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The 1942 Season Through The Words Of The Past, 11/18/1942, Michigan, Day 55

Matt Gutridge's picture
November 18, 2017 at 5:50am
4 Comments
11/18/1942

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 gives Fritz Crisler history lesson and an Ohio State practice update. 
  • Football Banquet information and tickets.
  • Lew Byrer reminisces on games of yesteryear.
  • Two familiar ads. 
Ohio State
Attendance

When the mighty Michigan Wolverines and Coach Paul Brown's fleet Buckeyes meet in Ohio Stadium Saturday afternoon, it will be the game of the week and in many respects the game of the year.

By winning this game, the season's last conference tilt for them, the Bucks could clinch the Big Ten crown with a seaosn's record of five victories against and one loss while a win for Michigan would throw the race wide open with Michigan, Wisconsin, the Bucks and Minnesota all in position for a possible share of the title.

The game Saturday is expected to draw the largest football crowd of the regular season. In past years, this honor has gone to the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia bu that game is to be played in a smaller stadium this year, the crowd cannot go over 25,000, and the 75,000 fans expected to see this game will easily surpass the largest crowd to date, the 70,000 that saw Notre Dame meet Navy.

The game this week will bring to Columbus one of the most successful offensive teams and offensive coaches in the game.

Crisler Coached Gophers

Fritz Crisler's first coaching job was at Minnesota in 1930 and '31, where he started off easily. In those two years, his teams won 10 games, lost seven and tied one, while rolling up a total of over twice as many points as the enemy, 317 to 153 for the opposition.

Then followed six years at Princeton, when Crisler began to click. His teams won a total of 35 games, lost only nine and played five ties while outscoring the opposition by a margin of more than three to one with 1,100 points as against 325 for the opposition. He had two undefeated seasons, 1933 and '35.

Crisler moved to Michigan as head football coach in 1938 and last year added the duties of athletic director. His Wolverine teams up to this season have won 25 games, lost only five and tied two---a record which speaks for itself in Big Ten play. Crisler has been supreme against every foe he has met except Minnesota. The Golden Gophers inflicted four of those five losses on Crisler's Michigan teams, while Illinois managed to bag a 16-7 triumph in 1939, the only year that Crisler's eleven lost as many as two games.

With Crisler guiding the helm for Michigan, Brown and the Buckeyes are up against it as they try to win for the first time since 1937.

Tom Kuzma
Halfback Tom Kuzma: One of four backfield stars the Buckeyes must stop when they meet Michigan in Ohio Stadium this Saturday is Tom Kuzma of Gary, Indiana, a keyman in Coach Fritz Crisler's highly-geared offense and one of Michigan's best candidates for All-American honors. Kuzma is a halfback, and is 50 percent of the Kuzma-and-White combination which has been the nemisis for several Michigan opponents so far this season. He plays left half and is especially good at faking passes and running or faking a run and then passing. He's 19, measure six feet one and weighs 204 solid pounds.

Scoring High

In those years since 1938, the Michigan team has scored a total of 693 points in its 32 games, an average of more than 21 points per game. Opponents have scored 209 points, less than seven per contest.

This year's Michigan team is living up to the tradition of the last four. It has been defeated twice, Minnesota again and the Iowa Seahawks, but it is still supreme in scoring with an average of 23.5 points per game as against an average of 13 for the opposition.

In each of his four years, Crisler has had one Michigan man on the All-American football team---Ralph Heikkinen, Tom Harmon for two years, and Bob Westfall in that order. Himself a star in football, basketball and baseball, Crisler was an All-American end in 1922 after his senior year at Chicago.

Uses Varied Offense

Crisler uses a widely varied offense---the single-wingback formation either to right or left, the short punt formation, and two variations of the T-formation. He has one of his backfield men in motion a good part of the time and teaches his teams to pass, kick or run with the ball.

Key man in the Crisler offense is the fullback. He must be a good ball-handler, must be able to spin completely around in his position, hand the ball deftly to one of the halfbacks crossing behind him, or keep the ball and bang the center and guard positions on the opposing forward wall. That man this year is Sophomore Bob Wiese, six-foot two and weighing nearly 200 pounds.

An inventive offense with big, talented players is the combination Crisler has at his disposal.

Bucks Work Overtime

The Buck team worked overtime last night in preparation for this team, turning on the electric lights for the first time this season.

The practice session started with the first hard work on defense designed to stop the high-geared Wolverine attack, proceded throught a drizzling rain to a concentrated workout against Michigan pass plays as shown by the third-stringers, and concluded under the lights long after darkness had fallen with a review of the old offense and the addition of a couple of new plays for the game.

Hal Dean, regular guard, suffered a bruised shoulder in practice last night. X-ray examination at University Hospital showed he was not serious and Hal will be ready for play Saturday.

Speakers Named

Francis J. Pewers, Chicago News football writer and Lt. Com. Harry Kipke, former Michigan coach, will be speakers at the Agonis Club luncheon at the Fort Hayes Friday noon. Then luncheon will be open to the general public.

It will cost you $1.75 if you want to attend the team banquet being held on Nov. 30. If you are student the price is only $1.50. Below are the details.

Banquet

The annual Ohio State Football Appreciation Banquet is to be held this year Nov. 30. This year there has been a change made, in that the banquet will be called the Football and Band Appreciation Banquet.

The usual program will take place: Paul Herbert will serve as toastmaster, with President Bevis, Athletic Director St. John and Coach Paul Brown as speakers.

Lew Byrer steps off his "pal" podium and takes a trip down Ohio State-Michigan lane.

Byrer

Michigan and memories are synonymous to most followers of Ohio State football.

Memories of Willie Heston and Chic Harley. Memories of Fielding H. Yost and Dr. Jack Wilce. Memories of old Ferry Field at Ann Arbor and Ohio Field here in Columbus.

Memories of the late Howard Jones who coached an Ohio State team which performed the then miraculous feat of tieing (sic) mighty Michigan back in 1910.

Memories of the joy which greeted Ohio State's first victory over Michigan in history back in 1919 in the only game in which Harley played against the Wolverines. Memories of Iolas Huffman, Bob Spiers, Johnny Stuart, Hoge and Dopey Workman, Butch Pixley, Stekete, Friedman, Oosterbeaan, Cookie Cunningham, Hess, Karow, the late Sam Willaman.

Memories of Francis Schmidt who said, of the Michigan jinx: "Those Michigan boys put on their pants one leg at a time just like anyone else," and then turned out four consecutive Ohio State teams which won from Michigan.

Memories of Harry Kipke, who lost his job as Michigan coach because of those four consecutive Ohio victories.

What Yale is to Harvard, Navy is to Army and corn beef is to cabbage, Michigan is to Ohio State.

A lot of famous names and games mentioned up there. 

Ohio State Has Grown

Ohio State was a "little college in a cornfield" back in 1897 when the first football game was booked with the Buckeyes' oldest gridiron rival.

Michigan was mighty Michigan even then.

The line from Michigan's great gridiron song, which goes

I'm not writing the words to that stupid ass song.

... has meant something for five decades.

The Wolverines have had a few lean years. In the early '30s Michigan went snow-white and not only quit soliciting athletes but put in a rule which made it tough for some athletes to get into Michigan. You had to be in the top one-third of your high school graduating class scholastically to make the grade as a Michigan entrant.

After several years of that and several years of football defeats the restrictions were relaxed a bit and Michigan again turned out some of the most powerful gridiron machines in the country.

Ohio State grew athletically as well as in size down through the years. In the years since Ohio State entered the Western Conference the two teams have met 23 times. Michigan has won 12, Ohio State 10 and one game resulted in a tie.

But a lot of us remember the day when Ohio State followers would have been tickled pink at the thought of Ohio State starting a football game with Michigan anything beyond a remote chance of victory.

Would this be where the "we have higher standards" mantra began? Interesting. 

Battle Hard But Clean

One of the finest traditions in football has grown up around Ohio State-Michigan games.

They're generally the hardest-fought sort of gridiron battles, but they're always clean.

I've seen fists flying in Ohio State-Illinois, Ohio State-Chicago, Ohio State-Northwestern and other Ohio State games. I've also seen 'em flying in Michigan-Minnesota and Michigan-Illinois battles.

But I've never seen a dirty play in an Ohio State-Michigan game regardless of how hard the battling. When the Wolves and Bucks do battle, they tackle with terrific force and block devastatingly. But they stay within the rules and do more. They stay within the code of sportsmanship.

I remember back in 1925: An outclassed Ohio State team was putting up a great but losing battle against a fine Michigan team at Ann Arbor. Marty Karow, a tough-guy type of athlete from Cleveland, was Ohio State's fullback that day. In the heat of the game a young Buck tackle, new to the Ohio State-Michigan tradition, lost control and swung on a Michigan player. Marty stepped up to him, slapped his face, told him that stuff didn't go in an Ohio State-Michigan game. Ohio lost that game, 10-0. But the Bucks went down fighting cleanly.

It's a great tradition and one of the reasons why Ohio State-Michigan games are almost always sell-out games whether played in Columbus or Ann Arbor and whether both are undefeated and fighting for the title or both have been defeated a couple of times and are out of the title running.

Today's Old School Alcohol Ad

The two ads below have run in the past, but they were the only two in today's paper.

Atlas Shirts
Adam Hats

 

Previous Articles
OPPONENT PREVIEW PREVIEW PREVIEW PREVIEW PREVIEW 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 10/17/42 10/18/42
N'WESTERN 10/19/42 10/20/42 10/21/42 10/22/42 10/23/42 10/24/42 10/25/42
WISCONSIN 10/26/42 10/27/42 10/28/42 10/29/42 10/30/42 10/31/42 11/1/42
PITTSBURGH 11/2/42 11/3/42 11/4/42 11/5/42 11/6/42 11/7/42 11/8/42
ILLINOIS 11/9/42 11/10/42 11/11/42 11/12/42 11/13/42 11/14/42 11/15/42
MICHIGAN 11/16/42 11/17/42          

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