![]() ![]() That meant Ohio State went four weeks without a game. All games previously scheduled for October were canceled, so the western conference championship season will be entirely confined to November,” the story read. “Football schedules of the ‘Big Ten’ were completely revised at a special meeting of the coaches and athletic directors (in Chicago) yesterday to conform with the war department ruling limiting the teams to two 48-hour trips next month. The goal was to limiting the spread of the influenza on the home front while the country was sending millions of troops overseas to fight. ![]() On October 9, in an article titled “‘Big Ten’ Fixes Up New Schedule,” the Akron Beacon-Journal laid out new travel restrictions from the War Department. They destroyed local rivals Ohio Wesleyan and Denison by a combined score of 75-0.īut things changed dramatically when the influenza, which had swept through the country in the spring and then largely gone away during the summer, came roaring back in the fall. Stinchcomb would play for the Cleveland Naval Reserves team instead of the Buckeyes that fall.ĭespite the almost-total turnover in their roster, the 1918 Ohio State team still got off to a good start. In early May, the Dayton Daily News wrote, “Half-back Stinchcomb has left Ohio State to join the naval training school and only three O.S.U. ![]() World War I was raging in Europe, and established stars like Charles “Chic” Harley and Gaylord Stinchcomb had left the Buckeyes to join the war effort. In fact, the very first time The Game was played as either team’s regular season finale, it was a direct result of the 1918 Influenza pandemic.Įven before that outbreak, 1918 was already shaping up to be a very unusual college football season. But this isn’t the first time a global pandemic has forced a big change to the Ohio State vs. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |