Looking back through the schedule: Ohio State at Navy (8/30/2014)

We are set to open the season in Baltimore against the Naval Academy. While this should be a win, you can never tell at the beginning of the season, so I am sure Urban Meyer will have the Buckeyes on guard. Navy's football program has been improving over the last several years under head coach Ken Niumatalolo. Last year they went 9-4, beat their rival Army and won their bowl game against Middle Tennessee State. Their star quarterback Keenan Reynolds is coming back, as is our Braxton Miller, so this should be a great game. We have met Navy a few times before but have never lost to them. Here is a look at those games. These photos are from the Makio yearbook.

November 8, 1930:

Here we are in our away white jerseys forcing a Navy ball carrier to the ground in 1930. I hate to see it, but we wore winged helmets in those days.

The Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to Municipal Stadium (now Memorial Stadium) in Baltimore for our first meeting with Navy. In the first quarter our big halfback Stuart Holcomb eluded six Navy tacklers before scoring on a 23-yard run, making it 6-0 Buckeyes (PAT was no good). We then scored on an interception ran back by Dick Larkins to make it 13-0 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Lewis Hinchman intercepted a Navy pass and ran the ball back for a touchdown; we were now up 20-0. Bob Grady grabbed another Navy pass out of the air to give us the ball on the Navy 39 yard line in the fourth quarter. Wes Fesler ran the ball to the 14, from where Joe Benis threw a touchdown pass to Bob Horn, giving us a 27-0 lead. Navy mustered a 64-yard drive at the end of the fourth quarter, but Bob Grady ended it by pulling down his second interception of the day. As the Makio described it, this was "a great day for the Scarlet and Gray aggregation."

This was much-needed win as we had just lost two games and tied one. We had not won since beating Indiana on October 4th. We finished the season (Wes Fesler's last) 5-2-1 with losses to Northwestern and Michigan and a scoreless tie against Wisconsin.

November 7, 1931:

Hard to tell in black and white, but the Buckeyes are on defense here against Navy in 1931. We are sporting red jerseys and winged helmets.

A crowd of 60,649 fans came out to Ohio Stadium to watch the Navy game in 1931. Our strong defense, aided by heavy rain, stifled Navy's offensive progress at every turn. The first quarter was a punt exchange, with little offense from either side. Early in the second quarter, a pass to Ohio State tight end Sid Gilman was deflected by a Navy defender, but then caught by Gilman, who ran it in for a touchdown. It was now 6-0 (PAT no good). Right before halftime, Navy attempted a field goal which was blocked by Robert Haubrich. Buckeye end Junie Ferrall scooped the ball and took it all the way back to the Navy end zone, giving us a halftime lead of 13-0.

In the third quarter, Navy came out throwing, but Junie Ferrall picked off the ball and ran it in for another Ohio State defensive touchdown. Neither side could get much going on the ground or in the air in the second half, and we have our defense to thank for this win. The final score was 20-0 Ohio State. The Navy offense outplayed us, but four interceptions and a blocked kick stole any momentum that Navy built. The Lantern described our play as "straight, alert football."

December 30, 1981: The Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN

Watch the highlights here:

On Navy's first drive, we blocked their punt and recovered the ball at the 24 yard line and ended up with a field goal. Their next drive ended when out nose tackle Nick Miller caused a fumble behind the line and jumped on the ball at midfield. We jumped out to a 10-0 lead after quarterback Art Schlichter found Gary Williams outrunning the Navy defensive backs and hit him in stride for a 51- yard touchdown pass.

Navy fought back and tied the game up in the second quarter. We lost the ball as Schlichter bungled an option pitch, but soon got it back when our big, fast defensive line powered through to knock the ball loose from the Navy quarterback and recover the fumble on the Navy 28-yard line. We drove down and Jimmy Gale punched in the touchdown on a one-yard run. Navy managed to get a field goal before the half, making the halftime score 17-3 in favor of the Buckeyes.

Early in the 3rd quarter, Navy blocked our punt and ran the ball in for a touchdown to go up 20-17. Schlichter led another drive with good passing that ended in another short touchdown run by Jimmy Gale, making it 24-20 Ohio State. Before the end of the quarter, we got great field position as Navy's long snapper sent the ball over the punter's head, giving it to us on the Navy 21 yard line. We got a field goal try out of this, but missed.

So, in the 4th quarter we were up 24-20. Our cornerback Kelvin Bell got us every defensive player's dream and every quarterback's nightmare: a 4th quarter interception. A 9-yard TD pass from Schlichter to Cedric Anderson increased our lead to 31-20. But the Navy Midshipmen, never losing heart, down by 11 points, drove for another touchdown and 2-point conversion, cutting our lead to three points in the final seconds of the game. Navy did an onside kick, which we recovered to end the game. The Buckeyes came out victorious: 31-28.

Just to recap the crazy special teams plays in this game: we blocked one punt, then another (which was called back because we were offside), Navy faked a punt, then blocked a punt, and screwed up a punt with a high snap.

September 5th, 2009: Season Opener

Some of the highlights:

After losing a TON of great players to graduation and the NFL draft, we opened the 2009 season against Navy. Brandon Saine returned the opening kickoff 47 yards after a nifty hand-off from Jermale Hines. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor led the opening drive with receptions by Devier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher, who went in for a touchdown to put us up 7-0. Navy tied it up, but we answered with a field goal to make it 10-7.

Our linebacker Thaddeus Gibson forced a Navy fumble early in the 2nd quarter, giving us the ball on our own 44 yard line. Pryor, with help from Boom Herron and Dane Sanzenbacher, drove us down for a touchdown, running the ball in himself from two yards out. Later, our backup QB Joe Bauserman led a decent drive that ended in a field goal, making it 20-7 at halftime.

Navy, however, would not give up and fought back with a 3rd quarter touchdown drive to make it 20-14. Early in the 4th quarter, we got a field goal to go up by nine and our defensive back Kurt Coleman forced a fumble, giving us the ball on the Navy 30 yard line with 13:00 to play. Pryor passed, ran and then gave the ball to Boom Herron for a touchdown. We missed the extra point, so the score was 29-14 with less than 12:00 left. Kurt Coleman intercepted a pass to end Navy drive and it looked like we had the game in the bag.

But Navy pulled off some late heroics, scoring a touchdown on an 85-yard pass play and intercepting a pass from Pryor with 3:30 left. Navy's quarterback rushed from 24 yards out to score another touchdown, putting Navy just two points behind us at 29-27. They went for the two-point conversion and our linebacker Brian Rolle snagged the ball at the goal line and sprinted back to Navy's end zone to give us a rare defensive two-point conversion. Final score 31-27 Ohio State. What a way to open a season!

Navy Midshipmen football facts:

Program Duration: 1879 - present

All-time Record: 670-540-57

Record against Ohio State: 0-4

Bowl Appearances/Wins: 19/8

National championship(s): 1926

Heisman Winners: halfback Joe Bellino (1960) and quarterback Roger Staubach (1963)

OSU Coaches Clinic Inspires a Look Back at Great Coaches

Ohio State is hosting the 2014 Coaches Clinic April 10 - 12, themed as a tribute to Ohio football. Marvin Lewis, head coach of the Bengals and Mike Pettine, head coach of the Browns, will speak at the clinic. So will Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer and several members of his staff: Tom Herman, Luke Fickell, Tim Hinton and Chris Ash. Several Ohio high school coaches will also speak. The weekend ends with the Ohio State Spring Game on Saturday, April 12 at 1:30 PM.

This gathering of Ohio coaches inspires a look back at the great coaches of Ohio over the years.

Paul Brown is a coach every Ohioan should know. He was born in Norwalk in 1908 and grew up in Massillon, where he played for the Massillon Tigers in high school. He started college at Ohio State and finished at Miami University (OH), where he played quarterback. After college, he coached at a high school in Maryland before returning to Massillon to coach the Tigers for nine years. He was hired as head coach at Ohio State in 1941 and led the Buckeyes to our first national championship in 1942. He was commissioned to coach the Great Lakes Bluejackets during World War II and went on to coach the Cleveland Browns for 17 seasons. He later coached the Cincinnati Bengals for eight seasons. Paul Brown died in Cincinnati in 1991. Today, the Massillon High School Tigers play in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and the Bengals play in Paul Brown Stadium.

Wes Fesler was born in Youngstown in 1908 and played lineman and fullback at Ohio State from 1928 - 1930 and was a first team All-American every year. He immediately started as an assistant coach at OSU after college. He then went on to be head coach of the Harvard University basketball team for nine years while serving as an assistant football coach at Harvard. In 1941 Fesler was hired as head coach of the football team at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, but his time there was cut short by World War II. Eventually he went back to the dual basketball-football coaching, this time at Princeton. The University of Pittsburgh hired him as head football coach for one season before he returned to Ohio State. After building the program in 1947 and 1948, his 1949 Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl, and Vic Janowicz won OSU's first Heisman Trophy in 1950. After the infamous 1950 Michigan game, known as the "Snow Bowl," Fesler fell out of favor and coached at Minnesota until 1953. He died in California in 1989.

Woody Hayes is the most famous coach of Ohio State; he coached at OSU for 28 seasons led the Buckeyes to five national championships. He was born in Clifton in 1913 and played high school football for Newcomerstown and college ball for Denison University. He later coached at Denison and Miami (OH) before getting hired as Ohio State's coach in 1951. He coached the likes of Howard " Hopalong" Cassady, Archie Griffin, Jim Otis, Art Schichter and Jack Tatum. Earle Bruce, Lou Holtz and Bo Schembechler all coached under Hayes at some point. Woody Hayes died in Columbus in 1987.

*Photo of Paul Brown Tiger Stadium by Sean P. Bender