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OSU vs. Rutgers

+6 HS
Large Father's picture
September 30, 2022 at 9:02pm
12 Comments

Tressels, Fickells, Urbans, Days, Johnsons and Days,

 

Maybe my new context is 52-21.

We're back in the stadium for the latest edition....sitting in 26A; just a few sections over from Marvin Martian and piano lady.  Great part of the stadium!  Many in that corner near the Victory Bell stay until the very end, even when the score is 52-21 in the fourth quarter and true freshmen are mopping up.  

We are joining 105,471 other people also wearing black for the nighttime tilt.  Beyond monochromatic garb, the stadium continues to feel different this year; more like 2019 or 2002.  Last season, COVID hangover leariness, softness at the line of scrimmage and terrible Buckeye defensive play, created a subdued in-stadium environment best experienced out of the stadium.  But, Ohio Stadium is abuzz in 2022.  I think everyone can sense it.   

The game looked like Ohio State was playing a directional MAC-attack school, not Wisconsin.  The match up was over when the Buckeyes scored a touchdown on their fourth-straight possession to start the game - and the Badgers only had 23 yards of offense.  Pretty bizarre - I kept double checking the scoreboard thinking there had been an error; complete domination in a game that is typically an annual heavyweight slugfest.  Instead, the 2022 main card match-up looked like the heavyweight champ taking on a junior bantamweight newbie.  

Amazingly, my new context comes without the top 3 Buckeye cornerbacks.  Denzel Burke surprisingly had a club cast on his hand during warm-ups, Cameron Brown wasn't even on the sidelines and Jordan Hancock was still out due to an injury sustained during summer camp.  In their place, the Silver Bullets played a redshirt freshman and true freshman at corner where it is easy to get out of position and be exposed.  But, the depth of this team continues to amaze me - the young corners, JK Johnson and Jayaire Brown, looked like Silver Bullets.  The coaches are doing an outstanding job preparing these players - even those deep on the depth chart.  

This year's team mantra "competitive stamina" isn't as catchy as "The Chase" in 2014, but it appears to be effective.  The 2022 Buckeyes are playing hard and nasty.  Even the skill positions are playing angry.  On my favorite play last weekend, Julian Fleming met a linebacker and safety near the goal line and drove them both into the end zone for a touchdown.    

 

Ohio State appears hungry, locked in and prepared.  These are still young guys with a lot on their mind and enormous pressure between classes, family, NIL and the microscope of Ohio State Football fanaticism.  But, they seem to be gaining steam each week and playing as a team. I'll hold every game to 66-0, 77-21 and 52-21 context and I still know that's dumb. But, I still think it's there this season.  I'm still in.   

 

 

Touchdowns: TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., Marvin, Julian Fleming, Dallan Hayden, Xavier Johnson

 

OSU 56 Rutgers 10

 

Go Bucks! Beat Rutgers! Josh Proctor for Heisman!

 

Flabby Pappy

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