Tressels, Fickells and Urbans,
There are moments when I realize how easy it is to be a Buckeye fan...especially a Buckeye fan living in Columbus. When I travel to other cities, favorite sports teams always comes up as part of casual conversation somewhere along the way. In many other parts of the country, it seems universally true that the hometown team doesn’t win over 90% of their games and compete every year for a championship of some sort. Also, I don’t find a singular focus on one sport and one team that consumes nearly everyone who lives in that city. If you’re a sports fan in Columbus, almost always that means you also are rooting for Ohio State football. And even those who are casual fans...or just enjoy a good party...or enjoy going along with the flow also root for Ohio State football. Seeing the Browns finally compete reminds me all too easily of all the years that Cleveland fans have hoped for just even a win. There is a strong singular focus around Browns football, but it’s not easy to be a Browns fan watching loss after loss for such a long time. I easily forget how fortunate we are to have what we have living in Columbus, it takes perspective of leaving my Ohio State football bubble to remind me of that.
On tap this weekend Minnesota Golden Gophers...or, as I call them, the Little Bananas. For those that have not previously heard that reference whenever Ohio State plays Minnesota or forget what it is about, go watch the movie Bottle Rocket, Luke and Owen Wilson‘s first movie and Wes Anderson’s directorial debut, and go watch the 2007 Ohio State-Minnesota game when the Golden Gophers donned their all yellow uniforms. There are teams that even when they are not great for some reason occasionally give Ohio State fits, recently Minnesota has not been one of those teams. One interesting thing to watch this weekend is Minnesota trading out their right offensive tackle for a 400 pound freshman from Australia with little football experience. I would have loved to have seen him against Nick Bosa and/or Jonathan Cooper but the OSU defensive line injuries are continuing to mount. This is the point in the season that separates good teams from great teams because of outstanding depth at positions like defensive line at Ohio State. Some of the true freshman defensive lineman will get to see lots of snaps while their teammates get healthy. It’s a good thing that they are coached by the best assistant coach in the country, Larry Johnson, and Ohio State had late recruiting success at the defensive end position to get extremely talented freshman players. Hopefully they are ready to go now because Ohio State will need them to step up.
I'm going to enjoy this game as we head to the back half of the college football season and root on the Buckeyes!
Touchdowns: Dobbins, Bin Victor, Weber, Campbell, Austin Mack, KJ Hill
OSU 42 Minnesota 10
Go Bucks! Beat Minnesota! BB Landers for Heisman!
Flabby Pappy
