Football
Buckeyes Remember Ann Arbor
By John Porentas

Buckeyes Remember Ann Arbor

The date was November 22, 2003. The place was Ann Arbor, Michigan. The score was 35-21.

It was the end of a two-game winning streak for the Buckeyes over the University of Michigan. It was a game in which the Wolverines claimed an undisputed Big Ten title - and denied one to the Buckeyes. It was a day on which Ohio State was knocked out of the BCS title game.

For a lot of Buckeye fans, those are some tough memories. For the players who were on the field when the clock said 00:00, the memory is pure torture.

"The last couple plays when coach put me in to let the seniors out and let us young guys just have feeling of being in as time ran out, as they kneeled," said defensive lineman Quinn Pitcock.

"It was one of the hardest times of my life playing football, just seeing that happen.

"That's probably my biggest motivator right there. I was watching film yesterday and I just really got choked up. That's when it really starter thinking about the game," Pitcock said.

Michigan jumped out to 28-7 lead in that game, but the Buckeyes closed to 28-21 with nearly the entire fourth quarter to play. A Chris Gamble interception seemingly opened the door for a miraculous comeback for the Buckeyes, but it wasn't to be on that day.

"We couldn't get it together," said Simon Fraser of the winning rally that didn't happen.

"It seemed like we had it there. We were down by seven points and we got an interception and we didn't take advantage of the opportunity there," Fraser said.

For most Buckeyes, the game lingers in the memory as an opportunity lost. Santonio Holmes remembered his feelings when the 00:00 went up on the clock.

"Walking off the field knowing that you could have done a little bit more to win the game than you did," said Holmes of his regrets over the 2003 game.

"We lost the game. I just wanted to get out of that atmosphere," added cornerback Ashton Youboty.

"It was a bad situation, because honestly, I think we had a chance to win that game. Even having a bad start, we still had an honest chance to win that game. It's a game that slowly slipped away."

The Buckeyes are not playing for a Big Ten championship this season, nor are they playing for a BCS Bowl. With four losses, all of those things are out of the equation. What they are playing for is a chance for redemption, not just for the loss to the Wolverines last season, but for a four-loss season that has been disappointing thus far this year.

"I think definitely a win this week could put a band-aid over a lot of the losses. You feel like everything is more complete after that win (over Michigan), said Pitcock.

"It just makes the season," Youboty.

"It's not just a victory, but beating Michigan. Since February, that's all we've talked about. We've got signs up in the weight room; beat Michigan, beat Michigan. The season hasn't gone as we planned, but beating Michigan will sum it all up," Youboty said.

Defensive end Simon Fraser agreed, a win over Michigan could salve the hurt of the earlier losses this season.

"Anytime you beat your arch-rival, you feel great. No matter what kind of season you've had, if you beat them you feel great and if you lose to them you feel horrible," Fraser said.

"Anytime you finish a season with a victory that's a positive, because that allows us to have some closure, some confidence that younger guys can take into next year."

According to Holmes, the OSU coaching staff is encouraging its team to remember all those bad feelings from last season, so they might do the things they need to do to avoid them this season.

"Coach Hazell told us 'Remember the feeling,"' Holmes said.

"That pretty much speaks for itself. We went into their place last year and took a loss. Nobody wants to feel that again. Our main focus right now is to remember that feeling and get out there and play a great game."

Return to O-Zone Columns and Features

Return to O-Zone Front Page