Krenzel unsentimental about Fiesta return

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Craig Krenzel will end his Ohio State career on the same field on which he directed the Buckeyes to the national championship in one of college football greatest games.

Do not expect him to get all teary-eyed, though, when he takes the field against Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl on Friday night. Molecular genetics majors are not a sentimental lot. He just aims to win, something he almost always has done.

"I haven't taken a whole lot of time to dwell upon last year," Krenzel said. "Right now, last year means nothing. All of what happened last season was irrelevant."

Tell that to Ohio State fans who saw Krenzel lead the Buckeyes to a 31-24 double-overtime victory over Miami to give the Buckeyes the national championship in last season's Fiesta Bowl. Krenzel completed just seven passes in 21 attempts, but one came on fourth-and-14 in the first overtime. He ran for 81 yards, and was named the game's offensive MVP.

Krenzel has never been one to roll up impressive statistics, except for one. Ohio State is 23-3 in games he has started.

"Craig's just one of those guys," coach Jim Tressel said. "He's always going to be there for his teammates. He's going to do the right things on and off the field. He's going to do the best he possibly can, no matter what his body feels like."

"That kind of leadership, people are going to follow, because they know what he's putting into it. That's why he's been so successful."

That winning attitude is carrying itself right up to his last collegiate game against a Kansas State team that is coming off a stunning rout of then-No. 1 and undefeated Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game.

"What little I've thought about it is that it's kind of the end of one era," Krenzel said of his last game as a Buckeye. "It's been a great time, but life moves on."

He will miss the camaraderie the most.

"The best thing about college football, hands down, is you've got a team of guys from all different parts of the country, from all different backgrounds," Krenzel said. "All these guys come together and you would think that all the guys on our team have been friends since we were real little."

Through Krenzel's career, the Ohio State offense has been just good enough to help the powerhouse Buckeyes' defense succeed. Unlike the double-barreled Kansas State attack of Darren Sproles and Ell Roberson, Ohio State doesn't do many spectacular things. They just win.

"That's all that matters," Kansas State safety Rashad Washington. "Even though they don't get a lot of credit, they've found ways to win games. They do whatever it takes to win games."

Krenzel is as smart as he is tough. College sports information directors named the fifth-year senior the all-academic player of the year. But it doesn't take a genius to know how important it is for him, and his team, to go out a winner.

The Buckeyes were clobbered at Michigan in their final regular-season game. They have never lost two in a row with Krenzel at the controls.

"When you're young like we are, you're always looking forward," Krenzel said. "You have your whole life to look back on these years. We don't want 30 years from now to look back on this year and say 'Oh, we were reminiscing on the year before and we didn't have as good a year as we wanted."'