toledoblade.com --

COLUMBUS - When Jim Tressel was an assistant football coach at Syracuse early in the 1980s, the Orangemen attracted large, enthusiastic crowds to the Carrier Dome on the day of their annual spring football game. The horde came to see the Syracuse lacrosse team play, but since football was part of the show, it got some carry-over from the gathering.

"We played a doubleheader with our spring game, and we always had the Hobart-Syracuse lacrosse game, which is a big deal if you don't know much about lacrosse" Tressel said. "We did whatever we could to get people to come to the spring football game."

On Saturday, some 413 miles west, southwest of Syracuse, out of the lacrosse-mad East and smack in the heart of the football crazy Midwest, Tressel will return the favor.

The Ohio State football team will lend its massive, rabid following to the Buckeyes' lacrosse team when the two squads share Ohio Stadium. The OSU lacrosse team faces Denver at 11 a.m., with the Scarlet and Gray spring football game to follow at 1:30.

"Maybe they can help draw us a crowd," Tressel said, just joking.

COMING UP

OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN
• When: Saturday, Nov. 22
• Where: Columbus
• Series: UM leads 57-41-6

VIEW: Past OSU-Michigan Big Game photo gallery
DOWNLOAD/PRINT: 2007 POCKET GAME GUIDE

LAST THREE
2007: OSU 14, UM 3
PHOTOS: 2007 slideshow
2006: OSU 42, UM 39
PHOTOS: 2006 slideshow
2005: OSU 25, UM 21

2007 UM RESULTS
• Sept. 1 - APPALACHIAN ST., L 32-34
• Sept. 8 - OREGON, L 7-39
• Sept. 15 - NOTRE DAME, W 38-0
• Sept. 22 - PENN ST., W 14-9
• Sept. 29 - at N'western, W 28-16
• Oct. 6 - E. MICHIGAN, W 33-22
• Oct. 13 - PURDUE, W 48-21
• Oct. 20 - at Illinois, W 27-17
• Oct. 27 - MINNESOTA, W 34-10
• Nov. 3 - at Michigan St., W 28-24
• Nov. 10 - at Wisconsin, L 37-21
• Nov. 17 - OHIO ST., L 14-3

HOME GAMES in BOLD

HEAR: The Victors (YouTube)

2007 OSU RESULTS
• Sept. 1 - YOUNGSTOWN ST., W 38-6
• Sept. 8 - AKRON, W 20-2
• Sept. 15 - at Washington, W 33-14
• Sept. 22 - N'WESTERN, W 58-7
• Sept. 29 - at Minnesota, W 30-7
• Oct. 6 - at Purdue, W 23-7
• Oct. 13 - KENT ST., W 48-3
• Oct. 20 - MICHIGAN ST., W 24-17
• Oct. 27 - at Penn St., W 37-17
• Nov. 3 - WISCONSIN, W 38-17
• Nov. 10 - ILLINOIS, L 28-21
• Nov. 17 - at Michigan, W 14-3

HOME GAMES in BOLD

HEAR: Carmen, Ohio/Across The Field

READ: Ohio-Michigan Border War (1835-1836) (Wikipedia)

SEE: : OSU-UM past scores

But the crowd is a big part of this deal, since Ohio State is hoping to use the dual event to break a national attendance record for Division I men's lacrosse. The Buckeyes have a three-day campaign under way, attempting to set OSU campus or national atten-dance marks in baseball, softball, lacrosse and spring football this weekend.

The on-campus attendance mark for a college lacrosse game is 19,850, set in 1987 when Johns Hopkins played Maryland at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md.

Tressel, who wants to see his team better the mark of 75,301 fans it drew for its 2007 spring game, said the football Buckeyes will do their part to get that lacrosse record.

"I'm hoping we'll set a lacrosse single-game attendance record and have an all-time high for the Buckeye spring football game as well," Tressel said. "Our team will be there watching part of the lacrosse game before taking the field for the annual Scarlet and Gray game.

"April 19 will be a great day in Ohio Stadium."

With decent weather, the lacrosse Buckeyes should have a shot at breaking the overall regular-season attendance record, which was set last year at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium when a double-header involving Johns Hopkins - Princeton and Virginia - Syracuse drew 20,180 fans.

The all-time lacrosse attendance record is 52,004, set at the NCAA championship semifinals last May, at the same Baltimore venue. That's the record Tressel wants to see the Buckeyes break.

Ohio State men's lacrosse coach Joe Breschi, who pitched the double-header concept to Tressel and OSU athletic director Gene Smith last year, said playing in Ohio Stadium is "every kid's dream" and his players now will get that opportunity. The Ohio State lacrosse team plays its games in OSU's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, and a recent home win there over Air Force attracted a crowd of about 1,000 on senior day.

"I've been kind of putting this in the works in the back of my mind for a couple years, hoping that one day it would come to fruition, to possibly play in the Horseshoe," Breschi said.

"A game in the Horseshoe for our team, our program, is something special. I think when we go out there on football Saturdays and watch those games and watch those guys perform, everybody looks down on the field like, wow, if I could ever get my feet on the ground it would be a wonderful thing."

Toledo businessman Mike Wilcox, a lacrosse All-American at Bowling Green and the current president of the U.S. Lacrosse Foundation's board of directors, said Saturday's joint effort at Ohio State has grabbed the attention of lacrosse backers around the country. The US Lacrosse Foundation's 24-member national board will travel from all points on the map to attend the double-header.

"The fact this is happening in the 'Shoe', and lacrosse is sharing the stage with the Buckeyes football team - this is a landmark event," Wilcox said. "I think it will be a great way to introduce more people to the sport of lacrosse, and it just speaks to the kind of people Jim Tressel and Gene Smith are. Football is clearly No. 1 at Ohio State, but it's not all about football, and they have been gracious to create this opportunity."

The Ohio State Marching band will include "Script Ohio" in its halftime performance during the lacrosse game. The lacrosse Buckeyes are ranked 16th nationally and are coming off a 14-11 win over No. 8 North Carolina last Saturday in Baltimore.

When Breschi sized up the University of Denver, his team's opposition in the historic affair, he put it in terms any sports fan can understand - even the complete lacrosse novice.

"Last year's game we played out at Denver," Breschi said. "We beat them in overtime 10-9, so it should be a doozy."

Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.

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