I've spent a week getting excited about traveling to Columbus this weekend to watch the Buckeyes host a playoff game. And every time I open Twitter it's completely filled to the gills with people saying how we suck and how our program is in the toilet and that we have no chance to win. And I'm sick of it.
Get behind the team. Get behind the players. Stop complaining about the portal. Stop focusing on every possible negative you can conjure up in your heads. We have a team to support and a game to win so we can get another crack at the #1 team in the country we were one bad OPI call away from beating at their place.
Get it together, #BuckeyeNation!!!!!
O-H...
Will Howard on his desire to beat Michigan for Ohio State's veterans, Ryan Day:
"I want this for (the veterans) so bad. They've been here. I've seen it from a distance. I feel it, and I am a part of it now, and I want this for me, too, but I want this for those guys. I want it for Coach Day — to shut up the haters and be able to go out there and say, 'This is The Ohio State Buckeyes,'" he said. "This rivalry game means everything. We talk about it all the time. It's all over the place in our building. I'm honored to be a part of it. I won't take it lightly. This is the biggest game of our season. I'm looking forward to it."
This right here. It was never going to be easy. Found a way when it mattered. Like Urban used to say “ when I needed you the most, you gave me your very best”
When asked how important this win was for Ohio State, Ryan Day offered a long but thoughtful response:
(TL;DR — it was very important)
"We were at a crossroads. This was a big game for us. We didn't really want to publicly say that. But we said that behind closed doors. This was a big game for us for a lot of reasons. To get a top-five win like this on the road in a tough environment, moving (Donovan Jackson) over to left tackle — we felt like going into this game, it was gonna be a difficult environment. We knew we had to win the rushing yards. The turnover battle was gonna be big. And then X plays.
"But at the end of the day, we had to find a way to get a stop, get the extra first down, or score. That's what it's gonna come down to. I think this is gonna build us moving forward. For our guys to get this win is gonna go a long way. Guys came back on this team for a reason. It's to go win the rivalry game, win the Big Ten championship and win the national championship.
"Along the way, I think there was this conversation about the expectations and all those types of things. I said to the team, 'There's no great accomplishments that happen without going through adversity.' It's just the truth. You don't just walk into a season and think you're gonna go reach your goals. It doesn't work that way. That's not the way life works. When you get backed up against the wall, you gotta respond. That is life. All of our goals are in front of us now. We've been through a lot. Now, we have to continue to build as we enter the back half of the season.
"But I can tell you, coming out of that locker room right there, there's a lot of guys in that room that are excited. Probably the most animated locker room I've been in in a long time. ... We are gonna enjoy this tonight — coaches, players, staff, everybody involved. This was a moment that we have to enjoy. There's been a lot of work that was put in for this game."
Dallan Hayden has to play moving forward, redshirt be damned. This is a two-part deal:
1. You're competing for a championship. Anything that makes you even a tick better toward reaching that goal is worth doing over "saving" something for later.
2. If Dallan Hayden is an NFL back, he'll never see that 5th year. If he's not, OSU doesn't need him to see that 5th year.
Dallan Hayden has to play moving forward, redshirt be damned. This is a two-part deal:
1. You're competing for a championship. Anything that makes you even a tick better toward reaching that goal is worth doing over "saving" something for later.
2. If Dallan Hayden is an NFL back, he'll never see that 5th year. If he's not, OSU doesn't need him to see that 5th year.
“We’re receiving word that, rather than being credited with his third US Open, Brooks says he’d rather just have Bryson’s name removed from the trophy.”
Gus, Jenny, and I called 10 @OhioStateFB games over the past two seasons...I never once heard anyone mention @justnfields as a marginal worker...In fact, I heard the exact opposite...He fought to get on the field and he fought to stay on the field...DRAFT HIM!
Justin Fields is an Ohio State legend.
On Monday, in the #CFBPlayoff, he can become a college football one.
My latest over at @CFBONFOX:
https://t.co/WgkDqUG9nx