On this date in Ohio State football: Oct. 31, 1936

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

Notre Dame 7, Ohio State 2

Setup: Fifty-two weeks after the first Game of the Century, when Ohio State allowed three fourth-quarter touchdowns in the Horseshoe to lose 18-13 to Notre Dame, the Buckeyes had a chance to gain some revenge with a return trip to rain-pelted South Bend. Unlike the previous season, however, neither team was unbeaten entering the '36 matchup. Ohio State was 2-2, having lost to Pittsburgh and Northwestern. Notre Dame came in 3-1, having been shut out by Pitt the week before.

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Stars: Nevin McCormick scored the game's only touchdown late in the second quarter to complete a 75-yard drive. Charles Hamrick accounted for OSU's points in the second quarter when he barged through the line and blocked Jack McCarthy's punt out of the end zone for a safety.

Turning point: Ohio State had plenty of opportunities to build an early lead or turn the tables on the Fighting Irish, but came up empty every time. OSU committed three turnovers, including an interception of Nick Wasylik by Notre Dame's Joe Gleason inside the 5-yard line early in the second quarter. The last, best opportunity came in the final five minutes as the Buckeyes moved from their 29 to the Notre Dame 12. But OSU got no closer as two passes into the end zone by Wasylik fell incomplete, and rules at the time stated that consecutive misses in the end zone called for the ball to be awarded to the opponent on a touchback.

Impact: Well, the NCAA changed that stupid rule, for one thing. As for the '36 season, the teams went in different directions. Notre Dame lost to Navy the next week and later tied USC. Ohio State, meanwhile, shut out its final three opponents to finish 5-3. OSU fans nonetheless were stung by back-to-back losses to the Irish, and the Buckeyes had to wait 59 long years to get their revenge.

Quotable: "Sometimes these fatal lapses seem to be chronic with Ohio State teams, with the result that courage is sacrificed on the altar of slow thinking." — Dispatch columnist Irven C. Scheibeck, bemoaning the Buckeyes' willingness to forsake power football at crunch time for an aerial parade

rstein@dispatch.com