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.

Events in the Ohio State gridiron camp had taken a queer turn last night as Coach Paul Brown drove his team through a long two-and-a-half-hour session in preparation for the powerful Wisconsin Badgers whom the Bucks meet in Madison, Wis., come Saturday afternoon.

Early, it appeared that the Bucks would be woefully weak in punting. The situation seemed even worse when Bill Durtschl twisted his knee several weeks ago and was forced to the sidelines. On the other hand, the Buck offense and defense have looked very good in the games so far.

But after last night's practice, the situation was reversed.

Against the Wildcats Saturday Paul Sarringhaus showed excellent kicking form as he placed three or four beautiful boots out of bounds inside the Northwestern 15-yard line while Tom Cleary was a steady man under fire and kicked out nicely from within the Buck end zone at least twice during the first quarter.

Things must be going swell for Ohio State if the beat reporter feels it is time to give updates on the special teams.

Rest of Team Stodgy

Both these men continued to kick very well in last night's workout but the rest of the team has appeared slow and stodgy in workouts all week.

Tuesday evening, a group of freshmen riddled the varsity line with plays that Wisconsin uses regularly, while last night the first two teams played very poorly in an offensive drill against the third team. Fumbles were frequent and the ball was kicked all over the field as the regulars tried in vain to get started.

"We didn't look good at all," said Coach Paul Brown, commenting on the obvious. "I'm worried about it. If the Badgers run over us the way the freshmen did last night, we're going to get ourselves fixed."

Looks like things aren't going swell. The special teams were reported on because they were the only part of the practice that succeeded.

One big reason Wisconsin, whom Ohio State Buckeyes meet at Madison Saturday, score so profusely is because of an expert blocker as well as a ball carrier in Mark Hoskins. The six-foot, one-inch 185 pound native of Milwaukee was the battering ram for Badger runner (sic) last year and has been one of the key men in the slick offense of Wisconsin again this season. 

Brown made one change in the Buckeye personell as he led the team through practice last night. Don Steinberg, junior end who has been out with a shoulder separation for a couple of weeks, was moved from left end to right, where he alternated with Cecil Souders as a second-stringer behind Bob Shaw.

The Bucks appeared even more likely to go into the game in fine physical condition, as Dante Lavelli, injured left end, was pronounced ready for action, leaving only Bill Durtschl still on the sidelines. Bill Sedor will again start at the left flank Saturday, with John White and Lavelli ready for action behind him.

Leave Tonight

The squad will leave Columbus at 11:50 Thursday evening, will travel to Chicago and eat breakfast Friday morning. They will then move on to Madison, will work out at Camp Randall, home of the Badgers, on Friday afternoon and then will stay at the Park Hotel until game time Saturday.

Meanwhile, Coach Harry Stuhldreher rounded his men into final condition for the Buck game, working mainly on offense.  

The Badger defense has been iron-clad during the first few games and the head coach apparently is satisfied with that phase of Badger play. He has worked all week on improving the passing attack which has not clicked in early season encounters and on polishing the running attack.

Schreiner Captain

Dave Schreiner, six-foot two-inch, 198 pound right end who was named on many of the All-American teams last year, has been selected to lead his team this week. The Badgers elected no captain, preferring to select men from game to game.

Here's hoping---from the heart---that weather in Madison, Wis., for Saturday's game between the Buckeyes and Badgers is better than it was on two of the former Ohio State trips to the beautiful lake-bounded city which is the home of the Badgers.

In 1919 this correspondent made his first trip to Madison with an Ohio State team. Details of that trip stand out more vividly than those of some more recent jaunts. It was my first trip anywhere with a College football team.

Ohio State won, 3-to-0, with Chic Harley drop-kicking a field goal in the closing minutes of play after a Harley-to-Stinchcomb forward pass which had seemingly produced a touchdown had been called back because the officials said Chic was less than five yards behind the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball. 

That's right, back in 1919 a player attempting a pass had to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage. The game has definitely changed over the past 98 years. Back to Byrer's story.

It was a bitterly cold day. That was before the day of enclosed press boxes and tarpaulin covers for playing fields. It had snowed most of the preceding night and straw had been used to cover the Camp Randall playing field.

It quit snowing shortly before game time but there was still plenty of snow on the ground around the playing field and a biting wind howled over the field. The snow and straw on the field itself had been raked and shoveled off and was banked up around the gridiron.

I remember envying the operator who sent my play by play. He could operate a telegraph sending key with mittens on but I couldn't write with gloves on.

Along with 1933 I made another jaunt to Madison with a Buckeye team coached by the late Sam Willaman. It didn't snow that day but it did rain all morning and then turn cold and foggy just before game time. The fog was so intense we could just see the outlines of players on the field but could tell very little about what was going on down there.

Wisconsin is still known as a place where the weather can have as much impact on the outcome of the game as the players wearing the red and white uniforms.

Mr. Byrer then goes on to deflate the egos of the fans backing the Buckeyes.

Still Rated Too High

Though Ohio State is still the only undefeated and untied team in the Western Conference, and has won five games in a row by convincing margins, I still believe the polls putting the Buckeyes first in the nation among college teams are out of step.

Paul B. Williamson's system, exclusive in The Citizen, is closer to correct than most of them. Mr. Williamson rates Ohio State tenth this week and below both Wisconsin and Illinois, future Ohio State opponents.

The Bucks have played three Western Conference games.

They defeated Indiana 32-to-21, Purdue 26-to-0 and Northwestern 20-to-6. In non-conference games they won from Ft. Knox 59-to-0 and from Southern California 28-to-12.

It's a find record, of course. But it hardly justifies placing the Bucks on top nationally as yet. The toughest opposition for the Bucks is still to come.

Byrer spends the next couple of paragraphs breaking down the seasons of the teams Ohio State beat and the teams the Buckeyes are going to play. To summarize, Byrer believes that Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan are going to be tough teams to defeat.

Following the conclusion of the Big Ten games, Ohio State finishes the season against Iowa Pre-Flight. This will be the last time the Buckeyes don't finish the regular season against Michigan.  

Here's what the experts think about the Ohio State-Wisconsin game Saturday.

Lew Byrer, Citizen sports editor: "It looks like Ohio's toughest game of the season to date. I pick the Buckeyes by one touchdown in a free-scoring game."

Leo H. Petersen, United Press sports editor: "Ohio State over Wisconsin---in  a battle of two of the Midwest's greatest offensive machines."

Paul B. Williamson System: "Wisconsin over Ohio...matched as close as they can be rated."

Red Grange, the original galloping ghost: "Forced to make a choice, I'll say Ohio State over the Badgers, in a battle of the two finer sophomore backs of the season---Hirsch of Wisconsin and Fekete of Ohio.

Today's Old School Alcohol Ad

Red Top is back in the CJ and this time the mascot is taking down geese. The Cincinnati beer is promoting itself as being extra smooth, extra age and extra quality.