- Lucas Mittman
Fall Saturdays in the Midwest are about time-honored traditions. Changing leaves, cooler weather, hot cocoa and a light grey sky all come to mind, but autumn in the Midwest is about one thing - college football. Small, sleepy cities like Columbus, Ohio, Ann Arbor, Michigan and State College, Pennsylvania transform into the epicenter of the sports universe on gameday. These college towns spring to life when up to 110,000 screaming football fans fill stadiums to their capacity. Stadiums, with iconic names like the Horseshoe, the Big House and Happy Valley, transform these universities into the beating heart of their state and the soul of a region which prides itself on how football serves as the fabric that binds its communities together. However, this season, we almost saw empty stadiums, sidelined players and local economies decimated as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the return to college football.
This sudden activation of the football season has not only created a spark in the general emotions of the towns around the teams, it has allowed for big name players to showcase various forms of activism. Back in August, many big name players from the ACC and BIG10 came together to call for the recently cancelled season to be reopened to a vote. They pointed to a mix of scientific and practical reasons as to why the season should continue on in amended fashion. Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields started a petition that gained over 300,000 signatures even though his twitter fan base consists of 156 thousand followers. He was joined by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and even though they are rivals on the field, the two biggest names in college football came together and were able to gather enough support for the season to be reopened. In an interview with former USC star and analyst Matt Leinart prior to Saturday’s game with Nebraska, Fields talked about how he was able to use his social following and platform to advocate for something he loves.
After a delayed start to the season, fans finally got to see the student-athletes of the Big Ten join the SEC, ACC and Big 12 conferences in returning to the field. And, so yesterday was no ordinary Saturday on the sports calendar. Yesterday was a step towards a return to normal for these athletes and the communities they represent. It allowed the players and their fan bases to forget, even if only for a long moment, the challenges of this past year and settle into an action-packed day of college football that showed the sports world why no college football season is, or can be complete without the pageantry, tradition and passion of the Big Ten.
With the Big Ten finally returning to action, it means there will be a major change in terms of which teams are in contention for the Bowl Championship Series playoff. Most analysts feel Clemson has been the undisputed favorite since last year’s national championship game, despite a 25-42 loss to Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers. This Clemson team is led by Heisman favorite Trevor Lawrence, an athletic, 6-foot-6 220 pound quarterback who, if things keep going poorly for the Jets and Giants, could end up in New York City next season. In week 5, Lawrence did not disappoint and led Clemson to a 47-21 win over Syracuse, an ACC team who has surprisingly played well against Clemson over the last several seasons. He threw his first interception of the season, but despite showing some resistance early on in the game, Syracuse was no match for Lawrence and his fellow Tigers.
However, with the return of the BIG 10 and perennial favorite, Ohio State, there is another serious contender in national championship hunt and the Heisman Trophy race. Justin Fields, the 6-foot-3 two-hundred-thirty-five pound, lightning-fast quarterback from Ohio State has been electric since he transferred to OSU from Georgia. Fields and Ohio State are the number 5 ranked team in the nation despite not having played a single game, a sign of the national respect this program has rightfully attained. The Buckeyes first game was played Saturday, October 24, against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. At halftime, Ohio State was leading 31-14 despite a slow start to the first half. However, Justin Fields had no cobwebs to shake off and he started the game by throwing an impressive 11 completions on 12 attempts. He threw for 178 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone. Once the game ended, Ohio State had routed Nebraska 52-17, with Justin Fields having completed 20-21 passes for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns. This put Fields alongside his fellow Georgia native, Trevor Lawrence, out as front-runners for the Heisman Trophy. These two men and their teams look to be destined to meet again later in the season and as any college football fan would expect, the University of Alabama and their long-time, Hall of Fame coach, Nick Saban, will also be joining them in the hunt for the National Championship. It should be no surprise that Clemson, Alabama, and Ohio State now sit atop the college rankings as the 1, 2, and 3 seeded teams.
Even though the drama on the field was as compelling as fans could hope for, it is what is happening off the field that continues to dominate the conversation. The return of college athletics has sparked some concern and worry for the safety of the student athletes, players, coaches and fans. Our very own Head of Athletics, Gus Ornstein, who played quarterback at another Big Ten school, Michigan State, had an interesting take on the return of college football. Ornstein wrote via email,
“I have concerns as to why they changed their mind and what was the guiding factor in them changing their minds - was it the pressure of everyone else playing? The financial reasons??”
He also wrote
“If I was in college today, I am not sure what I would be feeling, I am sure that I would be happy and excited to return to play and would be trusting of the decisions made by the school and the league that my health and safety is the top concern.”
Many people feel very similarly to Coach Ornstein due to the fact that these players are constantly traveling around their respected conferences and are playing against people whose family of friends might have been exposed to COVID-19. However, the communities surrounding these teams rely on football as a source of community pride and often financial stability - a fact that is in stark contrast to the amater (unpaid) status of the players. The concern that many, like Coach Ornstein, seem to have is whether the schools motivations are simply for the players to enjoy the game they love so much, or if the sizable sums of money the universities take in from TV networks for broadcasting games has had an impact on their decisions. It seems though, that the players don't mind the reasons why the conferences decided to play, they just are happy to have the game they love back in their lives. And for players like Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, this season has implications for them far beyond college. Both young men are keenly aware how their on the field play will impact where they are picked in the next NFL draft and that the financial implications of those decisions could be life changing for them and their families.
Even though this college offseason had its challenges and the spread of COVID-19 remains a constant focus, yesterday was a day for celebration. Whether your team won, or lost, that was besides the point. We are all winners, because yesterday was proof that life can and must move forward as we fight the spread of COVID-19 and it was an opportunity to grab the jersey of your favorite team, flip on the TV, settle into the couch and forget about everything else. Hopefully the college athletes can stay safe and we look forward to the day the athletes of Fieldston can join them in returning to the field of play. That’s another time honored tradition we are all undoubtedly rooting for.
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