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.

In Today's paper:

• Don Hawk has high praise for the Michigan roster, especially a running back named Kuzma. 
• Getchell gives his latest etching.
• The latest Williamson Rankings are out and the Buckeyes are moving up in the world.
• Lew Byrer calls out his "friends".
• Carling's is the ad of the day. 

Coach Paul Brown and his Ohio State Buckeyes are preparing to meet a team that "has everything" when the Michigan Wolverines visit Ohio Stadium Saturday.

"This team will be just as good as the one that smothered the Bucks under the 40-9 score two years ago," Assistant Coach Fritz Mackey told his boss after returning from scouting the Michigan-Notre Dame game last Saturday.

Comparing the two teams, Mackey continued that "Tommy Kuzma is just as much of a threat as was Tommy Harmon on (the) 1940 team. While Kuzma can't run as well as Harmon in the open field, he has more power through the line, he is a better punter and passer and he is far and away the better blocker of the two men."

Kuzma will be the bell-cow of the Wolverine attack this week. He is a six-foot one-inch, 200-pound giant, but is fast and agile enough that he can pole vault 12 feet. He is a strong runner off tackle and inside the tackles, a triple threat man in the greatest sense of the word.

That is high praise for Tommy Kuzma. Especially considering that Harmon eventually had his number retired.

Wiese Line Blaster

Kuzma will draw his main assistance in the ball-carrying department from line-blasting Bob Weise, a sophomore who has made Michigan fans forget Bob Westfall. Wiese is another six-footer, a husky 200-pounder and is hard to stop straight through the line. He is a clever ball handler and fits perfectly into the Crisler offensive in which the fullback gets the ball from center most of the time, spins and either gives the ball to a halfback coming around or keeps it himself to pile straight through the center of the line.

The wingback will be Paul White, husky six-foot one-inch, 195 pound brother of end John White of the Buck team. White is fast, a good pass receiver, a fine blocker, and is in motion on many of the Michigan plays. Yet in spite of all this talent, he has to share his position with Don Robinson, a versatile junior who fills in at both halfback positions.

Reliable George Clethaml, winner of two letters, is back for his senior year, captain of the team, and devastating blocker in the quarterback position. He is an excellent strategist, a careful signal-caller and a stalwart 60-minute player.

"Michigan is well-balanced and just as speedy as Illinois," concluded Mackey, "and they'll be tough to beat as the relatively easy 32-20 win over Notre Dame testifies. Their teamwork was sharp and precise, the individual play was outstanding, and our only hope is that they don't be any better than they were then."

Not sure if Mackey is pulling a Lou Holtz before Lou Holtz could pull a Lou Holtz, or if he is being sincere in his praise.

Powerful Attack

The Michigan attack has been powerful all season. The first games found Tommy Kuzma on the bench with an injury and the Wolverines were able to roll up only 9-0 and 20-0 margins over Great Lakes and Michigan State respectively while the Iowa Seahawks carved out a 26-14 victory.

Then Kuzma returned and Michigan started to roll again. Northwestern fell before the Wolverines, 36-16, Minnesota stopped the offense and kicked a disputed field goal for a shady 16-14 victory, but the last three weeks have been disastrous for Michigan opposition. Illinois was beaten, 28-14, Harvard trampled, 35-7, and then came last week's win over Notre Dame, 32-20.

One of the strong points of the Michigan attack is its excellence in returning punts. Coach Crisler has rehearsed this part of the offense time and again in practice making the drill so realistic that several players were injured in this type of workout.

The Buck practice last night was limited to an indoor session with movies of the Illinois game and a long skull drill in preparation for the Michigan game. The initial steps were taken to set up a defense that will stop the Michigan powerhouse offense.

Needed Rest

"We're just not in shape to go out tonight," Coach Brown commented as his players gathered for the blackboard practice. "As for the halfback situation, I'm no nearer to a solution there than I was at the end of the game last week. We have given up hope that Tommy James will be able to see action, Bill Durtschl is still hobbling on his twisted knee and we aren't sure whether he will be ready or not so that leaves only George Slusser and Loren Staker in reserve. Slusser can be used to spell both Sarringhaus and Horvath."

As far as the game last week, Les Horvath was probably the brightest star on the Ohio State side of the line as shown by pictures of the game. Tommy James was moving right along with Horvath until he was injured in the second quarter while Hal Dean had a good day and Bob Shaw played some of the best football he's played this year.

The whole Buck squad will be resting bumps and bruises today with Horvath, Center Bill Vickroy, and End John White all nursing charlie horses but none of these injuries is serious and the players will be ready to go next week. The team will hit the practice field tomorrow night, however, and will get a big dose of heavy work in preparation for the Saturday game.

Getchell took a different angle in his cartoon this week. 

Williamson System Top 25

RANK	TEAM	MOVEMENT
1	GEORGIA
2	BOSTON COLLEGE	(+1)
3	GEORGIA TECH	(-1)
4	TULSA	(+1)
5	MICHIGAN	(+8)
6	WISCONSIN	(+1)
7	OHIO STATE	(+2)
8	ALABAMA	(-2)
9	NOTRE DAME	(-5)
10	MARQUETTE	(+4)
11	TENNESSEE	(-1)
12	MISSISSIPPI STATE	(+6)
13	WASHINGTON STATE	(+4)
14	ILLINOIS	(+2)
15	TEXAS	(-7)
16	INDIANA	(+4)
17	WILLIAM & MARY	(+5)
18	PENN STATE
19	MINNESOTA	(+5)
20	HARDIN-SIM	(-8)
21	AUBURN
22	BAYLOR	(-7)
23	NAVY
24	LSU	(-13)
25	DUKE	(-4)

 

 

By virtue of the 44-20 larruping they administered to Illinois last week Ohio State's Buckeyes moved two rungs up the national football rankings ladder, this time to seventh place in the Paul B. Williamson System analysis.

But in fifth place is Michigan, the Buck foe for next Saturday, making the Columbus clash one of the best games in the nation.

The system last week was 85.5 percent correct on its predictions. Record for the week was 179 games reported, 24 upsets and four upsetting ties. Correctly picked was Michigan over Notre Dame.

Lew Byrer uses his column to let out some passive-aggressive anger against his moocher mates.

 

 

 

They say a guy's most precious possessions are friends. 

If that's the case, Columbus sport writers are wealthy every other year.

Their ascension of wealth is brief and ends in a loud plop just as soon as the Ohio State-Michigan game is over.

About 10 days ago if became evident that a sell-out is almost certain for this year's Ohio State-Michigan game. All good tickets were gone then.

Tickets had been on sale since August. But it was only 10 days ago that these "pals" started waking up.

There's the guy in Chicago. I haven't seen him in two years and the last time I saw him he was called to the phone and forgot to come back and left me stuck with a night club check.

But I got this letter from him Wednesday. It went like this:

"Dear Old Pal:

"I find I'm going to be in Columbus Nov. 21. I want to see the Ohio State-Michigan game. Please get me four tickets. I'll drop in the morning of the game. If possible I'd like them on the side of the field of the press box and in the upper deck.

Thanking you in advance I am "Your Pal."

"_______"

 Just like that! No money enclosed. I'm supposed, I presume, to drop my work, rush up to the Ohio State ticket office, stand in line until I can see Hen Taylor and then talk Hen out of four 17C tickets approximately two months after all 17C tickets have been sold. I'm to pay 12 bucks for them and hold them until next Saturday morning and then eat them for Sunday morning breakfast if he fails to show up.

My "pal" is doomed to a sad awakening when and if he shows up Saturday morning. 

I hope the guy from Chicago does show up and is left outside the stadium without a ticket. For some reason, I don't think he will make the trek without a letter confirming the purchase of the tickets. Another "pal" takes it up a notch.

This One Wants Rooms, Too

This morning's mail brought one from Cleveland. The guy who wrote it was in the lobby of the Carter Hotel last Friday talking to Hen Taylor. Maybe he tried to get tickets from Hen then, I wouldn't know.

But anyhow he wants six. There are three couples in his party. And also would I call his old friend Jimmy Michos and get him three double rooms at the Deshler.

Of course Jimmy is at the Seneca and the Deshler has been booked to capacity for the coming week-end for a couple of months. 

But, being a Columbus sport writer, I'm supposed to be able to reach down into my every-day hat and pull out six good tickets for a sell-out game and then reach down into my Sunday hat and pull out three choice rooms in a full hotel.

It used to worry me when I was unable to fill such requests. 

It doesn't any more.

I was cured about five years ago by a guy from Pittsburgh. He "Just had to have" four tickets for a big game here.

After pestering Jim Renick, Hen Taylor and L.W. St. John for a couple of days I finally pried them loose from the four tickets.

The guy showed up for the tickets. They were in 12A. 

"Huh!" he snorted. "Is that the best you could do. I thought you had some influence with the university."

You're a heel if you don't get 'em. You're a heel if you do and they're on the 50-yard line.

That was a day Byrer & Co. went out of the football ticket business.

If anybody out there has four tickets for The Game in Ann Arbor, I know a "writer" who would be willing to take them off your hands...for free. I promise not to make a comment about the seat locations, at least not in your presence.

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