COLUMBUS — Of all the hostile venues for teams to visit in the Big Ten, none has quite the rep of Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium, Ohio State’s next destination.
The denizens of the 91-year-old structure have been known to pelt opposing players with batteries or even marshmallows stuffed with nickels. So while the band is rocking to the “Bud Song” or the crowd is pogoing to “Jump Around” between the third and fourth quarters, visiting teams become acutely aware of the fans sitting almost on top the field.
And since the Buckeyes and 18th-ranked Badgers don’t kick off until after dark Saturday, the fans will have an entire day to get up for the game.
Ohio State safety Anderson Russell said he had been schooled on the Camp Randall fans by former teammate Brandon Mitchell.
“I’m expecting a wild, crazy atmosphere and then on top of that the game’s going to be at night and that amplifies it even more,” Russell said.
The Buckeyes don’t exactly have history on their side when it comes to road games in Madison.
In their last visit to Camp Randall, the Buckeyes lost 17-10 in 2003.
Wisconsin has won its last 16 games at Camp Randall, the second-longest home streak in the nation (Oklahoma, 21). The Badgers have also won 11 consecutive night games and 21 of the last 22. They have also beaten the Buckeyes the last two times both teams were ranked.
When Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was an assistant under Earle Bruce in the early 1980s, he remembers how the whole Camp Randall press box swayed from the rowdy crowd’s energy.
None of the current Buckeyes played the last time the Buckeyes visited Madison, so all of the information the players are getting is anecdotal. About all they’ve heard is that the crowd is louder than a 747 taking off.
The volume might particularly be a problem because Ohio State starts freshmen at quarterback (Terrelle Pryor) and at center (Mike Brewster). The decibel level can create havoc for an offense checking off or into a play.
“Every Thursday, we practice with noise, understanding that if we’re playing at home even, we’re probably not going to be able to hear and that the focus is going to have to be visual signals,” Tressel said.
A visiting team can quiet the crowd if it takes command early. But Wisconsin knows better than most teams what can happen if the momentum swings in a game that seems to be in hand.
The Badgers led 19-0 against Michigan last Saturday, only to have several big second-half plays energize the crowd at The Big House. The Wolverines ran off 27 consecutive points, then hung on for a 27-25 victory.
Turnovers, penalties and mental errors make it especially hard for a team in an unfriendly environment.
“Any mistake you make can get the crowd back in the game and that can help out the home team,” Russell said. “So we can’t afford any mistakes.”

Buckeye periscope

BUCKEYES BUZZ: WR Brian Robiskie was blocking downfield and had his back turned to the play when TB Beanie Wells leaped over a potential tackler on a big gainer in Saturday’s win over Minnesota.
Robiskie knew Wells had carried the ball, but all he heard was a loud roar from the crowd — as if someone had scored. So he asked Wells what happened on the play when they got to the sidelines.
“So I’m wondering, why’s everybody cheering and he was like, ‘You didn’t see? I just hurdled this kid.”‘ Robiskie said Tuesday. “I said, ‘What do you mean you hurdled a kid? You don’t do that.’ He was like, ‘No, no, no. You didn’t see it? I was like 8 feet in the air!”‘
Robiskie said he checked out the play later and there was no way Wells had that much clearance. As a matter of fact, he said Wells didn’t even leap as high as 6-foot-8, 312-pound offensive tackle Alex Boone had while celebrating a touchdown last season by leapfrogging over WR Brian Hartline.
“If you go back and look at the film of the Penn State game, where (Boone) jumps over Brian Hartline, he was a little bit higher than Beanie,” Robiskie said with a laugh.
COACHES’ AWARDS: Ohio State’s coaching staff singled out the following players for their play in the 34-21 win over Minnesota: SS Anderson Russell on defense, Robiskie on offense and LB Etienne Sabino on special teams.
Also receiving mention were the scout-team award winners: QB Joe Bauserman on offense; DL Garrett Goebel on defense; and RB K.C. Christian on special teams. LB James Laurinaitis was picked as the top front-seven player on defense. No award was presented to the top offensive lineman.
Sabino also was selected for the Jack Tatum hit of the week. There were four candidates for the award, including QB Terrelle Pryor for his forearm shot to a Minnesota DB in front of the Golden Gophers bench.
TRESSELESE: Coach Jim Tressel, on whether it’s refreshing to play an old-school Wisconsin offense instead of all the spread offenses now in vogue, taken from a transcript on Tuesday: “Well, hopefully our defense has had enough work against that over the course of the spring and the fall and the years and so forth that they understand what needs to be a little bit different when you play against different styles of offense and sometimes there’s a little bit of personnel shifting.
“Sometimes against the spread teams you might put your bigger defense ends inside and bring in your smaller defensive ends to run the field and all those things and maybe you go the opposite, I can’t even tell you, you’ll have to ask the defensive coaches what their plans are, but there’s a little bit of different needs by everybody, and will our guys look forward to it? I think there’s no question.”

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