COLUMBUS — Senior Day always evokes a range of emotions. Ohio State’s 42-14 victory over Indiana brought sentimental moments, historical achievements and a Leaders Division championship.
After winning 36 Big Ten titles, the Buckeyes can now win their first Big Ten Championship Game. But first comes the Michigan game, a rivalry that draws national interest year in and year out. This season’s match up gives the Wolverines an opportunity to play spoiler, a throwback to the mid 1990s.
“I watched the game on TV last year, but to be honest I don’t really know that much about it,” freshman running back Dontre Wilson said. “I’m sure going to find out soon though.”
Indeed. Head coach Urban Meyer usually institutes a 24-hour grace period after wins so the team can enjoy the accomplishment. For Michigan, the preparation began in earnest Saturday night.
Meyer thinks very highly of Ohio State’s 19-member senior class. He’s continually praised them and spoke highly throughout the week about how they would be remembered. He most admires them for sticking around when not everything was going well in the program.
“The greatest thing that happened today is every one of those players in that locker room is going to come back now and be part of this, because there’s going to be a special place for them around that facility and what they’ve done – the longest winning streak in Ohio State history,” Meyer said.
Senior Jack Mewhort and Kenny Guiton shared similar views. Both are sad to see their team passing by, but they appreciate the support and look forward to finishing out the season.
“It’s bittersweet,” Mewhort said. “I’ve had my time here and it’s time for me to move on. The next time I’ll be in the stadium, I’ll be a visitor. I’m going to be irrelevant. I was kind of enjoying it a little bit. I’ve had some great memories there.”
“It really meant a lot playing in my last game at Ohio Stadium,” Guiton said. “I feel that I have been through a lot in my time here. It was awesome hearing the crowd when I was running out onto the field.”
Mewhort was part of a major milestone – Carlos Hyde’s 1,000-yard season. It’s not often the offensive line gets recognized, so he was happy to be part of the accomplishment, along with his fellow line mates and Hyde.
“It’s really cool because as an offensive lineman, you don’t really show up on the stat sheet,” Mewhort said. “What Carlos does is kind of a reflection on us as offensive linemen. That’s not to take anything away from him. He’s a workhorse, he’s got great vision week in and week out.
“When you’re an O-lineman, you kind of live vicariously through the other guys on the offense. It goes to show when people talk about this offense talking about spreading the ball out, that’s not all that it is. We take a lot of pride in it. I know it feels good for him, but it feels good for us, too.”
Offensive coordinator Tom Herman knew early in the day that the weather would impact the proceedings, meaning a healthy dose of Braxton Miller and Hyde out of the backfield.
“I went out there in pregame warm-ups, and it was certainly affecting a lot of the throws,” Herman said. “When Mother Nature tells you not to throw the football, you better listen, because she’s pretty demanding.”
The Ohio State defense held Indiana’s high-octane offense in check for nearly the entire day. The Hoosiers were did not score until the final minutes of the game, when they got two junk touchdowns. Meyer said defensive coordinator Luke Fickell aged during the week because Indiana’s offense was so hard to prep for.
“They stepped up to the challenge,” Fickell said. “This was as good an offense as we had seen in a while. They do a lot of things that make it really difficult for you. Our guys prepared like madmen and did a heck of a job.”
The highlight-reel play of the day was a reverse that saw Kenny Guiton hand off to Miller on an end-around. Miller took the ball, juked out a defender and then leaped for the end zone before crossing the plane and landing on his head.
“That play is called Jazzy,” Guiton said. “I come in and Braxton plays as a receiver. We have been practicing it for a while and we were happy we were able to execute.”
Jazzy was the creation of Herman, who also named the play after Guiton as a play on his nickname, Kenny G.
If a knee injury to Braxton Miller in September hadn’t robbed him of three games, he may well be the Heisman Trophy front-runner. But that injury took him out of the race, not that he isn’t trying to make a late charge.
“Braxton is playing great right now. We still have a lot of work to do, but he is really playing some of the best football of his career at Ohio State.,” wide receiver Devin Smith said. “He is a better passer now than he was a year ago.”
Indiana finished with more first downs than Ohio State and was fairly even in yards. To head coach Kevin Wilson, moral victories don’t exist.
“The scoreboard is what counts. That is the real difference,” Wilson said. “It was based on Ohio State’s ability to run the ball and our inability to run the ball.”
