As i mentioned before, I spent Sept. 18th-29th back "home" in Ohio. Stayed in Indian Lake State Park, which of the ten or so in Ohio I've been to, is the best for RV camping. While there, I travelled to Cow Town to visit the holiest of places and witness firsthand the finest group of young men in NCAA Divison 1-A Football.
Joining me were my father-in-law, who in 50+ years as a Buckeye fan, had never been inside Ohio Stadium, and Bill, my best friend dating back to High School and Trevor's Godfather. We sat about 4 rows from the top, in 14C. It was awesome. To see the plays develop, get a real understanding of just how quickly things happen, partake of the traditions...just awesome.
We were in the Student Loan section. That means during the game we shouted "I-O" after the other side shouted "O-H".
AJ Hawk is fast. Really fast. If he's not the best LB already, I'm not who sure is. Not since Steve Tovar have I seen a Buckeye LB make as many plays as Hawk does. He was in on every tackle, it seemed. And he covers so much ground, so quickly, that it didn't matter where the ball ended up, he seemed to be around it. He was making big tackles, breaking up passes, rushing the QB...everything on D.
Will Smith is worth the price of admission. He was double teamed the whole time. And he was getting pressure whenever he was in. Running around guys, bullrushing them, didn't matter. The most dominant force on the best DL in the nation. They started moving him around in that game. Lining up where the MLB would be and rushing him from there. He was easily catching a great athelete in BG's QB. It was like watching Simeon Rice.
Gamble has almost made some of the best plays in college football. He is so quick to react to the QB, that he seems to be running the pattern, not the WR. Week after week he is dropping a sure TD whenever a quick out is thrown. And he doesn't break until the QB throws the ball. He's scary good. I hope he stays for his senior year, but I doubt he will.
The safties are both very good, though they still miss a few reads. Their run support is outstanding. Salley seems to have won most of the playing time, and I can't say he doesn't deserve it. Mitchell hasn't really made many mistakes, but Saley seems to make more plays. But both ar very quick to the ball. I really don't think we've lost much, save the leadership of Doss and Nickey. The plays are still being made, in some cases much better than before.
Jenkins is great, but Drew Carter is insanely fast and big. If the QB can get him the ball, good things will happen.
Bam Childress needs to play more. Give that kid a few bubble screens a game, and he'll score on one of them. He probably doesn't block well, or some such foolishness that keeps him out of games. But he lit up the scorebaord int eh spring game, and has been Mr. Excitement when he's int ehgame. Let him retun kicks or something. Just get him a few touches a game.
When BJ Sanders punts, you can run and get a hot dog and be back in time to watch it be caught. Interminable hang time.
The stadium renovations are amazing. I hadn't been in the stadium since 94. The closed end is awesome. The elevators rock. Concessions were quick during halftime.
The Band was fantastic. Did the Star Wars routine, which is one of the two that I'd seen before. They were so much better than BG's band. Script Ohio was awesome to see in person again. I'm defintaly catching the Skull session next year.
Parking was great. We came in from the NE, Lima area. Took 33 alll the way to Henderson, cut across to Kenny, and down as far as they waved us. I had a green C parking pass (Commuter Student) from a guy I work with who took classes there over the summer. We were waved all the way to Sisson Hall, which is right across the river from the stadium. I walked a few hundred yards to get to the stadium from the car. Amazing parking.
Leaving was a breeze. We left with about a minute to go. Which turned out to be too soon, as it usually is with them. But we got out to our car as the game ended. And didn't have any real traffic the whole way out of town. Took Kenny up to McCoy, and drove through Upper Arlington to get to 33/Riverside. It was a breeze.
So next year I'm going to go to one of the pre-conferece schedule games. Probably every year from now on. I'll probably Ebay the tickets instead of taking what Bill gets as an Alumni. I'm also going to he game they play here in Raleigh, @ NCST. Need to start working on my CEO to get me a hookup. He's old friends with the Provost there . :)
Posted by danisaacs at October 07, 2003 03:57 PM | TrackBack
