Ohio Football Topic
Topic: Early College Football Score Keeping
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OhioCatFan
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OhioCatFan
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Posted: 11/14/2013 9:35 PM
L.C. and I as well as some others have occasionally wondered about why in some cases OHIO has different scores in its football record books for certain games than the opposing school.  In most cases it's just sloppy book keeping and a close look at official records and old newspapers can resolve the discrepancies.  However, an 1892 game between Oberlin and Michigan, shows that sometimes there's much more to the story.  Here's an excerpt from the always semi-accurate Wikipedia:

Controversial game vs. Michigan[edit]

Oberlin College football team, 1892

On a cold Saturday afternoon in November 1892, Oberlin's team took the field in Ann Arbor against a heavily favored Michigan squad which had trounced them handily the year before. Notable among the Oberlin visitors was their new player-coach John Heisman, who had been hired away from the University of Pennsylvania by the Oberlin Athletic Association (a student-run enterprise in those days) and who brought an undefeated team with him to Ann Arbor. The team's fastest running back was Charles Savage, who a few years later would become Oberlin's director of athletics and, like Heisman, a nationally prominent figure. Oberlin's best lineman was theology student John Henry Wise, half-German, half-Hawaiian, who after graduation returned to his island home and joined the 1895 Counter-Revolutionaimed at toppling the Republic of Hawaii and restoring Queen Liliuokalani and the monarchy. He was sent to prison for three years charged with treason.[3] Oberlin's team trainer, "nurse to the wounded," was pre-med student Clarence Hemingway, who would go on to practice medicine in Oak Park, Illinois, and pass on his love of hunting in Michigan to his son, future novelist Ernest Hemingway.

The game in Ann Arbor was close all the way. At halftime Michigan led 22-18. The team captains agreed on a shortened second half, to end at 4:50 p.m. so Oberlin could catch the last train home. With less than two minutes remaining, Michigan drove to the 5-yard line before Oberlin stopped them and took over on downs. Then halfback Savage entered the mists of Oberlin athletic legend by dodging through the line and sprinting 90 yards to the Michigan 5, where Michigan's star player, George Jewett, caught him from behind.

Two plays later Oberlin made its final touchdown. Score: Oberlin 24, Michigan 22, with less than a minute to go. As Michigan launched its last drive, the referee (an Oberlin sub) announced that 4:50 p.m. had arrived, time had expired, and the Oberlin squad trotted off the field to catch the train. Next the umpire (a Michigan man) ruled that four minutes remained on the game clock, owing to timeouts that Oberlin's timekeeper had not recorded. Michigan then walked the ball over the goal line for an uncontested touchdown and was declared the winner, 26 to 24. By that time the Oberlinians were headed home clutching their own victory, 24 to 22. Officially, each school recognizes a win for themselves in the respective archives.[4] 
OhioCatFan
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OhioCatFan
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Posted: 11/14/2013 9:44 PM
Just one quick example of why usually these discrepancies are just a matter of bad record keeping: Years ago, when doing a paper when I was in college and rummaging around old microfilm, I discovered an 1897 game that was not in Ohio's official records.  This was a 12-0 victory over WVU in Athens.  I wrote Bill Rohr, the OHIO AD, and gave him my newspaper citations about this game. He wrote the AD at WVU who confirmed that the loss to OHIO was in their books.  Rohr than added to the OHIO official record.  
Last Edited: 11/14/2013 9:44:53 PM by OhioCatFan
JSF
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Posted: 11/14/2013 11:47 PM
That is a dynamite top hat.
OhioCatFan
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Posted: 11/15/2013 12:02 AM
JSF wrote:expand_more
That is a dynamite top hat.


I have no idea what this means.  Does anyone?
mf279801
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Posted: 11/15/2013 12:37 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
That is a dynamite top hat.


I have no idea what this means.  Does anyone?


I assume he's referring to the top hat that the gentleman (coach?) in the back row is sporting.

 
Pete Chouteau
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Pete Chouteau
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Posted: 11/15/2013 6:35 AM
You may know it as a chimney pot hat,high hat, or beaver hat, as documented in the always reliable Wikipedia entry.
Pataskala
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Posted: 11/15/2013 6:45 AM
That story is a lesson for us all: Never agree to shorten a game.  Right, Charlie Strong?
JSF
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Posted: 11/15/2013 9:12 AM
Is that dude in the back right sporting a stocking cap? I love old-timey photos.
colobobcat66
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Posted: 11/15/2013 10:00 AM
Now we have more coaches and assistants than they had players. How things have changed.
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