The-Ozone Rewind: Braxton to Devin vs. Wisconsin, 2011
Midnight Madness in the Horseshoe
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Braxton Miller could not make it to his teammates in time to sing “Carmen Ohio,” not with a sea of scarlet and gray filling the field around him following Ohio State’s 33-29 win over Wisconsin.
Fans flooded out of their seats, carried by the emotional tidal wave that had been building over the last 11 months.
They laughed. They cried. They sang and danced and yelled into the night.
They hugged perfect strangers and close friends. They gathered around their hero, giving hugs and high fives to the young freshman who had saved the season—and their hearts from one more dose of pain this fan base just could not endure.
Their pure, unadulterated joy floated up into the night sky like Miller’s game-winning touchdown pass, hanging in the midnight air at Ohio Stadium.
Both seemed like they would never come down, like they might just float away along with all of the torment and despair Ohio State has endured.
Miller’s pass did eventually return from orbit, and it landed in the arms of fellow freshman Devin Smith, who held on in the end zone as he was drilled by cornerback Marcus Cromartie.
“It took forever,” said Smith, who hauled in the game-winning 40-yard catch with 20 seconds on the clock.
“It was up there for the longest time. I was like ‘hurry up and drop, hurry up and drop.’ When I caught it, I held it tight and I fell down with it.”
This was about revenge. It was about relief. It was about feeling something good after so much bad. Most of all, it was about this team and this group of guys who stayed together through it all.
“It’s just unbelievable,” senior Michael Brewster said.
“After everything we’ve been through, all the ups and downs, the ups and downs today, this is a group of guys who just aren’t going to stop fighting.”
It almost wasn’t good enough. It almost ended with another heartache.
Almost.
“It was amazing. It’s about time we caught a break because these guys have fought like hell for weeks,” Brewster said.
“Things haven’t been so great at times, but we haven’t given up. We got hit in the stomach at the end of the game, but we just kept fighting.”
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https://theozone.net/2019/06/braxton-devin-vs-wisconsin-2011/