Navy will not shy away from OSU
By Todd Porter
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Aug 31, 2009 @ 12:42 AM
COLUMBUS ?
This isn?t Youngstown State coming to Ohio Stadium. When the sixth-ranked Buckeyes take the field Saturday afternoon there will be the usual athletic advantage for a season-opening game.
But will power? Determination?
?Navy is a whole other monster,? wide receiver Dan Sanzenbacher said. ?Our defense hasn?t seen anything like their offense, and just the type of people we?re going to be playing. I mean these guys train to protect our country. It?s something bigger than football. They?re coming in ready to fight.?
Ohio State vs. Navy may not be much of a game on the scoreboard. Then again, Brian Rolle isn?t about to take a team full of guys ready to die for their country lightly, either.
?We haven?t played a team like this maybe forever,? Rolle said. ?Those guys protect this country so you know they?re going to be precise in what they do. We have to be on key that day.?
The last time Ohio State played a service academy in the regular season was 1930 when the Buckeyes beat Navy 27-0. The last time OSU played a service academy, however, was 1990 and Air Force stunned the Buckeyes in the Liberty Bowl 23-11.
Head Coach Jim Tressel spent some time this summer overseas visiting U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East. During the most rigorous week of training camp, called ?Hell Week,? Buckeye players had to turn in all their technology.
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