The Ohio State football program has been the flag bearer of the Big Ten conference for years now. No team comes close to what the Buckeyes have done on the field since the BCS era and beyond. Since 1998, OSU has two national championships, two more national title game appearances, and another two representations in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes have eleven Big Ten titles during that time — half during that time.
Ohio State also recruits with the best of them. The Buckeyes have hauled in top ten classes in eight of the last nine years. The one that didn’t make the cut was because there weren’t as many scholarships to offer. No other program pulls in as much revenue as OSU, and no other program adds to the pot of money that gets distributed to other members because of big bowl money payouts.
Ohio State had the makings of a special season in 2020
Part of @ryandaytime's anguish over the loss of a fall season was his belief his 2020 Ohio State team had a chance to be a once-in-a-lifetime one because of its talent, leadership and character. He desperately wants to salvage something with this group. https://t.co/RAeiBq2gvK
— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) August 13, 2020
There’s all of that, but there’s also the potential of what the 2020 team could have been. Most preseason experts had Ohio State as one of the top two teams in the country along with Clemson. With Justin Fields returning at quarterback, an experienced and talented offensive line, and a bevy of weapons to distribute the ball too, even Ryan Day saw the potential.
When asked about what it would mean to not be able to put this team on the field, he got a little emotional with reporters on a Zoom call recently.
“I’ll get emotional if I start thinking about it,” Day said on the call. “What I said to the team the other day is the truth: As a player, you work your whole life and as a coach, you work your whole life for an opportunity to coach a team like this. This team is special. It’s special because it’s talented. It’s special because it has leadership. It’s special because of the character. It could have been in a once-in-a-lifetime team.”
“Certainly the team last year I’ll never forget,” Day continued. It was the first time as a head coach — and what they did was awesome — but there was just something about this team that had it. It had it. They came back hungry after their last game on the field. They were determined. And this quarantine, this virus was not going to get in their way.”
Even athletic director Gene Smith was bullish and a bit resentful when thinking about the 2020 version of Ohio State not being able to showcase itself.
In a report by the Omaha World Herald, Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos said he felt empathy for what the Buckeyes could have done this season and pointed to a conversation he and Smith had.
“I think Ohio State had a chance to win the national championship,” Moos said. “Gene (Smith) even said, ‘I’m going to cut to the chase: I’ve got a national championship contender here.’”
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There’s no turning back now for the B1G
Justin Fields not ready to make a decision on spring season at Ohio State https://t.co/l4YWoOXHsI
— Buckeyes Wire (@BuckeyesWire) August 19, 2020
Sadly, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen this year. Even if there is a spring season, three other Power Five football conferences are forging ahead. If they all make it through a full season and don’t have to pull the rip cord, it’s unlikely the College Football Playoff Committee moves the playoffs. And of course, that’s even IF we get through a full season at all.
And that’s before we even visit all the other accolades Ohio State could rake in. Fields was destined to put up video game numbers and had a better than average shot at winning the Heisman. A fourth straight Big Ten title was there for the taking, as was a ninth straight Big Ten East division championship (albeit some shared). The team goals will still be there when football resumes, but the team could look far different on the field.
So yeah, Ohio State fans, coaches, and players are a little more upset than most everyone else it seems because there was more at stake. This could have been a season for the ages, yet instead, it’s a season of the ages.
But again, we’re in a pandemic, so … there’s that.
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