COLUMBUS, Ohio — By the end of the first quarter of Ohio State’s first game, it seemed like this season was going to be little more than a four-month coronation for the Buckeyes.
They were coming off a national championship, they had almost everybody important back on both sides of the ball, Braxton Miller looked like he was going to transition seamlessly to wide receiver, and the skill positions were stocked with so many gifted skill players that the only real danger was boredom.
This time, though, Ohio State had a coach who had already been through the grinding pressure of a championship encore, who knew every possible pitfall and motivational tool, who had spent an entire offseason swearing that any sign of complacency would be met with a furious response.