Ryan Day: “We need it to be loud”
There is no overstating it: this is a big one come Saturday afternoon.
In two days, the 3rd-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will welcome the 12th-rated Oregon Ducks for a noon showdown inside Ohio Stadium.
And the team wants the ‘Shoe at a frenzy.
“Man, I just hope the ‘Shoe is rocking,” said defensive tackle Taron Vincent. “Like they (Oregon) can’t even hear their snap count. From first quarter to fourth quarter, just rocking the whole time.”
It will be the first time the two teams will square up since the national championship on Jan. 12, 2015, a game that OSU handily won, 42-20. The win gave the Buckeyes their eighth national title and first since 2002 and would have given Oregon their first-ever natty. The Ducks’ last appearance in a title game was on Jan. 10, 2011, a matchup they lost to Auburn, 22-19.
Saturday will mark the tenth game between the two schools with the Buckeyes holding a commanding 9-0 edge.
Ohio State’s average margin of victory has been by 16 points with a 10-7 win in their first-ever meeting in the 1958 Rose Bowl being the closest score. That win also gave the Buckeyes a national title. It was Woody Hayes’ second and the team’s third overall.
Head coach Ryan Day said he expects the atmosphere to be excellent especially since it’s been almost two years since the stadium was allowed to have fans.
“When you look at this game, it’s the first time there’s been a game in the Horseshoe in over 600 days and we need Buckeye Nation in this game. This is a very, very big game for our program,” he said. “We need it to be loud.”
The last time Ohio Stadium had more than just 1,000 people in it – which was restricted to only friends and family of team members due to COVID-19 – was against Penn State on Nov. 23, 2019. Come Saturday, it will be 655 days since Buckeye fans have actually sat in the stadium to watch a game.
Day said that game was one of the loudest he’s ever heard and wants that same kind of intensity on Saturday.
“It’s got to be an advantage for us,” he said. “If we can force them into a silent count, that’s an advantage for us.”
Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal said he knows his team will be facing one of the toughest crowds they have ever seen and has been preparing them throughout their practices this week with artificial noise.
“You make sure that everything you’re doing in practice prepares you for a situation where verbal communication is probably not an option.”
This isn’t the first time the Ducks have visited Columbus, though. Their last visit to the ‘Shoe came on Sept. 19, 1987. It was the second game of the year for both teams with the Scarlet and Gray walking away with a 24-14 victory. This will mark the sixth trip the Ducks have made from Eugene, Ore.
Cristobal said, though, that he doesn’t want to overhype OSU’s home field advantage and psych out his team.
“You make sure that you don’t make it something bigger than what it is. (But) if you’re not prepared for it, it’s a really big deal, it is. Home advantages are real in college football. If you prepare for them, you’ll do a good job and we feel confident in our processes.”
Day said the louder the ‘Shoe, the more confident he’s going to feel about the outcome.
“The louder and the more we can feel this crowd, the better we’re going to play,” said Day.
As of Tuesday, however, the game still isn’t a sellout. The university announced they had sold roughly 90,000 tickets but about 10,000 were still available.
For ticket information, you can visit Ticketmaster.