Buckeyes embracing being on road, in hostile environment for The Game
COLUMBUS — Ohio State has already heard a loud crowd cheering against it during this season.
Well, maybe not to this extent. The Buckeyes haven’t been in the intense atmosphere that comes in the Big House on Saturday.
What the Buckeyes have done, however, is went on the road five times already this season and quieted a feisty crowd. They had a program-record tying six road games this year, including in front of hostile road environments such as Notre Dame and Wisconsin.
Nothing will compare to Saturday. But Ohio State coach Ryan Day can literally point to a reference point for how the Buckeyes can approach a big-time road game in a big-time atmosphere. The big schedule to Day’s left in the team room of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center shows home and road games.
And there are a lot of road games already under this team’s belt that they can fall back on and look at success.
“We have the schedule right over there. And I point to all the white blocks right there, the teams we knew we had to go on the road this season, more than we had in the past,” Day said Tuesday in preparation for The Game. “And we certainly knew we had to go on the road for this one. It’s all in preparation for the last game of the year. It’s been great to get tested, to get battle-tested. So again, you talk about reference point — our team does have a reference point. It’ll be loud. It’ll be a hostile, great environment.
“But we’ve been in those before.”
Ohio State has embraced the villain mentality on the road all year. Star wide receiver Marvin Harrison, among other players, even mentioned that he prefers road games. The Buckeyes have fed off of them all year.
They opened the season on the road at Indiana. They silenced a rowdy sellout Notre Dame crowd in the final seconds. And they even went to Madison and came out on the right side of a low-scoring fight in front of a tough crowd on Halloween weekend.
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Of course, none of them rival The Big House. It’s the largest stadium on the continent of North America. And a vast majority of the 110,000 folks who will pack into it on Saturday want Ohio State to lose. It’ll be loud.
It certainly will be hostile for the Buckeyes.
But to an extent, Ohio State knows what’s coming on Saturday. It has been in front of a rowdy crowd rooting against it five times this season.
All five, the Buckeyes have silenced that road crowd and pointed to the board in the team room as proof of being road warriors. The sixth time would inarguably be the sweetest.
Counting down
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 4 days
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