COLUMBUS — As I watched Nate Ebner wrap his black-gloved right hand around the wooden staff of an American flag and lift it high above the heads of all his amped-up Ohio State teammates who were waiting to follow him onto the field at Ohio Stadium Saturday as some 105,000 fans stood and cheered, I thought back 10 years ago to the event that triggered this moment.

I remembered standing in the smoldering ruins of Ground Zero — where just three days before terrorists had used hijacked jetliners to take down the twin towers of the World Trade Center and kill more than 2,700 innocent people — and watching another hard-nosed defender lift the American flag.

He was a grim-faced fireman from New Jersey and he took the small, tattered flag someone had given him and tied it to the ladder of a New York City fire truck that had been half flattened by steel beams from the tumbling South Tower.

I remember the acrid, burned-rubber smell of the smoke that got in your clothes, your eyes, your memory. All around me, pulverized concrete dust, as thick as snowdrifts in some places, covered everything.

The sounds of police sirens and jack hammers filled the air. So did the occasional blare of a klaxon horn that would send everybody scrambling for cover as the towering Millennium Hotel, now pockmarked with shrapnel, began to sway and high above us some more of its huge windows shattered and sent glass shards raining down.

I had just come from the deserted Brooks Brothers store on Church Street where racks of dust-coated suit coats had shared space with bodies right after the attack when the place was turned into a makeshift morgue.

As I talked to rescue workers and some of the legions of everyday citizens of every ethnicity who were working frantically on the massive rubble piles — still hoping to find some sign of life — I remember how I struggled to wrap my mind around what had happened there.

But one thing was already clear: Our lives, our country as we knew it, had just changed forever.

Today we’re still trying to figure much of that out and even our old respites aren’t the same. Certainly the sports world — where I spend so much of my time as a reporter — helped many with their healing afterward, but even the athletic arena doesn’t offer quite the carefree experience it once did.

Outside Ohio Stadium Saturday, Cannon Drive was barricaded as it is every game day with well-positioned dump trucks that enabled security men with bomb sniffing dogs to check vehicles. Policemen were positioned atop the stadium’s north towers and getting inside the Shoe meant first having bags checked and your person patted down.

Yet as invasive as the procedures may be, there is reason for such diligence. According to ESPN, just before he died Osama bin Laden was said to be talking about flying jets in U.S. sporting events.

So with today’s 10th anniversary of 9/11 on the horizon, folks at Ohio Stadium Saturday were intent on protection ... and remembrance.

Before the game with Toledo, the Ohio State marching band formed an eagle crest on the field as it played America the Beautiful. At the end of the first quarter, 22 first responders were led out onto the field as the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

The Buckeye players all wore 9/11 decals on the back of their helmets and before the start of the game, the flag-carrying Ebner sprinted the length of the field with his teammates and head coach Luke Fickell right behind him.

Ebner said he didn’t know why his coaches chose him for the honor, but it’s not tough to figure out.

As much as any Buckeye, he embodies the fighting spirit of the day. And sadly he also has an understanding of the profound loss so many experienced on Sept. 11, 2001.

Three years ago — on Nov. 14, 2008 — his beloved 53-year-old father, Jeff Ebner, was murdered in Springfield when he surprised burglars at the family salvage yard.

“I think about my dad every day,” said Ebner, who has a tattoo on his side paying tribute to his father and also wears a black bracelet that says “Finish Strong” — his dad’s manta.

“My dad was everything to me,” he said. “A lot of the good things I have as far as character I got from him. And I know he’s still with me so I’ve got to push myself to be my best.”

And he’s done just that.

He never played high school football. Like his dad, he was a rugby player, but then he decided to try to walk onto the Buckeyes during his second year in college. Now listed as a senior safety, he’s made his real mark on special teams and before this season he was awarded a scholarship.

A guy like that gains the respect of his teammates.

“Following Nate out there gave me chills, especially with the anniversary of 9/11 coming up (today),” 300-pound offensive tackle J.B. Shugarts said after the Buckeyes’ 27-22 win. “This was a way to honor the people who lost their lives that day and to pay tribute to those who defend our country and keep it free.”

Center Mike Brewster agreed: “Both my grandfathers are veterans. One fought in Korea, the other in World War II and I have his Air Force wings tattooed on my chest. He flew a B-24 in the European theater.

“And now I think about all those guys over there fighting, even though I don’t have the nerve to do it. What they do for all of us is awesome.”

Ebner thought of all that Saturday and he remembered his dad, as well.

“When you lose someone you love it can really devastate you,” he said. “But my dad wouldn’t be happy if I just sat around and moped and didn’t let myself become what I really could. He believed in standing up and being your best in tough times.”

And that is as good of a message as any to hang onto today.