USC-Ohio State football game in 1959 made history in a weird way

The quality of the 1959 USC – Ohio State game took a back seat to other historical milestones.

The USC Trojans shut out Ohio State in Los Angeles by a score of 17-0 in 1959. USC would end the season with an 8-2 record in first place in its conference with coach Don Clark running the show. Ohio State finished 3-5-1 in one of Woody Hayes’ worst seasons in Columbus.

Those details are the unremarkable parts of the game.

The historical significance of the 1959 meeting between the Trojans and Buckeyes can be found in two facts.

First, the game was the first Friday game in Ohio State history. Ohio State and the Big Ten’s shared distaste for Friday games — rooted in a belief that Friday is for high school football — endures to this day. This is a consistent viewpoint which has never wavered.

The second core fact attached to this game is that it was the first night game in Ohio State history. This fact is a little more cosmetic than deeply substantive, in the sense that it didn’t reflect a trend or shift in the sport.

In marked contrast, the first World Series night game in 1971 between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles heralded the emergence of night baseball in the postseason. By 1987, the last World Series day game had been played. The Fall Classic became a night-only event.

Even today, Big Ten schools prefer to play day games. Night games exist, but 1959 did not herald a revolution in college football scheduling. It was an oddity.

It was, however, part of history, albeit in a weird way which had nothing to do with the quality of football played on the gridiron.

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