When he was still a junior at Madison High School, Nic DiLillo remembers the emotions he felt as he watched his first game at Ohio Stadium.

“I got chills just sitting up there watching it,” he said. “I remember thinking about what it would be like to get the chance to be down there on that field.”

So the son of Christine and Tony DiLillo can only imagine what his emotions will be like when he hits the turf at the Horseshoe for the first time as a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes just shortly before noon on Saturday. He’ll be the first player from Madison High School to play for the Buckeyes since the late Steve Ruzich was on the defensive line for Wes Fesler and Woody Hayes in the 1950 and 1951 seasons.

“I’m pretty nervous,” the 6-foot-5, 237-pound tight end said. “I can’t even totally imagine what it’s going to be like to run out there in front of 105,000 fans. That crowd is going to be like 50 times over the crowds we played in front of when I was at Madison. It’ll be way bigger than it was even for games like Geneva or Riverside.”

His parents and his sister, Ashley, will be among the throng in the Horseshoe, but area fans not fortunate enough to have a ticket to the opener against Youngstown State University still will have a chance to see him on television, something that hadn’t been possible for many area cable customers until earlier this week. With the agreement reached between the Big Ten Network and Time Warner Cable, the game will now be shown locally on either Channel 77, 333 or 334.

DiLillo will be wearing No. 81 in the Scarlet and Gray. There’s even a chance he might see some action, since he is listed No. 3 on the Buckeyes depth chart at tight end behind fifth-year senior Rory Nicol and junior veteran Jake Ballard. That has been made possible, in part, because of the move of fifth-year senior Brandon Smith of Euclid to fullback.

Even if he doesn’t get into the action, DiLillo is scheduled to dress for the game. And he’s been advised by tight ends coach John Peterson to be ready for anything.

“Coach Peterson told me to come ready to play,” the two-time Division II All-Ohio selection said. “He told me, ‘You’re only one play away from being on the field.’”

That means an injury to either Ballard or Nicol could thrust DiLillo into the lineup. His work ethic in practice since the Buckeyes began fall practice in early August has caught the attention of the Buckeye coaching staff.

“Nic’s been doing a really good job,” OSU offensive coordinator Jim Bollman, a Harbor High School graduate, said. “He has worked really hard.”

In fact, Bollman said area fans might not recognize DiLillo if they saw him today. Bollman said DiLillo is a much bigger physical specimen now after a hard summer of weight training under the tutelage of strength and conditioning coach Eric Lichter than he is listed at in the OSU media guide.

“Last year, (Madison) almost used him as a wide receiver,” Bollman said. “He’s up to close to 250 pounds now. In a lot of programs, the way he’s built up his body, he might be considered for use as an offensive tackle. He’s turned into a totally different kind of player.”

The coach likes the youngster’s work ethic.

“Nic’s a very intelligent young man,” Bollman said. “He’s really caught on to our system well. I think he’s going to be a real asset for us.”

DiLillo said he has also got in some work as a blocker on the field-goal unit, but if he were to play, it would most likely be at tight end.