Ohio State football: 125 years of excellence: Year 50: 1939

1939 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-2)(5-1 Big Ten)

O7       19        Missouri                        0

O14     13        Northwestern                0

O21     23        at Minnesota                20

O28     14        Cornell                         23

N4        24        Indiana                          0

N11      61        at Chicago                     0

N18      21        Illinois                           0

N25      14        at Michigan                 21

            189 (average 23.6)                 (average 8.0)

Coach: Francis Schmidt (1885-1944)

Captain: Steven F. Andrako

Home Field: Ohio Stadium

By 1939, the Buckeyes had made the ‘Shoe their home for 17 seasons and five or their six victories were by shutout.  They also captured their fifth Big Ten title (4^th outright) and, for the second time, had finished ranked in the AP poll (which started in 1936) at number 15.  Coach Francis Schmidt was in his second to last year at the helm of the Buckeyes (1934-1940) In their second 25 years, the Buckeyes racked up 130 wins against 53 losses and 14 ties (75-40-9 in the Big Ten), so after 50 years on the gridiron, Ohio State stood at 265-129-32 overall and 78-44-9 in conference play.  1939 also saw the beginning of war in Europe that, in three years time, would drag many of these players into it and change the sport and American society.