January 18, 2025

In Evanston, hope left the building before Northwestern and Ohio State even started


It was over when the cars and trucks with Ohio plates started spilling down north Evanston side streets and waving $60 or more out of their windows to park on residents’ driveways and lawns. It was a done deal when Buckeyes superfan Big Nut looked around at all the scarlet and gray in a parking lot adjacent to Ryan Field, drew in a deep, satisfied breath and said to no one in particular, “Feels like home.” What’s the use when the game is sold out on a Friday night, but the atmosphere cries “surrender” before the opening kickoff? This is not meant to tear down Northwestern, which hosted No. 4 Ohio State in one of those college football contests everyone expects to go a certain way when one team is 1-4 and the other is an unbeaten superpower. It’s just hard as heck to deal with the Buckeyes — in…

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