Ohio State’s 1934 season opener was highly anticipated because it saw an outsider in TCU’s Francis Schmidt take over for Sam Willaman as head coach. On October 6, 1934, Indiana came to Columbus to take on Schmidt’s Buckeyes in his OSU coaching debut. The 47,376 Ohio State fans in attendance witnessed Schmidt’s cunning offense overwhelm the Hoosiers from the start. Confusing IU with multiple formations, Frank Boucher scored on a fake reverse from 78 yards out and the barrage of Buckeye points would follow.  Ohio State pummeled Indiana by a score of 33-0 to give Schmidt a win in his first game roaming the Ohio State sidelines.

Schmidt would, of course, introduce Ohio State’s Gold Pants tradition later in the 1934 season. He finished his head coaching career with an impressive record of 156-58-11. He passed away in September of 1944 at the age of 58. He was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

 This program cover consists of beautiful football artwork by the highly collected Fred Machetanz. There’s a little fold mark in the bottom right corner, but the inside is near flawless and completely intact.