Ohio State’s first game on Nov. 2 was an 8-8 tie at home against Ohio Wesleyan in 1895. The last time the Buckeyes played on this date they destroyed Purdue, 56-0, in West Lafayette. That was the game Ezekiel Elliott blew up Purdue’s kickoff returner and impressed their cheerleader in 2013.

Overall, Ohio State has a 12-3-1 record on Nov. 2, including wins in 10 of its last 11 games on this date.

Hayden Fry and his No. 1-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes visited Columbus on this date 39 years ago. With Big Ten title implications hanging in the balance, the eighth-ranked Buckeyes put their nation’s best home winning streak of 19 games on the line without Keith Byars (injured right foot) in front of a national television audience.  

Two years prior, Iowa snapped its 16-game losing streak against Ohio State, and on this day, the Hawkeyes took aim at ending its 11-game losing streak in Ohio Stadium. At that point in time, the last time the Buckeyes had lost to Iowa in the Shoe was 1961.

On Ohio State’s first possession, Jim Karsatos directed the offense inside Iowa’s red zone and Rich Spangler was true on a 28-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead. This marked the first time in the 1985 season that a team scored on the Hawkeyes in the first quarter. The last play of the opening quarter resulted in Sonny Gordon blocking Gary Kostrubala’s punt through the back of the end zone, giving the Buckeyes a 5-0 lead after 15 minutes of play.

Due to Byars’ injury and John Wooldridge nursing sore ribs, Earle Bruce turned to George Cooper and freshman Vince Workman to carry the load in the backfield. Wooldridge entered the game in the second quarter and made his presence known immediately. He took his first carry of the game 57 yards for a touchdown to put Ohio State up 12-0. Spangler added a field goal to make it a 15-0 game.

Chuck Long and Iowa didn’t back down and scored a touchdown late in the second quarter to head into the locker room down 15-7 at the half. Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Workman hit paydirt from four yards out early in the fourth to extend the lead to 22-7. Iowa scored again, but Ohio State’s defense held strong and limited Long to 169 yards passing and came down with four critical interceptions. 

Chris Spielman had an outstanding game on national television. The Massillon native finished with 19 tackles, two interceptions and broke up a pass and made a key stop on 4th-and-1 in the third quarter to ensure the 22-13 victory. Pepper Johnson also had a magnificent performance with 19 tackles and a tackle for loss.

“Their two linebackers were awesome, Chris Spielman and that guy, Pepper (Johnson). It seemed like they had a crystal ball and knew where Chuck was going to pass.”– Mike Haight, Iowa right tackle

Cooper finished the day with 104 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, and Workman had 31 yards and a touchdown. 

Games to Remember

1946: Ohio State upsets No. 6 Northwestern

Northwestern head coach Pappy Waldorf was in his final season with the Wildcats and his sixth-ranked team was bent on sending him off with one final victory over the Buckeyes.

The game was played in front of 47,000 fans in Evanston, and the two teams matched each other score-for-score as the first half ended with the scoreboard knotted at 13 apiece.

Throughout the first half, Ohio State fans were perplexed as to why their hard-running fullback Joe Whisler was not playing. At the start of the second half, Whisler was spotted wearing civilian clothes on the sidelines. Not known to the fans in the stands, Ohio State’s star back was knocked out during a play within the first five minutes of the game and was ruled out.  

During the fourth quarter, Whisler disappeared from the sidelines and headed to the Buckeyes’ locker room. He emerged from the stadium tower wearing his jersey and rounded the cinder track toward Ohio State’s bench to the surprise and applause of the team’s faithful fans. The powerful back gave the Buckeyes’ offense a boost and scored the game-clinching touchdown in the 39-27 victory. 

Paul Bixler, in his first year as Ohio State’s head coach, said this about Whisler’s situation: “Joe was knocked out cold in the first five minutes, and he lay on a blanket in front of the bench all first half. At halftime he was still ‘out,’ so we had him take his shower and dress in street clothes. But in the third quarter he came to me raising cain about being out of uniform and demanding to get back in there.”

“I didn’t know what happened,” Whisler explained, “but when I finally realized, I got mad and tried to get Doc Foley to let me get back in uniform. Finally, I went to Bix and started arguing with him and he got an OK from Foley and I ran for the dressing room. I still can’t see why they made me get out of uniform.”  

1935: Buckeyes fumble game away vs. Notre Dame

Ohio State and Notre Dame faced off for the first time on the gridiron on this date in 1935. The Buckeyes took an early two-score lead following a Frank Antenucci interception on which he lateraled to Frank Boucher who raced 70 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Ohio State intercepted another William Shakespeare pass and “Jumping Joe” Williams capped off a 50-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to give the home team a 13-0 lead.

The Irish passing game came alive in the fourth quarter and set up two touchdowns. However, the point-after tries were both missed, and it appeared Ohio State was going to escape with a 13-12 victory after Charles Gales secured the ball on Notre Dame’s attempt to recover a short kickoff. A fumble by the Buckeyes, however, gave the Fighting Irish the break they needed to steal a win.

From the Nov. 2, 1935 edition of the Columbus Dispatch:

Ohio Fumble Fatal
With about a minute to play, the fatal break came which gave Notre Dame their opportunity. (Dick) Beltz sliced off tackle but fumbled as he was hit and the ball rolled out of bounds. Headlineman Ernie Vick ruled that Pojman had last touched the ball in the field of play before it went across the sidelines and gave the ball to the Irish on their own 48. Pilney then faded back for a pass, but decided to run with the ball, zigzagging his way for 33 yards to Ohio’s 19-yard line.

Beltz then intercepted Layden’s pass but could not hang onto the ball and it was called incomplete. With 30 seconds to play, Layden ran back 20 yards and threw the pigskin into the end zone where Millner took it on the dead run for the winning score.

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Following the game, Francis Schmidt told reporters, “I’d like to play that game over. I don’t know how to account for it. Don’t blame any of the boys, they did the best they could. It was just one of those things. You can’t explain it.”

Stat Superlatives

Five Fun Facts

1. When Ohio State played No. 6 Northwestern in 1946, the two schools competed in the Big 9 conference, not the Big Ten.
2. Prior to the win over Iowa in 1985, the last time Ohio State played the No. 1-ranked team in Ohio Stadium was when the Buckeyes defeated Purdue on Oct. 12, 1968.
3. Kenny Guiton ran for a career-high 98 yards and two touchdowns off the bench in Ohio State’s 2013 win over Purdue.
4. The game against Notre Dame in 1935 was the first time the programs played each other in football.
5. Notre Dame fans removed the goalpost from the north end zone of Ohio Stadium and carried it toward downtown following Notre Dame’s victory in 1935.