End zone: Ohio State 10-25

10/25/2012

Ohio State will play before more than 105,000 whited out fans Saturday night at Penn State. Perhaps a few thousand blacked out ones, too.

Asked about the fuel some use to fill their tanks before late games, coach Urban Meyer laughed and said, "Want the politically correct answer?"

Translation: Save the urine bombs for your frat parties.

In a game between bowl-banned rivals who have pushed aside expectations to emerge as the top two teams in the Big Ten's Leaders Division, here's to keeping the focus on the improbable feel-good story line on the field.

Ohio State's past meetings with PSU have displayed the best and worst in sportsmanship, from students at Beaver Stadium hurling balloons filled with urine at the Buckeyes' band in 2005 to the teams exchanging handshakes at midfield in a show of solidarity before a game last November that suddenly no longer seemed so important.

Not to let Ohio Stadium off the hook — recall Michigan all but asking the State Department to declare Columbus unsafe for travel before the 2006 showdown — but OSU players over the years called have Penn State the most hostile environment in the Big Ten. That's not a bad thing. The atmosphere that will shake Beaver Stadium is what makes college football great. Just as long as the white-out doesn't leave a black eye.

For all things Ohio State athletics, follow David's blog, Dotting the 'Eyes.