Dashing their demons

OSU's perfect season ends decades of frustration

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The stadium had long-since emptied and the scoreboard gone black, but remnants of what had taken place remained intact hours after Ohio State’s Fiesta Bowl-clinching 14-9 victory over Michigan.

The distant roar of screams and car horns echoed from High Street to the Olentangy. Large patches of the Ohio Stadium turf were there no longer. And a sloppy heap of discarded shoes, hats, gloves and bottles lay behind the south end zone, where fans had made their postgame descent on to the field.

These people weren’t just celebrating a victory, a championship and a berth in the biggest bowl game.

For them, it had to be almost like experiencing an exorcism.

Thirty-four years since their team's last national title, just two since the start of yet another post-Woody Hayes era, students could hug and the band could play Carmen, Ohio, and linebacker Cie Grant could hold an enormous bag of Tostito's finally knowing what it feels like when it can't get any better.

But only after one more last-minute scare to join all the others that made up this 13-0 season.

"When Will [Allen] made that last catch," said safety Mike Doss, referring to the final-play interception that sealed the deal, "I just started crying.

"We always said when it was our turn we were going to play for a national championship. We had faith. No matter if it came down to the last second, we were going to make the play like we did today."

Doss is among the few Buckeyes old enough to know what it truly means for Ohio State to be playing for the national championship.

He arrived in Columbus under the watch of former coach John Cooper, a man whose 13 teams were known for producing oodles of victories and oodles of NFL talent but nothing to show for it on the national stage. Too often when the stakes were at their highest, the Buckeyes played themselves right out of the championship.

In 1995 and '96, two dominant, previously undefeated OSU teams lost to inferior Michigan clubs by doing things completely out of character with their season to date: A previously stout rushing defense giving up 300 yards to Tim Biakabatuka in '95; a previously punishing offense coming up empty in '96.

For the first half Saturday, it appeared as though the Michigan demon had struck yet again. Here were the Wolverines, controlling the clock and racking up chunks of yardage against a defense no one had been able to run on all year. Here was Wolverines QB John Navarre finding one open receiver after another against the Buckeyes’ rock-solid secondary.

In the end, though, OSU prevailed just the way it had all season, coming up with the most unlikely of clutch plays to win its sixth game by a touchdown or less. They included Maurice Hall’s go-ahead touchdown on the Buckeyes’ first option play of the year; Brandon Schnittker’s 15-yard catch -- only his second of the season -- to get the drive going; Darrion Scott’s strip of Navarre on the Wolverines’ second-to-last drive; and Allen’s interception to end it.

“We’ve got a lot of heart, a lot of character,” said Doss. “I think the play of the season might have been that fourth-and-one [touchdown] pass to [Michael] Jenkins against Purdue that won the game for us. That’s what this team is all about.”

Was there talk of a national title in Columbus prior to the season? Sure. However, it mostly revolved around 2003.

Second-year coach Jim Tressel certainly had shown signs of greatness, first by winning at Michigan in his rookie season and then by recruiting the most heralded class in school history last winter. But realistically, no one thought OSU would improve from 7-5 to 13-0.

At least not outside its locker room.

No question, these Buckeyes take on the persona of their head coach, whose unbreakable confidence was groomed by a family of football minds and is not unlike that of Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops', minus the cockiness.

Doss believed in Tressel enough to forsake certain NFL riches and return for his senior season, as a newspaper clip attached to his shoulder pads Saturday reminded him.

Others simply appreciated how they couldn’t have done it without him.

“He’s like no other coach in the way he can bring a team together to focus on one collective goal while putting their individual goals aside,” said fellow safety Donnie Nickey. “He makes you realize what’s really important -- like this feeling I have right now.”

No matter whom the Buckeyes play in the Fiesta Bowl, rest assured there will be a sea of scarlet in Tempe for New Year’s. The largest university in the country has churned out years and years of graduating classes, not to mention gridiron heroes from Archie Griffin to Eddie George, all waiting for the day when OSU would return to the level it enjoyed under Hayes.

In a news conference following the game, Fiesta Bowl president John Junker congratulated his game’s newest invitee. A native of Akron, Ohio, he was among the many on the sideline who could hardly bear to watch as the final seconds ticked away slower and slower with every Michigan first down, and one of the first to join the on-field celebration when it was over.

To a man, the Buckeyes insisted they don’t care who they will face in the finale, though linebacker Matt Wilhelm could be goaded into saying No. 1 Miami looked “beatable” against Pittsburgh.

Truth be told, these last-minute masters will be heavy underdogs against the Hurricanes or nearly any other of the top contenders, save perhaps Washington State.

But a lot can happen in the nearly six weeks between now and game time. Ailing players like Maurice Clarett will get healthy. Tressel will draw up even more new plays to unveil at crucial situations.

And the state of Ohio will brace itself for one final exorcism.

Stewart Mandel covers college football for CNNSI.com.

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