Larimore, OSU hoping to go out on a positive note
By Al Hamnik
[email protected]
Monday, January 3, 2011
C'mon. You know this.
It's Merrillville grad Dexter Larimore, voted Defensive Lineman of the Year at Ohio State.
No. 6 OSU (11-1) plays No. 8 Arkansas (10-2) in tonight's Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome.
A fifth-year senior tackle, Larimore's football career in Columbus is rich in both personal and team accomplishments.
Tonight marks the fourth bowl game he will play in, a list which also includes the Rose, Fiesta and 2008 BCS title game against LSU -- plus five Big Ten Conference championships.
The 6-foot-2, 310-pounder has played in 48 of 52 games during his career at Ohio State.
"It's pretty crazy how time flies. I have little left as an active player at Ohio State," Larimore said. "Ohio State is a family, obviously, and I'll always have the friendships. But you aren't gonna be able to put those pads on. You're not gonna be able to play those games. You're gonna have to watch them either from the stands or on TV.
"It's kinda tough to think that soon it's gonna be over and I'm gonna be an alumni."
The emotional merry-go-round doesn't stop there.
"It's also scary because you really don't know what's gonna happen," Larimore said. "In the next couple months, I have no clue where I'm gonna be, what state I'm gonna be in, or what I'm gonna be doing.
"It's a business so you don't know if you're gonna be on a team or whether you're gonna be 'their guy' or you're not gonna be 'their guy.' I've just been trying to focus on each day."
It's too early to talk about the NFL pre-draft combine in Indianapolis, but if for some reason Larimore isn't invited, there are other options.
"Ohio State still has their combine and I believe last year something like 20 or 23 (NFL) teams came to it," he recalled. "So I'll still have that exposure."
But at the moment, all focus and energy is directed toward stopping an Arkansas offense averaging 490 yards per game with quarterback Ryan Mallett (30 touchdowns, 3,592 yards) and running back Knile Davis (1,183 yards, 13 TDs) leaning on the throttle.
Davis has done his damage in just seven games.
The OSU defense is allowing 13.3 ppg. but has only 19 sacks compared to the 37 of the Razorbacks.
Buckeye Nation doesn't care. It demands victory.
"When you do set the bar that high, good things usually happen for us because we expect so much out of ourselves and the coaches expect so much out of us," Larimore said.
"Honestly, Columbus expects that much out of us. It's a tough town. Nowadays, like last year and this year, if you don't go the the national title game, it's almost a disappointment."
