With inclement weather in the forecast for the Ohio State-Michigan football game on Nov. 29, will fans get a taste of football weather reminiscent of the 1950 Snow Bowl?
Aside from a global pandemic, The Game has been played annually since 1918, rain or shine, with the first Ohio State-Michigan football game coming 128 years ago. No game-day weather has received more discussion than the 1950 edition of the game, referred to as the Snow Bowl.
Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel called weather “the great equalizer” between the two opponents, who are No. 1 (OSU) and No. 15 (Michigan) in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Will there be another ‘Snow Bowl’ between Ohio State and Michigan football in 2025?
While snow is on the forecast for The Game on Nov. 29 in Ann Arbor, it likely will not be as intense as the infamous blizzard during the 1950 Snow Bowl.
After snowing the previous day, the Great Thanksgiving Snowstorm of 1950 picked up on Nov. 25, 1950 and prominently swept over the eastern half of the U.S. Some areas in eastern Ohio were walloped, getting anywhere from 20 to 35 inches of snow.
The snowfall total surprised forecasters; 55 deaths were blamed on the blizzard by its end, with barometers sinking to 978 millibars on the Saturday, an abnormally low atmospheric pressure reading typically associated with hurricanes.
Evidently, that weather did not prevent The Game at Ohio Stadium.
Retired Dispatch sports columnist Bob Hunter wrote about the Snow bowl in his 2010 book “Saint Woody” and additionally spoke to an Ohio State football senior manager who saw a first-hand exchange between school athletic directors Fritz Crisler (Michigan) and Dick Larkins (Ohio State) before kickoff.
According to the manager, Crisler argued the game should go on, while Larkins wanted to postpone to the following Monday. At the end of the dispute, the athletic directors had agreed to play the game.
According to Hunter, game-time temperature had hit 10 degrees (kickoff was originally scheduled at 2 p.m. and commenced 21 minutes late). With poor visibility, maximum wind gusts varying between 28 and 40 mph and 9 inches of snow in Columbus by the evening, something that resembled a football game was played.
Out of 82,700 purchased tickets, the “official” game attendance hit 50,535, most likely an incorrect tally.
“The weather was so cold that no ticket takers were stationed at the Ohio Stadium entrances, and anyone brave enough to be there, ticket or no ticket, was let in,” Hunter wrote in “Saint Woody.”
In the 9-3 Michigan victory, the Wolverines registered 27 yards of offense and had no first downs. Ohio State completed three of 18 passes for 23 yards and had 16 rushing yards and three first downs. Ohio State’s only score was from Heisman Trophy winner Vic Janowicz, who kicked a 38-yard field goal with the wind blowing at his back and limited visibility.
Janowicz punted 21 times in the game, but two punts were blocked, both resulting in Michigan scores. The first punt was blocked by Michigan tackle Al Wahtz. The ball rolled in to the end zone for a safety. Up 3-2 and lined up at the OSU 13-yard line, Wolverines tackle Tony Momsen blocked the punt and scooped it up in the end zone with less than a minute to go in the first half.
Neither team scored in the second half as the weather worsened, with most fans clearing out of Ohio Stadium by the fourth quarter.
What’s the weather forecast for the Ohio State-Michigan football game?
As of Nov. 25, the National Weather Service’s seven-day forecast in Ann Arbor on Nov. 29 reads, “Snow likely, mainly after 1p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32 (degrees Fahrenheit).”
AccuWeather’s and The Weather Channel’s latest daily forecasts have the high temperature in Ann Arbor at 31 degrees with chances of precipitation ranging from 50-65%.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Will there be another Snow Bowl between Ohio State and Michigan?
Reporting by Dan Aulbach, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
