By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
In Ohio, it’s hard not to run into an Ohio State Buckeyes fan. They are dedicated followers sporting scarlet and gray on game days and fervent in their dislike of That State Up North. So when The Ohio State University football team qualified in the first-ever College Football Playoff, you can bet Crawford County showed up to represent in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
“A friend had some extra tickets for a good price so I decided why not,” said Zach Keller, a Wynford alum and current graduate assistant in Kent State University’s Athletic Department. “We can drive down since it is not too far. We literally decided to go down the day before Christmas so there wasn’t much time to plan.”
Keller traveled to The Big Easy with friends for his first bowl game experience. They sat ten rows from the field on the Alabama side.
“Wasn’t too many OSU fans on that side,” Keller said. “The experience was awesome. Probably the best game experience I have ever had.”
There was a lot of trash talking going on during the game but Keller said that quickly changed when the Buckeyes defeated the Crimson Tide 42-35.
Keller added that experiencing New Orleans was great too, especially since he was down there for New Year’s.
“I walked all around New Orleans it felt like,” Keller said. “We went to Bourbon Street and walked around in the French Quarter. We went to the ESPN set as soon as we got down there and I shook Urban Meyer’s hand.”
Keller said the experience was totally worth the price.
“I want to go (to the National Championship) but after spending what I did at the Sugar Bowl I doubt I’ll be able to go.”
That won’t stop him the next time the Buckeyes make the playoffs. He plans on making it to the bowl game and the National Championship.
The Sugar Bowl was a first for another Wynford grad. Not only was it the first time Autumn Tea was able to attend a college football bowl game but it was also the first time she saw the Buckeyes live in action.
Tea’s boyfriend’s family surprised her with tickets to the Sugar Bowl and asked if she would like to go down to New Orleans with them. She didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“It was crazy just being surrounded by OSU fans on one side and Alabama fans on the other. It was awesome,” Tea said.
Though she sat in the terrace level, Tea refused to complain. Rather, she lived an once-in-a-lifetime experience. On interceptions and touchdowns, she would grab her boyfriend’s sister and scream. And when the iconic O-H-I-O chant echoed across their side, Tea lived it up.
Tea said they stayed in a hotel one street over from Bourbon Street. Though they ventured down it during the craziness of New Year’s Eve, Tea said they returned to their hotel to relax.
“It was pretty awesome,” she enthused about the entire experience.
Travis Larick made the trip down to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl with his husband Chad Seiber. Larick, a Bucyrus graduate, attended Ohio State for a few years before obtaining his real estate license.
Despite leaving Ohio State for real estate, there was no way Larick could walk away from being a part of the Buckeye Nation.
“It was engraved into my head,” Larick said. “My dad was the biggest Ohio State fan I knew . . . he loved them so much he volunteered as a ‘red coat’ usher for the home games.”
As a born and bred Buckeye fan and with Seiber graduating from Ohio State and being a big fan as well, it came as no surprise when they jumped on the chance to watch their beloved team play in the Sugar Bowl.
“We were trying to decide where to go for New Year’s and when we heard there would be a chance for Ohio State to go to a bowl game, we decided we would go wherever they would be playing,” Larick said.
Larick and Seiber purchased “option” tickets, which allowed them to buy the tickets at face value if the Buckeyes made it to a bowl game.
“The day of the announcement, I was on my computer with hotels pulled up and he was on his computer with flights. And the second the announcement was made we had everything booked before the prices sky-rocketed,” Larick said.
Larick and Seiber sat in the 300 section of the stadium – right above Ohio State’s band.
“Our seats were amazing,” Larick said. “The Alabama fans we encountered were nothing but nice and humble after the game. The horror stories I heard from the locals in New Orleans made them sound like bad fans. But they were the complete opposite. Shaking our hands, saying we had the better team, saying they weren’t prepared for us.”
Larick added that they had toured Bourbon Street nearly every night, visited Jackson Square, and spent time in the casino.
Unfortunately, Larick will not be able to see the Buckeyes take on the Ducks in the National Championship game on Jan. 12 due to his work schedule but Seiber will be there to root on his alma mater.
“As we were watching the game and there were five minutes left, we realized we were going to win,” Larick explained. “So, we left the game to go straight back to the hotel to book Dallas before the prices jumped.”
Photos from Keller’s, Tea’s, Larick’s, and Carolyn Helbert’s trips to the Sugar Bowl and the Big Ten games can be viewed here: http://crawfordcountynow.com/photos/fans-celebrate-osu-football-in-the-post-season.