RhodeIslandBuck
This guy's a real jerk
I could be wrong but...
When I went to the Marshall game a few weeks ago, and it's been a few since I've been there but I had a feeling even then in 2021, but it's too corporate of an atmosphere there now. It felt, frankly, off, I guess.
The machine that is Ohio State is a money machine. It's a money machine because they will reliably win 10+ games per year, get so many millions in sponsorships, ticket sales, concessions, etc etc.
2002 had an angry edge to it. It was a feeling you felt from the first snap of the first game, through the last snap of the scUM game and into the MNC game against Cryami.
Urban's teams always had that feeling with the exception of 2018. And that year the defense was one of the worst in Ohio State history.
But there were other years where the atmosphere is more, well, not relaxed but kinda exepcting like everyone will roll just by showing up. There's an energy in the stadium that seems to permeate everything - even the announcements and the presentations during TV timeouts and quarters seem to be all about the show and not about the go. Maybe I need to go again to compare but it felt like this....
Is it on the coaches? I don't know. The administration? Maybe? Again, I don't know.
It could also be that this team isn't nearly as talented as we, the fans, want them to be, and, coupled with an atmosphere where everything is expected to be easy, it's created a monster. Guess we will see what the rest of the season holds.
Unfortunately I think your final paragraph is the true answer. You can bring as many starters back as you want, but when they're not elite, it's not gonna make a difference.
Upvote
0