The Buckeyes head to Camp Randall Stadium to play Wisconsin and try to beat them for the 10th straight time. Ohio State hasn’t played in Madison in seven years, the last game it was there on Oct. 15 2016 when the game took until overtime to decide, the Buckeyes ultimately winning 23-20.
The stadium is well known to be a tough place to go into for away teams, but the Buckeyes are going into the game with that knowledge and are preparing as well as they can for it. Offensive lineman Josh Fryar said he visited Wisconsin when he was being recruited and he’s excited to see what it’s like there on game day.
“I’m excited. I visited Wisconsin, it was great place,” Fryar said.” Great atmosphere. I’m excited to see the jump around in the third quarter. I’m excited to see the start of the game. I like away games. Silent count I don’t like but I have to deal with that.”
Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline got to experience the environment as a player when he was with the Buckeyes in 2008, a game they won 20-17. He’s trying to help the players now realize what type of place they’re going into Saturday so they are as prepared as they can be and don’t start slow.
“The worst thing about environments is expecting the opposite,” Hartline said. “So just making sure it’s really clear that you understand the hostility that this place is, the passion which they carry, and it’s a night game on Halloween. So, let’s put those all together. Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s going to be one heck of an electric environment.”
Day said while it is tough to play on the road, there are certain things that he likes about it. They get more time with each other since there’s not usually much friends or family coming to the games, and during games he likes to disappoint the home crowd when they score.
“The most enjoyable thing about being on the road, is that when you score and it gets quiet,” Day said, “you just gets a different feeling that when you score at home, and it’s really loud. It’s just a whole different field. And as a competitor, you like being in both scenarios.”
