For Ohio State Football Fans, It's The Best Time Of Year

Nov 29, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes mascot Brutus Buckeye celebrates near the end of the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won the game 42-28. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

I know I am not alone in looking forward to the 2015 Ohio State football team. After a title run behind a third-string quarterback, there is justifiable excitement about the upcoming season. With the college football season beginning in earnest Thursday night, the best time of the year begins for Buckeye Nation.

But it’s not just the defense of a national title or the Heisman buzz that has me ready to go. Each and every year, the feeling is the same. In my almost 29 years, I have been raised a Buckeye. Saturday afternoons were a special time in the Russo house. My mother was a Buckeye, herself a student athlete. At kickoff, be it noon, 3:30 or primetime, the world stopped for a few hours. Heck, my hometown even boast a Buckeye Heisman winner in Vic Janowicz.

Some of my best family memories revolve around all of us watching games and celebrating big moments or agonizing over tough beats. I remember the 4th and game go route from Craig Krenzel to Michael Jenkins to beat Purdue in 2002 like it was yesterday. I remember it so well not just because it was a huge play to win a game, but because of how my brother and I jumped around our living room like we had won the lottery.

I remember sitting in nearly the last seat up on the north end of Ohio Stadium watching the Buckeyes play UCLA at night under the lights BEFORE there were permanent ones at “The Horseshoe.” That was the first game I can remember going to with the family. I remember the agony of the 1998 Michigan State upset not just for the disappointing loss, but because I didn’t bring my winter coat in with me. There are still plenty of jokes at my expense for that.

I remember all of the Michigan games with the entire crew in our living room and more food than I could put away over an entire week, let alone one afternoon. I remember the basket of buckeyes in our house and my mother’s truly vintage “F*** Michigan” shirt from her college days that she still wears for The Game.

From Bobby Hoying to Steve Bellisari to J.T. Barrett, my time with Ohio State football has been a lifelong part of what has brought the Russo family together. It was so important that I share this all with my wife that a dear friend of ours got us tickets to the 2014 Indiana game in Columbus, which may have been the coldest I have ever been in my life. But sharing Skull Session, Script Ohio, and Carmen Ohio with my wife was worth every bone chilling second.

So yes, I am excited about this season. I’m looking forward to the hype videos and Urban Meyer’s ESPN commercial about “keeping what’s ours”. I want to watch Barrett or Cardale Jones lead an explosive offense and Joey Bosa look like a man on fire. But I looked forward to Justin Zwick and Stanley Jackson, too.

So when settling in on Labor Day night to watch Ohio State being 2015 avenging their lone blemish from last season, cheer loudly and proudly. Wear your scarlet and grey and chant OH-IO like you never have before. Because I know I will, just like every other year.

Next: 5 Reasons The Buckeyes Will Beat Virginia Tech

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For Ohio State Football Fans, It’s The Best Time Of The Year

By Joe Russo | Sep 5, 2015

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