This year was the inaugural College Football Playoff. For years fans have wanted a playoff series that pitted the best four teams against each other to determine the undeniable champion. This was the year and it didn’t disappoint. Ohio State almost didn’t make it into the top four and then, thru the grace of God and Woody Hayes, we were selected the #4 team in the nation by the playoff committee. A few weeks later, #4 was #1!
First, we faced the number one team in the nation, the Alabama Crimson Tide, in the Sugar Bowl. You saw the game, we rolled the Tide! (What did you say, Phyllis from Alabama?) We could have considered that our championship but then it was time to quiet the haters. We ate the Oregon Ducks in the National Championship game (512 uniform combinations, 0 national championships) and will spend the next year as the reigning national champs, and go down in the history books as the first College Football National Champions. We’re an ESPN 30-for-30 waiting to happen!
This was indeed a storybook season. Losing a Heisman trophy candidate quarterback before the season then losing another Heisman candidate quarterback during the famed Xichigan game was enough to give us plenty of press from ESPN to the Columbus Dispatch and plenty of tears. So many assumed we had no chance of even succeeding in the Big 10 after losing our first home game to Virginia Tech. It’s just one game, people! Then we lose in another way. Kosta Karageorge’s suicide was the real tragic loss of the season. We were marred by the first loss, scarred by the second. It’s just a game, people. He embodied what it means to love football and love The Ohio State and to love being on a team. This team became a family. The trials and tribulations we endured would be the end of the season for a lot of football programs out there. It was only the beginning for The Ohio State University.
Every game was a home game as the fans made every stadium we played in Scarlet and Gray. Despite preseason controversy, The Best Damn Band In The Land delivered their own “national championship” performances and made us proud as did our award winning mascot Brutus. From the first game versus Navy in Baltimore to the last game in Arlington versus Oregon, we showed out on the field and in the stands. We have the best coaches in college football. We have the best band and cheerleaders and mascot in college football. We have the best fans in college football. And now we can say with pride and proof…we have the best football team in college football.
What I learned from this season of college football is that talent wins games, but teams win championships. I didn’t name any player here, except Kosta, because no one man won this championship. And the team didn’t win it on their own either. Coaches, fans, families, teachers, advisors, students all played a part. I came to this university for moments like this. Not for the trophies and confetti and championship swag but for the memories you can only get here. I cheered, I cried, I prayed, and I celebrated every single game. Yes, I love me some football, but I love this team and this school even more. They are my brothers. You are my family.
We are resilient. We are a family. We are national champs. We are THE Ohio State University! #howfirmthyfriendship O-HI-O!