On this date in Ohio State football: Nov. 28, 1942

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

Ohio State 41, Iowa Seahawks 12

Setup: It's not news that college football was a different beast 70-plus years ago. But the underwhelming nature of the national championship chase of 1942 would shock any current fan who traveled back in time — through newspaper microfilm or, if such a thing existed, bodily transit. For Ohio State, The Game was The Game — a 21-7 victory over Michigan the week before locked down a Big Ten title for the Buckeyes. The subsequent week's game against Iowa Seahawks, a team composed of navy pre-flight officers — was considered little more than a postseason exhibition, which explained the paltry Ohio Stadium crowd of 27,259.

Stars: Outsized across the line by the burlier Seahawks, whose roster included college graduates and some professionals, Ohio State took to the edges with speed and won going away. Future Heisman Trophy winner Les Horvath and Paul Sarringhaus had two touchdowns apiece, and the Buckeyes completed 6 of 7 passes for 159 yards.

Turning point: Sarringhaus set the tone with a 66-yard run on the second play from scrimmage, and his 42-yard pass to Horvath late in the second quarter set up Sarringhaus' 2-yard touchdown run to give the Buckeyes a 27-6 halftime lead. Interceptions set up two third-quarter scores for OSU to blow it open.

Impact: Not that anyone was talking about it, but Ohio State's national-title chances, seemingly zero after a late October loss to Wisconsin, were revived when top-ranked Georgia was beaten by Auburn the same day as OSU's win over Michigan. The Buckeyes stood No. 3 as they entered the game against the naval cadets, but No. 2 Georgia Tech was thumped by Georgia 34-0 and No. 1 Boston College was thrashed 55-12 by a four-loss Holy Cross team, handing Ohio State its first national title.

Quotable: "These boys like to win. They plan on it, they work and sacrifice for it, have all season. I have a great bunch of boys. If they aren't the greatest football team in the world, they're at least the finest so far as their character and living goes. I never can hope for a better group." — Ohio State coach Paul Brown.

rstein@dispatch.com