Nate Salley already knows he is going to lose it.
“Hey, I’m an emotional dude,” the senior safety said.
Nick Mangold, too. Heck, even Bobby Carpenter admits he will shed a tear.
When Ohio State’s 16 seniors run through the tunnel at Ohio Stadium one last time Saturday, a roller coaster four or five years of memories (and in kicker Josh Huston’s case, six years) will come crashing to the surface.
“It’s really going to be an emotional day,” Carpenter said. “I can’t imagine us losing that game. We’re going to be fired up.”
As if that was not enough stimulus for No. 25 Northwestern’s visit Saturday, memories are still fresh from last year’s trip to Evanston.
The coaches made sure of that. The signs posted throughout the Buckeyes’ training facility read “33-27,” signifying the score of last season’s overtime loss to the Wildcats. The loss snapped OSU’s 24-game winning streak against Northwestern.
“We remember that game clearly,” senior defensive end Mike Kudla said. “You get up there and you get embarrassed like that. It just kind of sits with you.”
With the revenge angle in place and a tough Northwestern team coming to Columbus, thoughts of a pre-Michigan letdown can be dismissed
No longer the Big Ten’s bottom dweller, Northwestern (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) boasts the nation’s seventh best offense on the arm of senior quarterback Brett Basanez, the conference’s most prolific passing attack.
“They are going to put a ton of pressure on this defense,” Salley said.
The precise Basanez has completed 65 percent of his throws while tossing for more than 2,800 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. Far from fitting the mold of the typical pocket quarterback, Basanez poses a constant running threat and has been sacked only seven times.
“I don’t want to take anything away from anyone,” Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley told The New York Times. “But if he’s not the best quarterback in the country, wow, I don’t know who is.”
Basanez has opened things up for a big year from freshman tailback Tyrell Sutton. Not even listed on the Wildcats’ depth chart at the season’s start, Sutton has emerged to rush for 1,085 yards and 16 touchdowns.
The Akron Hoban product was Ohio’s 2004 Mr. Football after a career that saw him set the state rushing record with 9,426 yards and 117 touchdowns.
Still, the only other Big Ten school to offer a scholarship to Sutton was Illinois. The knock on Sutton was that his 5-foot-9, 190-pound frame was too small to withstand the pounding of the Big Ten. Sutton laughs at the notion and is ready to show the hometown school that never expressed any serious interest what they are missing out on.
“For someone to have all these accolades for four years, and you get passed up by your home-state college, it really doesn’t make any sense,” Sutton said. “They had the opportunity for four years to try and pursue me. I’ve always had the attitude if you don’t want me, I’ll make you wish that you did want me.”
Northwestern’s defense is another story. Nationally, the Wildcats are dead last – 117th out of 117 Division 1 teams – in total defense. Only coach Jim Tressel could find the positives in a group that gave up a laughable 773 yards to Arizona State earlier this year.
“When you pare off their pre-conference games and take those numbers out of it, and put the numbers of just the conference games, you start to say, you know what, their numbers are solid,” Tressel said.
Paring off those non-conference numbers, the Wildcats have not fared much better, still giving up 484 yards per game. As a result, a shootout could be in the works, but senior linebacker A.J. Hawk said the defense has other plans.
“My mom’s been crying with pride for six months now thinking about this game,” Hawk said. “You don’t want to come out and play bad in your last game in Ohio Stadium.”
For senior guard Rob Sims, it is simple.
“We just got to go out there and pay them back just like we did Iowa,” he said.
Quick slants
The Buckeyes’ season finale at Michigan will kickoff at 1 p.m. Nov. 19, ABC confirmed this week. … Saturday marks the first time since 1970 that Ohio State and Northwestern will meet as ranked opponents. OSU leads the all-time series 55-14-1. … The OSU ticketing office will be closed Friday in observance of Veterans Day. Students wishing to upgrade tickets should do so by the end of the day today.
