Isaiah Prince surely has more than enough two-year-old stories to tell about his first game at Beaver Stadium.
But, Thayer Munford doesn’t need to hear them. Then a senior in high school on a trip to see Ohio State take on a tough road environment, he watched from the stands nearby while wearing a black jacket to stay warm amid thousands of white-clad Penn State fans.
“The first time I stepped in that stadium was ridiculous,” Munford said. “Everybody had on white. I was like, 'Wow, this is crazy. This stadium's crazy.'”
Munford watched as Ohio State fell apart down the stretch. He saw Prince struggle with the Nittany Lion pass-rush that racked up six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. The blown blocks, which played an integral role in his team’s 24-21 upset loss to unranked Penn State, haunted Prince for a while, and they still stick with him.
“We talked about it a little bit, but I haven't asked him a lot about it because I know this for sure, that's deep into him,” Munford said. “I was there for recruiting and I saw how he did. Like, yes, he messed up, but at the same time, he played his ass off. I'm sorry, he played his butt off. I know people hounded him for that.
“I know people did that, but at the same time, if he didn't have that situation, he wouldn't be the player like he is today.”
That might be true, but it’s what should worry Ohio State about Saturday’s game against the Nittany Lions. For the second time in three years, it must rely on a first-year starter at offensive tackle.
“I haven't exceeded (my expectations) at all. My goal is to be the best player I can be and help this team out to win games and win a national championship.”– Thayer Munford
In 2016, Prince disappointed on a J.T. Barrett-led offense that mustered just 21 points at Penn State. Now, entering Beaver Stadium and playing in front of a crowd participating in the White Out, Munford will make just his fifth start of his young career — and first start at a raucous road venue.
Unlike Prince, who played in the pressure-packed environments of Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at Oklahoma and Camp Randall Stadium at Wisconsin prior to the Penn State game, Munford has only started a single game at a neutral site. He has never started a true road game. Even in Arlington, Texas, a short drive from TCU’s campus, a majority of the crowd rooted for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State cannot afford him to have a repeat of Prince’s struggles in front of the vaunted crowd in Happy Valley.
“Sometimes, those linemen need a couple, three years,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. “And you look at the way Demetrius Knox has came on in a couple, three years. Sometimes, it takes a little time.”
In other cases, like Munford’s, the luxury of time isn’t afforded.
Munford said Prince passed down the same advice Billy Price gave him before the Penn State game two years ago.
“I know Isaiah told me this a lot. He told me that everybody just needs to stay focused,” Munford said. “Block out the noise and just pay attention to what you need to do. Yes, they're going to be doing some defensive shifting and stuff, but at the same time, just pay attention and focus on what you need to do.”
Though Munford has seen the White Out in person, things might change with him not watching the game from the stands with the other 100,000-plus fans, but becoming a target of them. Prince told him to remain focused, but that was much easier to do at AT&T Stadium with more than half the crowd cheering for him.
Having watched Penn State defenders effectively treat Prince like a turnstile, though, Munford said understands the need to move on if he makes a mistake, in order to not allow them to snowball into a disastrous performance.
“To be honest, you've got to block it all out,” Munford said. “People are going to want to be mad at you for giving up a sack. So, like, what offensive line doesn't? It's a part of the game. We've got good defensive players that get sacks and they also got good defensive players, too, so we can't do much about it. Just got to keep going, keep fighting.”
If there’s an Ohio State player to trust when it comes to overcoming — or, better yet, avoiding — early struggles, Prince is the correct teammate for Munford to turn to. He became a leader late in his career, but his path to team captainship wasn’t obvious two years ago.
Urban Meyer said Prince “used to be kind of the guy on the outside,” but he is now “right in the middle of everything.” He called the senior right tackle “one of the most improved players I've ever been around.”
“He's changed a lot,” left guard Michael Jordan said. “Just watching Isaiah grow and become the player that he is now is just amazing. He's one of the team captains and he's more mature now. He's a real leader. I think all the young guys kind of look up to him.”
Meyer and the Buckeyes hope Munford can take the same path as Prince, but with a smoother sophomore campaign in his first season as a starter.
So far, so good for the native Ohioan. And he believes he’s just getting started, something that will be put to the test on Saturday.
“I haven't exceeded (my expectations) at all,” Munford said. “My goal is to be the best player I can be and help this team out to win games and win a national championship.”
