Nick Mangold Looks Back on OSU Career – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 31, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. – It will be a bitter sweet Fiesta Bowl Monday for Nick Mangold. The Ohio State senior center and co-captain has immensely enjoyed his third trip to the Valley, but he knows it will not only be his last BCS game, but his last time to suit up in the scarlet and gray.
As the game draws near, so does the end of Mangold’s career. When asked what he will miss most, Mangold did not reply with any of the 42 games he has helped the Buckeyes win during the last four years.
“More than anything I’ll miss being around my teammates on and off the field,” Mangold said. “There is nothing like the family we have here now.”
When it comes to specific games, Mangold pointed to three that stick out in his mind – all three of which he listed for very good reasons.
“First, the national championship game here in 2002,” Mangold, who was a true freshman that season but played most of the title game against Miami, said. “That was an unbelievable experience. Then the past win over Michigan. Beating them up in Ann Arbor was great and I’ll hold onto that forever. And third the Illinois game my freshman year. That was the first game that I got significant playing time.”
A win Monday over Notre Dame would put Mangold and his senior class in rare company. It would mark the 43rd win for the class, which would tie the school record for wins over a four-year period with the 1998 seniors. It would also mark the second time Ohio State has won four consecutive bowl games and the first time to do it in four consecutive years.
As with most accomplishments of that magnitude, it is usually the first step of the journey that is toughest. Such was the case for Mangold, who had a very specific memory of the moment that unlocked the door to his journey that lay ahead.
“When Coach Bollman gave us our playbook my freshman year, that really opened my eyes,” Mangold said. “I had to understand that it wasn’t just about who I block, but who everyone else blocks, too, and how it all fits together.” With Mangold as the focal point of the Ohio State offensive line, that puzzle has fit together nicely.
### Go Bucks! ###
