Looking Back Through the Schedule: Virginia Tech at Ohio State (9/6/2014)

Our second game of the season is against Virginia Tech. We have never played them before, but Virginia Tech has a long history of successful football. They played their first football game in 1892, about 17 months after Ohio State's first game. The uniforms were gray and black, but apparently the fans thought they looked too much like prison uniforms, so they were changed to maroon and orange. In their early days, the Virginia Tech nickname was the Gobblers or Fighting Gobblers, but now they are known as the Hokies.

Much like Ohio State, Virginia Tech played in a local conference in their early days. Ours was the Ohio Athletic Conference; theirs was the Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In 1912, we joined the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) and in 1921 Virginia Tech joined the Southern Conference. The major football schools left the Southern Conference and formed the SEC and ACC. In 1965, Virginia Tech left the Southern Conference to compete as an independent. The Hokies joined the Big East in 1991, but left to join the ACC in 2004, where they still compete today.

Virginia Tech's only undefeated season came in 1954, the year the Buckeyes won the national championship. We also went undefeated, 10-0, including a victory over USC in the Rose Bowl. At the time, Virginia Tech was still playing local schools with basic football programs, but an undefeated season is always something to be proud of. The Buckeyes know that, we have had ten undefeated seasons and are proud of each one. In the late 1960s, Virginia Tech built Lane Stadium, where they still play today. The home field crowd is reputed to be very intense, giving a real edge to the Hokies when they play at home.

Howard "Hopalong" Cassady hopping into the end zone against Michigan in 1954. Photo is from Cleveland.com

Virginia Tech's best shot at a national title came in the 1999 season, when quarterback Michael Vick led the Hokies through an undefeated regular season only to lose to Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. Since then, they have been a strong contender in their conference every year. Playing in the ACC since 2004, they are one of the teams that makes the conference strong, along with Florida State, Clemson and Boston College. Virginia Tech currently has a streak of bowl appearances stretching back to 1993, with nine wins and twelve losses.

Michael Vick playing in the 2000 Sugar Bowl against Florida State. Photo is from blog.nola.com

With such a long history and so many bowl games, it is surprising that the Buckeyes have never met the Hokies on the field. This year the game will be our home opener, after the away game at Navy to start the season. If we had to travel to Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, VA to face the Hokies on their own turf, I might be worried. But, since they will have to face the emotion and clamor of Ohio Stadium in its first football game since November 23rd, we should have them on their heels right from opening kickoff. This is a prime time game, so we will take to the field at 8:00 PM.

Ohio Stadium pumped up for a night game. Photo is from Dan Harker of the-Ozone.net

Virginia Tech Hokies Football Facts:

Program Duration: 1892 - present

All-time record: 701-441-46

Record against Ohio State: 0-0

Bowl Appearances/Wins: 27/10

National Championship(s): none

Heisman Winners: none

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