On this date in Ohio State football: Oct. 28, 1950

Taking a look back at a game Ohio State played on this date:

Ohio State 83, Iowa 21

Setup: Coming off a 1949 season in which Ohio State won the Rose Bowl, 1950 got off on the wrong foot when the Buckeyes blew a 17-point second-half lead in a loss to SMU. But by midseason OSU was rolling behind All-America back Vic Janowicz. And on a perfect late-October afternoon in Ohio Stadium, visiting Iowa was the victim of a perfect-storm performance by the Buckeyes.

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Stars: It was Janowicz's day all the way, even if his afternoon ended earlier than expected. He finished with two touchdown runs, four TD passes, 10 extra points, two punts averaging 42 yards — yes, the Buckeyes punted twice — and recovered two fumbles in a typically strong game at safety. In all, nine Ohio State players scored. Bob Demmel had two TDs, on an 87-yard punt return and a 37-yard interception return. The Buckeyes rolled up 432 yards and took advantage of 12 Iowa turnovers.

Turning point: Those in the crowd of 82,174 who were late to their seats might have missed the key moments. In the first five minutes, Janowicz recovered a fumble, rushed 11 yards for a touchdown, returned a punt 61 yards for a score and threw a 12-yard TD pass to Tony Curcillo. Ohio State led 35-0 after one quarter and 55-14 at halftime.

Impact: The win vaulted the Buckeyes from No. 6 to No. 4 in the national rankings, an upward crawl that took them to No. 1 after a 19-14 win over Wisconsin two weeks after the Iowa destruction. But Ohio State's offense went silent in losses to Illinois (14-7) and Michigan (9-3 in the Snow Bowl) to end the season. Janowicz did win the Heisman Trophy, but OSU coach Wes Fesler resigned two weeks after the season, citing the pressures of coaching in Columbus. Enter Wayne Woodrow Hayes.

Quotable: "You might not believe it, but no one is more sorry about that big score than I. But what can I do? You can't kick on first or second down or you're insulting the other team." — Fesler

rstein@dispatch.com