The Male Animal: A great film for Ohio State fans

I recently watched a 1942 film called The Male Animal because it was based on a Broadway play by Buckeye alum James Thurber. Thurber's writing partner Elliott Nugent also went to Ohio State. The play, of the same name, was first performed in 1940 and was very popular. is about a college professor caught up in a controversy over his supposed communist sympathies, on the weekend of a big football rivalry game on campus. I will pretty much read or watch anything Thurber had a hand in, so I wanted to give The Male Animal a try. Having written the play together, Thurber and Nugent also collaborated on the film. The film sticks close to the play and is well-acted and very entertaining.

Henry Fonda plays the lead role (you may remember him from The Grapes of Wrath, How the West Was Won or On Golden Pond). He was a gifted actor and plays the role of Professor Tommy Turner perfectly. Olivia de Havilland plays his wife Ellen. De Havilland also acted in Gone with the Wind and They Died with their Boots On.

Because they wanted to use a football-crazy university setting for The Male Animal, Thurber and Nugent use Ohio State as the template for the school in the film. They call it "Midwestern State University" and the big football rivalry game is against University of Michigan. I thought this was interesting, but did not think about the OSU connection until the students sing, "We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan . . . now or evermore." It made me laugh out loud to hear it - they took the tune and lyrics right from Ohio State. They also sing, to our very own tune, "and when we win the game, we'll buy a keg of booze and we'll drink to old Midwestern till we wobble in our shoes." There is no mistaking Ohio State as the basis for the school in the film.

Students in The Male Animal singing "We Don't Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan." The "M" on the sweaters is for Midwestern State University.

Thurber and Nugent also drew from Ohio State for the plot of the film, in which there is a lot of tension between the academics and the football team. The professors see the football players as idiots and refer to them as "stadium-builders." This has always been the case at Ohio State. There was a movement to scrap the football program in 1901, Wes Fesler promoted academics and good personal conduct over wins on the field as head coach, and the faculty voted to decline the Rose Bowl in 1961 due to football's huge popularity at OSU. Nowadays, the football program is more beloved.

The film shows a few plays in the Michigan game, which Midwestern University rallies to win by one point. While Midwestern is losing, one of the boosters says, "We build them a new stadium and they can't even beat Michigan in it." This was actually true for a while, since we began playing in Ohio Stadium in 1922 and went on a six-year losing streak to Michigan. The football game scenes are interesting to watch, they show the players in leather helmets, lined up with the ends in tight, in a full-house T formation.

Midwestern State's marching band entering the rally before the Michigan game. Don't those uniforms look familiar?

The film's story centers on Tommy Turner, a young English professor. A heroic football player, "Whirling" Joe Ferguson, returns to town and drives Professor Turner crazy. He can't stop talking about football and hitting on Turner's wife. Turner also has to deal with allegations that he is a communist, which could get him fired. During the Michigan game, he gets drunk at home with one of his students and hilariously reasons that he should fight Joe Ferguson, because of a primal instinct to protect his manhood. He attempts to fight Joe, then goes to bed and sleeps through Sunday. When he wakes up Monday morning, he has to face the faculty and argue that he is innocent of communism. It is quite funny and the acting is great.

If you are wondering about Ohio State football at the time, the year The Male Animal was released, we won our first national title.

Find the film and watch it some time, if you are a Buckeye fan, it will entertain you. Here is the trailer:

The seven Buckeyes that did NOT win the Heisman Trophy

Ohio State players have won the Heisman seven times, which ties us with Notre Dame for the most wins by University. Michigan players have only three Heisman trophies, but who's counting? Of course, there are great players every year that do not win the big trophy, and many of them have played at Ohio State. Here are the seven best Buckeyes who did not win the Heisman.

PACE - 1996

Orlando Pace came in 4th in Heisman voting in '96, which is pretty great for a lineman. Pace was as good an offensive tackle as we have ever produced and he played with some great players, like Eddie George, Shawn Springs, Mike Vrabel and Joe Germaine. He became famous for his complete dominance of defenders, which included frequent "pancake" blocks. Until Orlando Pace came along, they were called knockdowns. The pancake block was a stat invented by Ohio State and Orlando Pace in 1996. 

The '96 season was going very well for Head Coach John Cooper and the Buckeyes, as usual. We were ranked No. 2 almost the entire season and were all set up to play Florida State for the national title when we lost to Michigan. We redeemed ourselves by defeating Arizona State in the Rose Bowl and finishing the season No. 2. Florida beat Florida State and won the national title. Their quarterback Danny Wuerffel won the Heisman. Pace at least won the Lombardi Trophy in 1995 and 1996.

To get an idea of Pace's dominance, see this video that shows him destroying Penn State's defensive line.

BYARS - 1984

Keith Byars, running back, was second in Heisman voting in '84. This was Byars' junior year and he was outstanding. He rushed for 1,764 yards and 22 touchdowns, and caught for 479 yards and two more touchdowns. Byars played with great players like Mike Tomczack, Jim Lachey, Cris Carter and Chris Spielman. Byars was a huge part of our 1980s Big Ten dominance. We beat Michigan and won the conference in 1984. Unfortunately we lost the Rose Bowl to USC. Doug Flutie, quarterback for Boston College, won the 1984 Heisman.

Here is Byars returning a kickoff for a TD against Pittsburgh. He was a big back with short strides, not the type you normally see returning kicks.

SCHLICHTER - 1979

Art Schlichter came in fourth in Heisman voting in '79. This was Schichter's sophomore season, and as quarterback, he led the team through a difficult transition. 1978 was Woody Hayes' last season and many doubted if the Buckeyes would carry on successfully without him. Head coach Earle Bruce was doubted by many, but he and Schlichter brought us a lot of success that continued into the 1980s.

Schlicter was a great passer, and he threw for 1,816 yards and 14 touchdowns in 1979, and rushed for 430 yards and nine more touchdowns. We went undefeated all year and were No. 1 going into the Rose Bowl against USC. We lost the national championship by a single point as USC came back in the fourth quarter to win 17-16. Fittingly, USC running back Charles White won the 1979 Heisman Trophy.

Here Schlichter impressively leads OSU down the field to win in the final minutes of the '79 UCLA game.

HICKS - 1973

John Hicks, offensive tackle, was second in Heisman voting in '73. He had the great honor of playing with the 1970 championship team, as well as the next generation of Buckeyes that included Archie Griffin. Or perhaps, all of those players had the honor or playing with John Hicks. Without him, Rex Kern and Cornelius Greene would not have had time to throw, and Champ Henson and Archie Griffin would not have had room to run. He was impossible to get around, and most footage of Hicks involves him shoving defenders helplessly backwards. 

Sports Illustrated did a good article in 1973 about how it is nearly impossible for a lineman to win the Heisman, which remains true today. Hicks did win the 1973 Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy, while Penn State's John Cappelletti won the Heisman.

This is a great photo of Hicks in action.

KERN - 1969

Rex Kern came in third in 1969's Heisman votes. Kern quarterbacked during the golden age of OSU football and '69 was his best year. He threw for just over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns, while rushing for 583 yards and nine more touchdowns. He played with a ridiculously good group of players including Jack Tatum, Jim Otis, John Hicks, Jim Stillwagon, and Bruce Jankowski. 1969 was set to be our perfect year, with the Buckeyes defending the national title and continuing a win streak that lasted as a school record until 2013. Michigan, with their new Coach Schembechler, beat us at the end of the season, ending our win streak at 22 and dashing everyone's expectation that we would repeat as national champions. Oklahoma's Steve Owens won the '69 Heisman.

Here is Kern leading us to victory over Purdue in 1969.

FERGUSON - 1961

Bob Ferguson was second in Heisman voting in 1961. He was a tough fullback whose main job was to run the ball right up the middle for four or five yards to keep drives going. In 1961, he ran for 968 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was one of the best running backs to ever play at Ohio State, and we would probably have won the national championship with his rushing abilities, but OSU itself denied us.

We had tied the first game of the '61 season, but had won every game since, so we had an undefeated record and were on our way to the Rose Bowl to play UCLA, a team we had already beaten back in the second game of the season. Things looked great as we were cruising to our fourth national title, when the Ohio State faculty voted to decline the Rose Bowl invitation because they wanted the university to stay focused on academics. The students rioted in response, but Woody Hayes remained calm. Minnesota went to the Rose Bowl instead, and beat UCLA. 

Ferguson won the Maxwell Award, but the brilliant running back Ernie Davis (of Syracuse) won the Heisman. On a much more tragic note than our missing out on the national championship, Ernie Davis went on to the NFL, but died of cancer at age 23, before he could play a game.

Here is Ferguson rushing; check out that uniform! Photo: fanbase.com

WHITE - 1958

Bob White came in fourth in 1958's Heisman votes. White had played on the 1957 national championship team and had a great 1958, too: 859 yards and 12 touchdowns. He played alongside Buckeye greats Don Clark and Dick Lebeau. We came into the year ranked No. 1, but after two ties and a loss, we fell in the rankings. Although we beat Iowa by ten points, they won the conference and went to the Rose Bowl. At least we beat Michigan. Army's Pete Dawkins won the Heisman.

Here is an old photo of Bob White, looking tough. Photo: fanbase.com

Our First Undefeated Season: 1899

Photo of 1899 football team from the 1900 Makio yearbook.

We have had several undefeated seasons over the last 125 years, and here is a look at our first. In 1899, the Buckeyes were coached by John Eckstorm, who was from Minnesota and went to college at Dartmouth. Eckstorm was familiar with football from his east coast Ivy League background. He was a great coach, but he only served the Buckeyes for three seasons: 1899 - 1901. He earned us our first undefeated season in 1899 and our first non-loss to Michigan in 1900 (a scoreless tie).

Back then, we were not in a conference and played other Ohio schools, like Case, Oberlin and Marietta. We had a good team, but the game was different in those days and Ohio State was certainly not a powerful program. There was no forward pass yet, so most plays involved pitches, options and various other runs and laterals. Play was more brutal, with minimal pads, leather helmets, and dangerous plays like pile-ups and wedges. Old footage from a Princeton-Yale game in 1903 can give you an idea of how football looked at the turn of the century.

We played our home games at Ohio Field back then (which was an upgrade from Recreation Park), until we got enough fans to justify building Ohio Stadium in the early 1920's. The evolution of football at OSU can be seen in the roster: our original 1890 team had 14 total players; by 1899 we had 32 players. This was coach Eckstorm's first year with the Buckeyes, who had a 31-40-4 record since 1890. Eckstorm encouraged the players to practice in the off season and kept them in good shape. He took coaching very seriously and found instant success, leading Ohio State to an undefeated season. The only points scored against the Buckeyes in 1899 came from Case School of Applied Science, in a game that ended in a 5-5 tie. Almost a perfect season.

Here was our starting roster:

Quarterback: Paul Hardy

Center: John Sigrist

Right tackle: Charles Sigrist

Left tackles: D.B. "Del" Sayers (captain) and Sherman Fay

Right guard: Josephus Tilton

Left guard: Homer Wharton

Right ends: Loren Poole and Erastus Lloyd

Left ends: Scott and Huddleson

Halfbacks: James Westwater, C. R. Wilson, Benjamin Yost and Hager

Fullback: James Kittle

I have not been able to unearth much about the lives of these players, but what I have found, I will share:

Homer Wharton was a graduate student in law school at Ohio State who had completed his bachelor's degree at Muskingom College, where he was quite the violinist. Captain Del Sayers was also a pitcher on the Buckeye baseball team. Sayers and John Sigrist were also members of the McKinley Club while at OSU. This was a political club supporting President McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. President McKinley was one of several Ohioans to become U.S. Presidents, but I digress.

John and Charles Sigrist were brothers. Tragically, during the 1901 season, John Sigrist died of injuries suffered during a game against Western Reserve. His death cast doubt on the future of football at Ohio State. James Kittle, an Engineering major, joined the Ohio Malleable Iron Company, where he had a successful career. Erastus Lloyd went on to become a lawyer, judge and state senator. He died in 1948.

We tied Michigan the next year and again in 1910 but wouldn't actually beat them until 1919. The Buckeyes of Ohio State now have 10 undefeated seasons on record, including 6 perfect seasons (with no ties). Those in recent memory are, of course, the 14-0 National Championship season of 2002 and Urban Meyer's debut as head coach in 2012, when we went 12-0.

1969 Sports Illustrated

I recently got my hands on a Sports Illustrated from September 15, 1969. This was during a golden age of OSU football, when we had Woody Hayes as head coach. We had won the 1968 National Championship and were in the midst of what would become a 22-game win streak (broken by Michigan on November 22, 1969). This win streak was broken last season with Urban Meyer's Buckeyes winning 24 in a row. Anyway, here is the magazine cover:

That is, of course, Woody Hayes on the left and #10 Rex Kern in the center and bottom right. #35 Jim Otis is in the center also. Inside there is a salute to the great players of the past century of football (the first official American football game was in 1869) and there is a great write-up about the Buckeyes. We were unanimously considered No. 1 that year until the loss at Michigan:

Read the whole 1869-1969 football article from Sports Illustrated.

There is an interesting article (part of the centennial celebration of American football) that discusses the end of defense and the prevalence of a high-scoring pass-happy offensive strategy employed by most current (1969) college coaches. I found this funny because it is the same thing I hear today about how football is changing into a high-scoring, offense-centered sport that does not rely on strength and toughness like it used to. Apparently, fans and writers saw the same trend almost 50 years ago:

There is an analysis of each major conference, from back in the days when the Big Ten really was just 10 Midwestern teams: no Penn State, and no Nebraska, Maryland or Rutgers:

Read the conference write-ups here.

In 1969, former OSU coach Paul Brown was coaching the Cincinnati Bengals, and there is an article about him as well: 

Read this whole article from Sports Illustrated.

All in all, this issue was very interesting to read and exemplifies what makes Ohio State football so great. I occasionally buy OSU memorabilia and this magazine is an invaluable addition to my modest collection. It is also great to see that in this digital age, Sports Illustrated has archived many of their articles online for fans to enjoy.

Carlos Hyde and the Not-So-Long-Ago Eddie George

*Carlos Hyde photo property of theozone.net, Eddie George photo property of menofthescarletandgray.com

Carlos Hyde is one of the best running backs we have ever had. He is 6-0/230; a little bigger than the average back in college. He is not the fastest, but Hyde is one of those players who can grind out a game for you. He did that for us last year, famously against Northwestern, but pretty much against every team he played. Watch these highlights to see what I mean. He was the go-to guy for a short touchdown when we needed it and for big plays.

He reminds me a lot of Eddie George, our 1995 Heisman winner who was of similar size (6-3/240). They were both big running backs who could just keep drives alive. Carlos is a little shorter and a little faster than Eddie, but they filled the same role for us. They would always fall forward to grab an extra yard or two, always seem to get us that first down, always keep the clock running, and just carry the offense when we needed it. Big running backs like this are a great asset to any team and they hearken back to the old days of football when it was more of a test of strength on the ground. Hopefully, Carlos will find as much success in the NFL, and in life, as Eddie has.

Eddie George was from Philadelphia and played for us from 1992 - 1995. He played under head coach John Cooper and with a ridiculous number of incredible teammates like Robert Smith, Dan Wilkinson, Korey Stringer, Orlando Pace, Shawn Springs and Mike Vrabel. He rushed for over 4,000 yards, was an All-American and won the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 1995. His number is retired at OSU and he is the most recent Buckeye to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

George was drafted in the first round by the Houston Oilers in 1996, before they moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. He became a staple of their offense, just like he had been in college. His best season came in 1999, when he helped lead the Titans to Superbowl XXXIV, a game they lost to the Rams. That was the season that included the Titans' "Music City Miracle" and the dramatic end of the Superbowl in which the Titans were one yard short of tying the game in the last play. George played his last season (2004) with the Dallas Cowboys. All in all, he rushed for over 10,000 yards in nine seasons in the NFL.

Since leaving football, he has remained active in the Nashville area, running a landscaping architecture business and performing as a Shakespearean actor. He has also worked as a football analyst and as Assistant VP for Business Development back at OSU. George had a difficult transition back to normal life after the NFL, battling depression and family problems. Having gone through the struggle himself, he is working on building a course at Ohio State that teaches business skills and life skills for athletes.

Ryan Shazier and a Look at Chris Spielman

*Photo of Shazier property of AP/Cleveland.com, photo of Spielman property of Sports Illustrated.

Ryan Shazier was our best defensive player in 2013. He was a first team All-American and led the Big Ten in tackles. He is going into the draft and will probably get picked toward the end of the first round or the beginning of the second. Shazier is 6-1/237 and had an incredible junior season last year. He is very athletic and has great vision. He has an ability to basically throw off the rhythm of an offense by getting to the quarterback, breaking up passes, tackling for loss and causing fumbles. He even has a pick-six. Shazier is one of those players that gets inside the heads of opposing players; they always seem to be watching him and running from him. He is reminiscent of the great Buckeye linebacker Chris Spielman.

Chris Spielman is from football-crazy Massillon, where they play at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. He was a Buckeye from 1984 - 1987 and was 6-0/247. He played under head coach Earle Bruce with greats like Kieth Byars, Cris Carter and Pepper Johnson. By the way, during Spielman's time at OSU, Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer were assistant coaches. Spielman was an All-American for three years and one of the consistent players that made the 1980s Buckeyes so great. He was not the most athletic player, but was one of the hardest workers the Buckeyes have ever had. Here he is with a pick-six against Texas A&M in the 1987 Cotton Bowl. He is one of the 23 Buckeye players in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Spielman was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1988 and played in the Pro Bowl four times. He also played for the Bills and the Browns. In 1999, Spielman retired from football and began a career in broadcasting, working for ESPN, 97.1 The Fan, and Detroit's WXYT. He has devoted a huge amount of time to caring for his wife, who battled breast cancer from the 1990s until her death in 2009. Spielman was head coach of arena football's Columbus Destroyers in 2005. As Spielman's website shows, he is still a valuable source of insight into sports, and life in general.