up to expectations. Midway through the season, Ohio State suffers an 86-0 loss to Michigan, the worst defeat in school history to this day. Fred Cornell wrote the words to “Carmen Ohio” on the back of an envelope as the team returned from Ann Arbor following that loss. The song was officially recognized as the alma mater in 1916.
1903
In his final season as head coach, Hale improved on his disappointing inaugural season by going 8-3. His new offensive scheme rolled to 265 points, the most ever by an Ohio State team to that point. That record for points in a season would not be broken until 1917.
1904
E.R. Sweetland became the school’s first year-round football coach. Expectations were high for the 1904 team, driving the Athletic Association to purchase 1,500 additional bleacher seats to be installed on the east side of University Field. Unfortunately, the team and the expected crowds fell way short of all expectations. Ohio State won just six times in 11 tries. Ticket prices ranged from 25 cents to a dollar for “deluxe” games with Michigan and the Carlisle Indians.
1905
The team improves, going 8-2-2. Off the field, however, financial burdens nearly end the Ohio State football program. In a midseason home game, Ohio State and Denison players argue over the length of the halves. The referee rules in favor of Ohio State, saying that 35-minute halves, which were the norm in those days, should be played. Denison refuses to take the field and after a warning from the referee, the game was forfeited to Ohio State. As a result, the Athletic Association chose to refund the money for the 2,187 tickets sold. This financial blow wipes out the program’s reserve funds and plunges the Association into a $2,022.50 deficit. The Ohio State student newspaper, “The Lantern,” calls the situation “grave” and predicts the end of athletics on the Ohio State campus. Dedicated Ohio State fans rallied once again, however, holding a campus carnival and donating financial gifts to keep to athletics program alive.
1906
Chillicothe native and former Michigan football player Al Herrnstein takes over as head coach. Herrnstein, who had coached at Purdue in 1905, was instrumental in proving a non-eastern coach could be successful in college football.
1907
Fan interest is restored and Herrnstein’s popularity soars. After leading Ohio State to an 8-1 record his first year, he goes 7-2-1 in his second season and outscores opponents 160-49.
1908
Ohio State has its worst year under Herrnstein, going 6-4. Despite the four lossess – three of which came at home – fan interest continues to climb. University Field is renamed Ohio Field.
1909
Ohio Field is expanded to 6,100, but crowds continue to overflow the facility. In his final year as head coach, Hernnstein finishes 7-3. In each of his four seasons, Ohio State posted a winning season.
1910
The construction of new bleachers increases the capacity of Ohio Field to 10,000. Football season tickets are sold for $2.50. Howard Jones, an All-American from Yale, is named head coach. Jones spent just one season at Ohio State, but went on to enjoy a long and distinguished coaching career at Iowa and Southern California. He was later inducted into the College Football Coaches’ Hall of Fame.
1911
On the recommendation of Howard Jones, the Athletic Board hires Harry Vaughn, also from Yale, as head football coach. Vaughn shows little interest in coaching, and resigns after leading Ohio State to a disappointing 5-3-2 season.
1912
The Athletic Board, growing tired of the constant turnover, decides to try a new approach and make the head football coach also serve as the Director of Athletics. Weary of choosing eastern coaches, the Board hired John Richards, a former Wisconsin coach, to assume both roles. The strategy backfires, as Richards goes 6-3 and resigns after one season. With five minutes remaining in the Penn State game and OSU trailing 37-0, Coach Richards took the Buckeyes off the field because of alleged rough play, and PSU was awarded a 1-0 win. Ohio State joins the Western Conference, which later became the Big Ten, but could not compete in the Conference in football until 1913.
Check out next week’s feature, 1913-1925.
-GO BUCKS!-
