COLUMBUS, Ohio –
After spending the weekend in the Buckeye State, it’s easy to see why Northwestern has had very little success against The Ohio State University.
To be honest, the Wildcats shouldn’t have even believed they had a chance against No. 9 Ohio State, and they proved it with their abysmal 48-7 loss. None of the Buckeyes thought they could lose, even after NU took an early 7-0 lead. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said he didn’t bother to make any adjustments to the defense.
There was no panic because the Buckeyes were playing a notorious conference weakling in the Horseshoe. Instead of worrying about a repeat of last season’s upset at Ryan Field, Ohio State scored 48 unanswered points to end the game.
The Buckeyes kept piling on the points, despite their minds beginning to wander to this week’s rivalry game against Michigan. By the 3:04 mark in the third quarter, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel had removed his starters, and the focus turned to the Wolverines.
“It started for me when I got taken out of the game,” Ohio State offensive lineman Rob Sims said. “The Ohio State-Michigan game is the one that really matters this time of year.”
For most of the people in the seats, the attention was never really on the Cats. This game was just a tune-up for the Big Game at the Big House next Saturday.
While tailgating with Ohio State fans early Saturday morning, I asked them to name one NU player and give me the Cats’ record and ranking. Everyone knew about running back Tyrell Sutton, mostly because of his accomplishments during his prep career in Ohio, but nobody knew NU was ranked.
I also learned a few other things during this early morning revelry unheard of on NU’s campus.
NU has nothing close to a normal gameday environment seen all across the Big Ten. At Ohio State, those cooking the delicious pre-game spread wake up by 5 a.m., and the tailgates themselves, located in every parking lot and street corner in a three-mile radius of the stadium, were rolling along by 7 a.m. for the noon contest.
And this is the routine for every home contest at Ohio State. There are no student-only tailgates and alumni tailgates. Everyone mingles together to cheer on the Buckeyes.
At Ohio State, students who don’t wake up for their 9 a.m. weekday classes can manage to get it up before the sun rises on gameday. Conversely at NU, students who have never missed an 8 a.m. lecture can’t find the spirit to roll out of bed for an 11 a.m. kickoff.
Even the ushers at Ohio Stadium are more knowledgeable about their team than anybody at NU is about the Cats. An elderly gentleman dressed sharply in a scarlet blazer – the standard dress code for all press box assistants – informed me while I was watching the opening kickoff that I didn’t have to bother. I gave him a confused look, and he told me Ohio State kicker Josh Huston had drilled 18 straight kickoffs through the back of the end zone for touchbacks, so I could count on NU starting at the 20.
The guy handing out free samples of chili on the walkway up to the stadium urged me to take one, just in case I was sitting next to a Northwestern fan.
Everybody bleeds scarlet and gray here. I’ve never heard my home state spelled so many times and so loudly in a span of three hours. Granted, Ohio State fans have plenty more to cheer about, but the Buckeyes feed off their fan’s energy just as much as the fans feed off the team’s successes.
NU hasn’t won at Ohio Stadium since 1971 and has just eight victories here in the program’s history.
In college football where home-field advantage is arguably the greatest of any other sport, NU shouldn’t be expecting a road victory in the ‘Shoe any time soon.
I know I was intimidated standing in front of more than 100,000 screaming fans in the fourth quarter with the opening of AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” playing on every third down.
I can only imagine that feeling being 10 times greater when there is one of the perennial top teams in the nation staring you down on the other side of the ball.
Deputy Sports Editor Zach Silka is a Medill junior. The Zach Silka can be reached at [email protected].
