Crowd factor can't be ignored in Buckeyes win on Saturday

Photo by Brian Mayhew

Photo by Brian Mayhew

Photo by Brian Mayhew

COLUMBUS — Matthew McConaughey couldn’t greenlight his Longhorns to a win last Saturday in The Shoe. Neither could Paul Finebaum or the pizza review guy from Connor Stalions’ alma mater.

In the end, Ohio State sent Arch Manning and his Bevo-less teammates back to Texas with 7 points, a bunch of questions, and an outbreak of tinnitus. 

The questions most Buckeyes fans had prior to the season were emphatically answered by Matt Patricia’s defense, a unit with only three returning starters. Texas receivers wore not only their jerseys, but also Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Mathews.

Arvell Reese looked like a future game-changer. The defensive line, which returned zero starters, hurried an understandably rattled Manning into throwing wounded ducks. One of those ducks was intercepted by Mathews.

Another, which was tipped by Mathews to Sonny Styles, was overturned after video review. They shut down the running game. And what else can be said about Caleb Downs, who seems to be involved on every play?

This unit answered all the questions about their inexperience with exclamation points, picking up where last year’s national champs left off by stopping a top-shelf Texas offense on four fourth down attempts. One of those attempts was from the Buckeyes 1-yard-line. Another was inside the 10-yard-line.  

Ohio State’s offense struggled against the Longhorn defense. 215 total yards isn’t going to win, usually. But the Buckeyes also started a rookie quarterback against one of the best defenses in the nation, which was surprisingly overshadowed by the defense on the other side of the field. Lee Corso was right again. Man tears! But you’ve probably read about all of that stuff already. 

So, everything else being equal, let’s talk about the real difference-maker in this game: The sea of Ohio State noisemakers in the crowd of 107,000. If you watched on television, you could hear the noise in the background.

But in person, it sounded like a Korn concert in a marble tiled hotel bathroom. For three hours! Texas committed six penalties for 50 yards, several of which extended OSU’s drive to its first score in the second quarter. (Ohio state was flagged only twice for 15 yards, an impressive feat for a young team in an opening game against the #1 team in the nation). Nobody in that stadium could have a conversation with the person next to them. The 12th man deserves a few buckeye leaves! 

In that environment, a 21-year-old pre-season Heisman favorite is going to struggle no matter his pedigree. But we must concede that Manning found steam late in the game, his first trial by fire of many to come. With experience, he’ll be just as good as billed. The talent was apparent, despite the misfires.

But on this day, the fans were too much to overcome after the Buckeyes defense flexed its muscles.   

One of those rabid fans, Dan Jarvis, is a Wheelersburg native. You’ve seen him on broadcasts of a plethora of Buckeyes games, home and away, wearing spiked shoulder pads and a scarlet and gray wig. Fox captured him on air during Saturday’s game. A decade or so ago, this die-hard Buckeye nut’s son uttered words that put the entire family in peril. “I’m a Michigan fan.”  

Dan did what every father would do. He painted an outside shed scarlet and gray and made his son live in it.

Maurice Clarett, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Will Howard, TreVeyon Henderson, John Cooper, Jim Tressel, and Urban Meyer were among the historical Buckeyes to show up in support of the 2025 team. None have the universal recognition of McConaughey, but in The Shoe they are much more revered. The fans who cheered for them in the past and continue to support the current team are mostly nameless. On this day, they were a composite rock star.  

Speaking of days, can we finally agree that Ryan Day is an exceptional coach? I could list his accomplishments since taking the reins, but all I really need to say is Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, Notre Dame, and Texas. His last five games have resulted in victories against the top ranked teams in the nation.

You’re worried about the losses to Connor Stalion’s team? I’m not.  

O H!