Ohio State On This Date: Chic Harley Zips the Lip of Bob Zuppke, Paul Brown Returns and Troy Smith Throws Four Touchdowns On Oct. 21

The first game Ohio State played on Oct. 21 was in 1893. The Buckeyes hosted Oberlin at Recreation Park and the Yeomen left the field with a 38-10 victory. At this point, Oberlin was 3-0 against Ohio State and the Yeomen went on to win the first six games in the series.

In 1944, former Ohio State coach Paul Brown and former players Ernie Plank and Jim Rees returned to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes as members of the Great Lakes Naval Training Center Blue Jackets. The matchup between No. 4 Ohio State and No. 6 Great Lakes was on the national radar as CBS and NBC radio carried the game that was played in front of the fifth-largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history to that date.

Ohio State scored first when Dick Flanagan plunged over the goal line in the opening quarter. Flanagan lost the ball as he went in for the touchdown, and after several moments of discussion, the refs determined Flanagan crossed the line before losing his grasp of the ball. Neither team scored for the rest of the half, and Brown's service men tied the game at 6-6 when Chuck Avery caught a pass in the flat, then spun and twisted his way 31 yards for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Les Horvath and Ollie Cline found paydirt against Great Lakes, with Horvath doing so twice in the Buckeyes' 26-6 win. Ohio State's coach, Carroll Widdoes, and Brown agreed that the Buckeyes' line was the difference in the outcome.

"Our line was the deciding factor in the game. Of course, the backs were good, too, but the line was great. They played Great Lakes off its feet, and they kept their offense jammed up most of the time by good rushing," Widdoes opined in the locker room. 

Brown was more succinct, "That great line of Ohio State's licked us. They bowled us over." 

The great line helped future Heisman winner Horvath rush for 100 yards and two touchdowns, and Flanagan went for 94 yards and a score.

Against Indiana in 2006, Troy Smith threw four touchdowns in a single game for the first time in his career. Ohio State defeated the Hoosiers, 44-3, for the program's largest margin of victory since 1985.

Games to remember

Zuppke's mind games couldn’t stop Harley

The day before the game against Illinois in Champaign in 1916, Ohio State was on campus and Illini coach Bob Zuppke took on the role of guided tour master for the visiting Buckeyes. Zuppke made sure to stop by Illinois' trophy room to show his guests his polished collection. Was he doing this as a gracious host? Or was he trying to psyche out the Ohio State players?

If the collection of shiny trinkets didn't do its job of psyching out the Buckeyes, Mother Nature decided to unleash hours of rain and snow on the field making the playing conditions less than ideal. With a slippery and wet track, the Illini had to be pleased Chic Harley wouldn't have a perfect field to churn out his usual magical performances.

In the first half, the deplorable field did its job of hampering Harley, but it also prevented Illinois from capitalizing on its dominating first half of play. The hosts led 6-0 after the first 30 minutes of play, but missed three of five field goal attempts in large part due to the muddy conditions. 

The score remained the same with 1:10 to play. Ohio State was facing 4th-and-3 on the Illinois 15-yard line, and the stage was set for Harley to do Harley things. The sophomore took the snap and faked a pass to the right; he then raced left and evaded three Illinois defenders on his way to the mud-soaked end zone. The game was tied at 6-6 with the all-important extra point on tap.   

Understanding the task at hand, Harley called timeout so he could properly put on his kicking shoe. The shoe had a square toe, but most importantly, it was dry and Harley was perfect on his kicks when wearing the specialized shoe. In ankle-deep slop, Harley took his steps as the ball was snapped. His plant foot held as his foot struck true. Straight, high and true the ball cleared the uprights and Ohio State won, 7-6.

Losing for the first time on its home field since 1913, the Illini players were on edge. When an Ohio State player asked Zuppke if he wanted Harley's kicking shoe for his trophy case, a full-on fracas broke out on the field. John Wilce's Buckeyes just defeated their rival, were 3-0 on the season and 1-0 on the smack-talk scoreboard. 

Scott and the Buckeyes overcame sloppy play in Minneapolis

For the first time in eight seasons, and only the fourth time to that point, Ohio State and Minnesota battled on the football field. During the break in the series, the Gophers hired Bernie Bierman as head coach and the program won the national championship in 1934, 1935 and 1936 while winning 35 of 40 games; they’re still the last team to win three straight national titles at the highest level of college football.

Bierman's ball club jumped out to an early first-half advantage by recovering a mishandled punt by Ohio State's Jim Strausbaugh at the Buckeyes' 13-yard line. The Gophers punched it in for a 7-0 lead a few plays later. Don Scott brought Ohio State back with a couple of touchdown passes and his 10th-ranked team led 16-14 at the break.

The second half brought a cacophony of errors. On the opening drive of the third quarter, Minnesota lost the ball on a lateral, setting Scott up to throw his third touchdown pass of the day and give the Buckeyes a 23-14 lead. At the start of the fourth quarter, a short Ohio State punt gave the Gophers the ball on the Buckeyes' 39-yard line. UM quarterback Harold VanEvery found Bruce Smith for a touchdown pass on first down to cut Ohio State's lead to 23-20. The Buckeyes blocked the PAT to retain the three-point advantage.

Later in the fourth, it appeared Ohio State put the game away when Jim Langhurst broke free for an 81-yard touchdown run, but a flag for illegal formation negated the play. On the subsequent 1st-and-15, Langhusrt fumbled and the Gophers recovered in the red zone. 

With the game on the line, the Buckeyes' defense stiffened, and Minnesota had to settle for a field goal. As the partisan fans of the Gophers held their breath, Joe Mernik booted the ball toward the uprights; his attempt struck the crossbar, wobbled, and then fell harmlessly backward. 

Ohio State could not run out the clock and following a punt, Minnesota had the ball with under a minute to play on the Buckeyes' 43-yard line. VanEvery threw for the end zone, and Ohio State's Jack Graf intercepted the ball on the five-yard line to ensure the 23-20 win for Francis Schmidt's Buckeyes. 

Stat Superlatives

Five Fun Facts

1. Ted Ginn Jr. connected with Rory Nicol for a 38-yard touchdown pass to give Ohio State a 28-3 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the first half against Indiana in 2006. This was the first and only pass completion for Ginn during his Buckeye career.
2. The magic number against Indiana in 2006 was 270. Ohio State rushed for 270 yards and passed for 270 yards against the Hoosiers that day.
3. Ohio State unveiled the spread offense for the first time and gained 446 yards of total offense in the 38-10 win at Iowa.
4. The dedication for Ohio Stadium's 50th anniversary was held against Indiana on Oct. 21, 1972. The Buckeyes defeated the Hoosiers 44-7.
5. Ohio State defeated Minnesota in Minneapolis for the first time in program history on Oct. 21, 1939.