We used to have a guy who occasionally contributed to this site on college football but as it turned out he was far more driven by his uberfandom for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Well, it would be more appropriate to refer to this person as a male, since based on the maturity of his behavior it would be disingeneous to adult men to consider him part of that group.
Our one-time colleague has chosen to move on to more pressing matters in his life, such as developing better imitations of cartoon voices and trying to figure out why the government continues to spy on him. Which is not only a shame for him, but for all of us, because I’d sure love to know how he’s feeling about his team these days.
His somewhat more controlled fellow fanatics were beyond devastated just after Thanksgiving when the Buckeyes’ season was disrupted by the ignominy of yet another loss to the Michigan Wolverines. We mused about that occurrence just after it happened, and let’s just say it was hardly the most proactive display of self-control or even logic that we’ve seen from any fan base.
But the Buckeyes’ overall record against opponents other than the Maize and Blue was still strong enough to qualify for the Final 12, and ever since they’ve never looked back. CLUTCH POINTS’ Alex House reminded his readers of that in his piece released late yesterday:
Ohio State football is enjoying one heck of a turnaround. Since losing to detested foe Michigan at the end of November, the Buckeyes are riding a three-game winning streak that has earned them a date with Notre Dame in the national championship. The good fortune is even carrying over into the NFL. Former Columbus great CJ Stroud finally bested head coach Jim Harbaugh, as his Houston Texans defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, 32-12, to advance in the NFL playoffs.
Harbaugh, who deserves some recognition for his regular season efforts with the Chargers, was the source of much anguish for Buckeyes fans during the last few years. The ex-Michigan HC beat Stroud and Ohio State two straight times (was suspended for the 2023 matchup, but Wolverines prevailed anyway) and won a national championship last season. He spurred a seismic shift in the rivalry.
ELEVEN WARRIORS’ Dan Hope underscored the details in his victory lap of a blog:
Stroud had one of his best games of the entire season to earn his second playoff victory in two NFL seasons, completing 22 of 33 passes for 282 yards with one touchdown and one interception while also running for 42 yards.
The former Ohio State quarterback was at his best at the end of the first half. First, Stroud led a 99-yard touchdown drive that included a 34-yard completion to Xavier Hutchinson on a broken play, a 37-yard connection over the middle with Nico Collins and a 13-yard touchdown pass to Collins.
And as ATHLON Sports’ Sean Deveney reported yesterday, even the big bad coach who was the source of this trolling was man enough to face facts:
Harbaugh took blame for the result after the game, but also gave a firm tip of the cap to Stroud and his performance.
“Congratulations to him and congratulations—respect,” Harbaugh said. “They played really good, offensively, defensively, special teams. CJ Stroud—respect to CJ, he made some terrific plays. “The fumbled snap, he picked it up, going to his right, made the big play to midfield. He had some real key scrambles in the game. Respect.
See, Buckeye Nation? That’s the way that big boys react when they’re beaten fair and square.
Booknote this if you will for a week from tomorrow night, because already your team has been established as a 4.5 point favorite against the Fighting Irish. You not only have momentum inspired by Ryan Day’s coaching and the play of the Best Team Money Can Buy, but now you also have Vegas believing in him and your beloved team as well.
And should chalk prevail, you will actually wind up succeeding the team whom some of you can’t even spell without an asterisk as the national champions of all of major college football. The other 125 schools besides Michigan that actually matter to the rest of the world, not the least of which being Oregon, who inflicted the other conference loss you suffered in 2024 on you that you got the chance to handily avenge in the Rose Bowl just before the area surrounding Pasadena became a manifestation of what many of you had been hoping would have happened to Day about a month earlier.
As an unapolgetic Ducks lover, I’ve even joined Harbaugh in tipping my hat to how well you’ve played and how superbly you’ve rebounded. And while my legacy loyalty as a New York native has me hoping against hope that Notre Dame can somehow emerge victorious on Martin Luther Day Night, if I actually had enough money to make a bet it would be on you.
I’d like to think that if you already haven’t changed your tune about Day and your team that the sight of him hoisting the national championship trophy might finally do the trick. Some of you, at least.
I’m still not too sure about our one-time colleague. Check in with him, will you?
Courage…