Drake Aside, It Was Ohio’s Night at the Big 33
Team Ohio broke a three year losing streak to in the Big 33 game in Hershey over the weekend, thanks in large part to the late heroics of one time Tajh Boyd contingency plan and still Miami-bound Austin Boucher.
The Kettering quarterback had a clutch 50 yard scramble up the middle to extend a drive in the waning moments after watching his team squander a two score lead in the fourth. That led to a one yard plunge out of lineman and future Hoosier Adam Replogle which proved to be the deciding margin in Ohio’s 38-31 victory (photos).
Ohio brought a sizable talent advantage to the game both in terms of players signed to play major college football (32 to 13) and just about any other metric you want to use, the game was tied at halftime and the good guys spent most of their night chasing Pennsylvania quarterback Curtis Drake. Drake, a Penn State commit, accounted for 284 yards and in the span of one night went from a wide receiver in college to probably getting a good look at quarterback for Paterno (though his size will go a long way towards determining how feasible that move actually will be).
Seven Buckeyes were featured in the game, including both starting offensive tackles, four defensive linemen and wide receiver Chris Fields. Sam Longo, the starter for Ohio at left tackle, appeared to best his counterpart on the right side, Marcus Hall according to some reports, while Melvin Fellows and Jonathon Newsome manned the defensive end spots with Corey Linsley and Adam Bellamy put in the heavy work on the interior of the defensive front.
Though the event isn’t quite what it once was, odds are at least a couple of the participants will go on to bigger things at the next level. Let’s just hope it’s not Drake or future Hawkeye Micah Hyde (and his event record 99 yard touchdown snare) going on to achieve said greatness.
Have you ever taken out $300 at four o’clock in the morning for something positive? Kurelic’s #6 rated Ohio prospect for the class of 2011? Why, it’s Chris Rock. And he plays DE. No relation to former Badger Kammron Taylor.
too close of a game for the talent disparity
Are you saying giving $300 of your hard earned money to a single mother @ 4am in Las Vegas while your girlfriend is 2000 miles away a negative?
i know im missing something here. can somebody fill me in?
Pretty sure that was in reference to the Chris Rock thing at the end. Taking money out of an ATM after midnight…
Maybe its just me, but it seems underrated player always completely out performs five star guy in these games. That gets everyone saying “OSU wiffed by not offering underrated player earlier”. Then five star guy crushes
underrated guy by 42 every time they meet after that.
Moral: Dont read to far into these kind of games.
Safari Planet will go down as an all-time great, you heard it here first.