by Matt Johnson – October 8th, 2009
Tressels,
So, I don’t mean to brag, but…I met Brutus last week. No, not just some Brutus, but the real Brutus Buckeye. That’s right. I have the picture to prove it.
We were at a wedding and Brutus showed up. In Columbus, Ohio, Brutus is always good for a little excitement generation. The mother of the groom asked me to show Brutus to another section of the wedding pavillion. So, I guess you could say I was momentarily Brutus’ “handler.” I was pretty good at acting as if I wasn’t in a position of extreme importance, but that’s tough to mask with humility when you are Brutus’ handler.
Having this moment of close connection with Brutus made me think about how sick we are in Columbus. (If there are children reading this email that still “believe in the magic of Christmas,” as a responsible parent, please close this email now and read it after they go to bed.) The real Brutus Buckeye reminded me of days when I was the real Santa Claus at Lazarus Santaland downtown. That’s right, I was Santa for one winter break when I was 20. About 1,400 people have the picture to prove it.
So, let’s shift gears…what does the Wisconsin game mean to me? It means Ron Dayne running all over the Bucks while a buddy is giving updates from a little hidden TV during a wedding. It means ending a 19-game OSU win streak on a cold, rainy night in Madison when Robert Reynolds choked Jim Sorgi. It means Jay Valai headhunting Ohio State players last year. There’s something about Wisky that I really don’t like. There are teams you really enjoy beating and Wisky is one of them.
The end of last year’s Wisky game was great. After Terrelle’s game-winning TD run in the final minutes of the game, a bunch of us were passing a bottle of cheap wine for a celebratory chug while chanting nonsensical stuff. No one blamed John Cooper for anything. It was great.
Outside of the Michigan game, the Wisconsin game is always the hardest hitting. It’s the way Big Ten football should be. It doesn’t help that a physical game comes up when many of the Bucks are coming down with the flu, but that’s the way it goes so they’ll just have to deal with it. Wisky is the top rushing team in the Big Ten, so far. I’d love to see the defensive line completely shut down big-back John Clay. I’d love to see the OSU offensive give Wisky a taste of their own bratwurst and run all over them. With the new offensive attack for the Bucks (have you noticed that there are no compliants with the play-calling recently?) the most important cog to the run-blocking scheme is TE Jake Ballard. He was sick last week and played sparingly; hopefully, he’s back this week at full strength.
I think the Bucks continue to show great weekly improvement – including the play at QB. And, this game looks more like the Big Ten football we all remember from not long ago.
Touchdowns: Terrelle, Boom, Posey, Saine, Dane
OSU 35 Wisky 14
Go Bucks! Beat Wisky! Thaddeus Gibson for Heisman!
Portly Papa
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