1942 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

The 1942 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 1942 Big Ten Conference football season. The team was led by wingback Les Horvath and quarterback and team captain George Lynn. They were coached by Paul Brown. The Buckeyes were awarded the national championship by the Associated Press, the first claimed and generally recognized national title in program history. The 1933 Ohio State team had been awarded a national championship via the Dunkel System, with Michigan, Princeton, and USC also receiving titles from different ranking systems.

1942 Ohio State Buckeyes football
National champion (AP)
Big Ten champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
APNo. 1
1942 record9–1 (5–1 Big Ten)
Head coachPaul Brown (2nd season)
Offensive schemeHeavy run
Base defenseMulti
MVPCharles Csuri
Home stadiumOhio Stadium
(Capacity: 66,210)
1942 Big Ten football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Ohio State $ 5 –1 –0  9 –1 –0
No. 3 Wisconsin 4 –1 –0  8 –1 –1
No. 9 Michigan 3 –2 –0  7 –3 –0
Illinois 3 –2 –0  6 –4 –0
Iowa 3 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
No. 19 Minnesota 3 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Indiana 2 –2 –0  7 –3 –0
Purdue 1 –4 –0  1 –8 –0
Northwestern 0 –6 –0  1 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The Buckeyes only loss was to the Wisconsin Badgers in what many now refer to as the "Bad Water Game", where half of the Buckeye players contracted an intestinal disorder after drinking from an unsanitary drinking fountain on the train to Madison. The Buckeyes were defeated by the Badgers who were led by Elroy Hirsch. However, the Badgers had a loss and a tie giving Ohio State the Big Ten championship.

Horvath then led the Buckeyes to three scores through the air to upset Michigan and win their first league championship in three years and their sixth in 30 years since joining the Big Ten Conference in 1913. The Buckeyes outscored their opponents on the season by an average score of 34–11 by scoring a total 337 and allowing 114.

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 26Fort Knox*No. 1
W 59–022,555
October 3IndianaNo. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 32–2148,227
October 10USC*No. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 28–1256,436
October 17PurdueNo. 1
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 26–045,943
October 24at NorthwesternNo. 1
W 20–640,000
October 31at No. 6 WisconsinNo. 1
L 7–1745,000
November 7Pittsburgh*No. 6
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 59–1934,893
November 14vs. No. 13 IllinoisNo. 10
W 44–2068,586
November 21No. 4 MichiganNo. 5
W 21–771,691
November 28Iowa Pre-Flight*No. 3
  • Ohio Stadium
  • Columbus, OH
W 41–1227,259
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Coaching staff

Awards

All-Americans

All-Big Ten
  • Lindell Houston, G
  • Paul Sarringhaus, HB
  • Bob Shaw, E

Big Ten Scholar/Athlete
  • Don Steinberg, WR

1943 NFL draftees
PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Club
Les Horvath645HalfbackCleveland Rams
Bill Vickroy12105CenterCleveland Rams
Don McCafferty13116EndNew York Giants
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References
    General
    • Lindy's (2002), A Championship Season...and the Battle for #1, p. 74
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