There’s nothing like watching an Ohio State game in person at the Horseshoe. The scene inside the stadium defines loud and rowdy.
So imagine being at Ohio Stadium Saturday as Ohio State played host to Oregon for a marquee non-conference matchup.
Well, you don’t have to imagine. You can watch and listen to a clip of Saturday’s game with the Ducks. It was so loud at the ‘Shoe that the noise even made it difficult for TV viewers to listen to the telecast.
Ohio State trailed Oregon 35-28 late in the game. And the Buckeyes were imploring their defense to somehow stop Oregon as the Ducks chewed up time off the clock. Joel Klatt, the former Colorado quarterback turned Fox Sports football analyst, was setting up the third down play. It was almost too loud to hear him say:
“Here we go. You can’t sit back in coverage. You can’t sit in man coverage. (And) you gotta send somebody. Anthony Brown has been clean all day long. He’s got to have pressure in his face now.”
Now, listen to what passionate sounds like:
Ohio State Noise Helped on the Play, But Fans Can’t Do Everything
Now, we’ll fill you in on what happened on the play. It was a third-and-seven call with 7 minutes, 20 seconds to play. The Ohio State crowd got so loud and boisterous that the Oregon offense was slapped with a false start. Anthony Brown, the quarterback, threw an incompletion to Jaylon Redd on the third-and-12.
But crowds, no matter how loud they get, sometimes can get negated. Because no one in the stands can complete a pass or run for a first down. Although the Ohio State defense forced the punt, the Buckeye stalled at midfield after managing only one first down on the series.
The next series for the Ohio State offense was even worse. There was a sack, then Buckeye quarterback C.J. Stroud threw an interception on a third and long. The Ducks managed to run off all but the last 13 seconds of the clock. The game ended with another sack of the Ohio State quarterback.
The last time Ohio State lost at home was Sept. 9, 2017. Baker Mayfield led the Oklahoma Sooners to a 31-16 victory. When the gun sounded the end of the game, Mayfield sprinted to midfield to plant the Sooner flag at Ohio Stadium. It wasn’t a great show of sportsmanship, but Mayfield liked to do this sort of stuff. He ended up winning the Heisman in December and was the top pick of the NFL draft the next April.
Who knows what Saturday’s game will mean over the next few weeks. But there was some minor-level trolling. An Oregon player, or maybe a fan, left a tiny duck at midfield of Ohio Stadium. That’s O for Ouch.
