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The 1942 Season Through The Words Of The Past, 10/17/1942

Matt Gutridge's picture
October 17, 2017 at 6:15am
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Buck Teamwork
A typical example of Ohio State teamwork is shown in this picture of Halfback George Slusser scoring Ohio State's fourth touchdown against Purdue at Ohio Stadium yesterday afternoon. Through the wide gap in the line made by his teammates, Slusser plunged over the goal untouched by a Purdue player. While Fullback Richard Palmer was taking Purdue Halfback John Andretich out of the play with a hard body block. Wilbur Schneider, Ohio State guard was just as effectively blocking Purdue Fullback Robert Bachmann.

2017 is the 75th anniversary of Ohio State's first national championship season. To honor the achievement, this series will post articles from the Columbus Citizen Journal on the day they ran in 1942.

The Citizen Journal did not run a preview the day of the game. Due to this, let's take a look at the front page article by Lew Byrer that ran on Sunday. Think of this as the Instacap. Tomorrow you will get to read the multiple articles that were in the CJ's Sunday Sports section.

Near Perfect
Fekete

Ohio State was a near-perfect football team before 45,943 fans at Ohio Stadium yesterday afternoon as the Buckeyes defeated Purdue 26-to-0 in a game which saw a crushing Ohio State superiority displayed throughout.

Ohio State made 22 first downs to one for Purdue. The Boilermakers only had the ball in Ohio State territory twice and one of those times resulted from a fumble and the other from a bad pass from center.

Ohio State had a net yardage gain of 301 yards to Purdue's net 14.

Those figures amply demonstrate the Buckeye superiority over a Purdue team which only a week ago upset Northwestern 7-to-6.

I guess old Elmer didn't get a shoulder ride around Ohio Stadium like he did in Evanston after his team upset Northwestern. Ohio State's defense was dominating as they only surrendered 14 total yards.

OHIO STATE/PURDUE GAME STATS
STAT CATEGORY OHIO STATE PURDUE
1st DOWN BY RUSH 18 1
1st DOWN BY PASS 4 0
1st DOWN BY PENALTY 0 0
TOTAL 1st DOWNS 22 1
NUMBER OF RUSHES 57 28
RUSHING YARDS 301 14
PASS ATTEMPTS 10 13
PASSES COMPLETED 4 0
PASSING YARDS 50 0
PASSES INTERCEPTED 0 3
YARDS INT RETURNED  40 0
NUMBER OF PUNTS 5 10
AVG PUNT 43.0 42.0
NUMBER OF KICKOFFS 5 1
AVG KICKOFF 25.0 40.0
KICKOFF RETURNS 0 1
KO YARDS RETURNED 0 17
NUMBER OF FUMBLES 3 1
FUMBLES LOST 2 0
PENALTIES 5 1
PENALTY YARDS 45 5

Buckeye Defense Best Yet

The Bucks were good in almost all departments. Their running game was sensational. Their passing game wasn't as good as it looked against Ft. Knox, Indiana and Southern California. But the defense was the best the Bucks have shown all year.

They were tackling with deadly teeth-rattling precision. On Purdue pass plays almost every possible Purdue receiver was amply covered by a screen of scarlet jerseys and the passer was rushed so vigorously that he frequently was smothered.

Fekete Offensive Star

Gene Fekete was again the big Buckeye offensive star. He ripped the Purdue line to shreds from start to finish. But Sarringhaus, Horvath, Frye and flock of other scarlet-clad backs also clicked.

In the final quarter when Coach Paul Brown was giving his regulars a well-earned rest and had an entire team of second and third stringers in the game the Bucks kept on displaying their superiority.

Buckeye fans were rubbing their eyes as they left the stadium. They couldn't believe that an untouted team---as Ohio State was at the start of the season---could be as good as the Bucks looked against Purdue. 

With this performance against a respected Purdue team, the Buckeyes solidified their No. 2 ranking in the AP Poll and could possibly move up in the next poll released on the 19th. 

Mr. Byrer should know better than to expect results off of similar opponents. Too many times when basing a future result off of common opponents the outcome is not what is expected. Ohio State will have confidence and momentum, but the squad better not take the talented Northwestern team lightly.

Tommy James
Tommy James smacks Purdue line for five.

Northwestern Next

Ohio State has now won from Ft. Knox 59-to-0, from Indiana 32-to-21, from Southern California 28-to-12 and from Purdue 26-to-0. Only Indiana made it anything like a real battle.

The touch Buckeye schedule reaches the half-way mark next Saturday when the Bucks play Northwestern at Evanston.

On the basis of what Purdue did against the Purple Wildcats the Bucks must be favored. Purdue won from Northwestern 7-to-6 and Purdue couldn't even seriously threaten the Bucks despite the fact Ohio was handicapped by the absence of Lavelli and Steinberg, two first-string ends, and Durtschl, star punting halfback, who were out as a result of injuries.

1942 Game 4 Rushing Box Score
OHIO STATE
PLAYER ATT YARDS AVG TD
SARRINGHAUS 11 47 4.3 1
FEKETE 25 122 4.8 2
HORVATH 6 37 6.1 0
JAMES 3 17 5.7 0
FRYE 8 26 3.3 0
SLUSSER 5 32 6.4 1
PRIDAY 1 2 2.0 0
PURDUE
PLAYER ATT YARDS AVG TD
SNYDER 3 5 1.6 0
SMOCK 5 -2 -0.4 0
ANDRETICH 10 10 1.0 0
BUFFINGTON 4 9 2.2 0
CHESTER 1 -2 -2.0 0
HAJZYK 1 -5 -5.0 0
BACHMAN 1 1 1.0 0
STRAM 3 -2 -0.7 0

First Half Summary

The Buckeyes took command from the start. On the first play after receiving the kickoff Fekete ripped through Purdue's center for 10 and a first down. A Horvath toss followed by plunges for four by Sarringhaus and three by Fekete were followed by a Buckeye punt which gave the ball to Purdue on the Boilermaker 32-yard line.

The first two Purdue running plays netted a four-yard loss. Then Andretich plunged for seven and Purdue punted to Sarringhaus who was downed on the Buckeye 32.

Then it was Fekete for three, Horvath for 16, Fekete for six, an incomplete pass, Horvath for 11 and first down on the Purdue 26.

Then Horvath for four and Fekete for seven and first down on the 15.

Sarringhaus made five and four and the Fekete three and first down on the Purdue three.

Touchdown Play Called Back

Then Sarringhaus for two and Sarringhaus again, over the goal line for a scoring touchdown. But, Ohio was off side and the play was called back and Ohio penalized five yards to the Purdue six.

That sort of break often bogs down a driving offense but it didn't slow up the Bucks a bit. Sarringhaus plunged for two and Fekete took it the rest of the way for the first Buckeye touchdown.

Tomorrow you will get the complete recap of the game.

Bob Shaw
Ohio's Bob Shaw didn't yield an inch to Fullback Bill Buffington of Purdue in the first quarter.
Previous Articles
OPPONENT PREVIEW PREVIEW PREVIEW PREVIEW GAME pics GAME RECAP
FT. KNOX 9/22/42 9/23/42 9/24/42 9/25/42 9/26/42 9/27/42  
INDIANA 10/1/42 10/2/42 10/3/42     10/4/42  
USC 10/5/42 10/6/42 10/7/42 10/8/42 10/9/42 10/10/42 10/11/42
PURDUE 10/12/42 10/13/42 10/14/42 10/15/42 10/16/42    

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