CNNSI.com - 2000 College Football Preview - CNNSI.com's Ohio State preview

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Ohio State Buckeyes

Columbus puts .500 nightmare behind

College Football: The New Century

'99: 6-6, 3-5 Big Ten

Coach

John Cooper (13th season, 103-39-4; 185-79-6 overall)

Key offensive players

Steve Bellisari, QB, Jr.
Superb athlete should benefit from his experience as a starter last season.

Reggie Germany, WR, Sr.
Reliable receiver caught team-high 43 passes last season.

Ken-Yon Rambo, WR, Sr.
The elusive Rambo, one of the fastest in school history, averaged 20.1 yards per catch last season.

Key defensive players

Rodney Bailey, DE, Sr.
The strong, quick end (6-3, 270) has shown a knack for making the big play.

Ivan Maisel's Player of the Century: Archie Griffin, RB, 1972-75
"Hard to match two Heismans. No one has."

Brightest Moment: The 1968 team won the consensus national championship with a 10-0 mark and rallied from a 10-0 deficit to beat USC 27-16 in the Rose Bowl.

Lowest Moment: Former coach Earle Bruce, who would be replaced by Cooper the following year after finishing 6-4-1, called losing to Indiana 31-10 in Columbus in 1987 the lowest moment in Ohio State football history. Who's to argue?

Nate Clements, DB, Jr.
Returning starter will take over for Ahmed Plummer as the cover corner. Hard hitter is the leading returning tackler with 90 stops last year.

Key newcomer

Adrien Clarke, OT, Fr.
Dominating big man (6-4, 325) progressed rapidly during his redshirt year and should spell second-year starter Henry Fleming.

Throwback player

Junior Jamar Martin is the protypical fullback who will grind out yardage and throw blocks. He's been compared to Buckeye great Jim Otis.

21st century player

Rambo is one of the fastest players in Ohio State history and has the flash to match the speed. He's been known to do his fair share of chirping on the field.

Fast Fact

The Buckeyes go into the 2000 season with a string of nine consecutive seasons in which they have produced at least one first team All-American.

Outlook

After winning 43 games from 1995 to 1998, the Buckeyes finally fell off a bit last year after losing standouts like Joe Germaine, David Boston, Andy Katzenmoyer and Anoine Winfield from the '98 squad. The team responded with a lot of finger-pointing, but that attitude appears to be much-improved now. "None of us are happy with last year," Cooper said. He is optimistic after seeing improvements in winter conditioning and spring practice, especially from Bellisari, who should improve on his 45.1 completion percentage. He has a pair of supremely talented receivers in Germany and Rambo. The Buckeyes also must replace tailback Michael Wiley, but speedster Derek Combs has shown promise. The defense returns most of its key players and should be more consistent up front and in the secondary.

-- Mark Ambrogi