 |
| |
|
 |
 |
Opposites attract Ohio State, Miami follow vastly different roads to successPosted: Friday January 03, 2003 10:16 AM
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Welcome to the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, college football’s ultimate contrast clash. Welcome to Ohio State vs. Miami, strength vs. speed, snow shovels vs. sunshine, "Script Ohio" vs. smoke machines. Welcome to a struggle for supremacy between one of the game’s all-time pillars vs. its unlikeliest of juggernauts, one that has risen over 20 years to become its most dominant force. “The main difference,” said Larry Coker, the head coach of Miami and a former assistant at Ohio State, “is they have 56,000 students, we have 9,300.” Indeed, in a sport traditionally ruled by huge athletic factories, it’s nothing short of remarkable that a small, relatively young private school like Miami -- lost amidst the many attractions of its own city, unable to sell out most home games, its facilities meager in comparison to many -- could even share the same stage with an institution like Ohio State and its nearly 100 years of history, its always-full 100,000-seat stadium and its unimpeded stranglehold over an entire state.
But since 1983, the Hurricanes have done far more than just share the spotlight; they’ve devoured it. Here they are, playing for the national championship for the ninth time in 20 seasons, having already won five of them. A sixth would move them into fourth place all time, behind only Alabama, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, despite those and most other programs getting about a 40-year head start. “To think back to the way it was in 1979,” said Miami assistant head coach Art Kehoe, a 23-year veteran of the program, “you would have to have been out of your mind to think any of this would happen.” The Hurricanes’ inherent advantage is their own backyard. The seemingly endless flow of football talent in Dade and Broward counties had been going elsewhere before the arrival of coach Howard Schnellenberger, who formed the roots of a dynasty that has withstood five different head coaches and NCAA probation. Miami's roster remains stocked with Floridians, but its recognition level allows it to go into California and steal quarterback Ken Dorsey, or pluck center Brett Romberg from Canada. Even Ohio State star Maurice Clarett, a home-grown Buckeye, admitted to briefly considering Miami because he liked the uniforms. “Other than perhaps Notre Dame, we are as ‘national’ as anybody playing football,” Coker said. “I think that the ‘U’ on the side of our helmet is as recognizable a symbol as there is in college sports.” So, too, are the Buckeye leaves on Ohio State’s distinctive gray helmets, but for entirely different reasons. It’s been a long time since the Buckeyes had to build anything but weight rooms. The backbone of their success was in place even before the legendary Woody Hayes began churning out championships in the ‘50s and ‘60s, as an entire state full of hard-working Midwesterners came to rally around the hard-nosed bruisers of the Big Ten. Generations of small-town prep stars grew up dreaming of one day donning the scarlet and gray. Even with the presence of the NHL’s Blue Jackets or the many pro teams of nearby Cleveland and Cincinnati, there’s no mistaking which team rules the roost in Ohio’s state capitol. While Miami’s departure for Tempe last week was largely a non-event, fans lined the streets of Columbus in 25 degree weather for the team’s cavalcade to the airport; local news choppers beamed the images live. “We’re like a pro team,” said Buckeyes linebacker Matt Wilhelm, an Ohio native. “The people have such an interest and love for Ohio State, up or down, they are with you on Saturdays. They’re very knowledgeable about the game. I wouldn’t have been able to see myself go anywhere else.” While the interest has helped to sustain a highly successful program throughout the years, the Buckeyes have fallen off the national radar somewhat from the Woody days, their last of four national titles coming back in 1968. There is a rabid desire among the thousands of Ohio State fans who have descended on Tempe -- their red sweatshirts dwarfing Miami green on the streets -- to finally remove the chip from their shoulders. “The impact of winning a national championship is almost everlasting in Columbus,” Buckeyes safety Donnie Nickey said. “They still talk about 1968.” To do so, though, will require Ohio State pulling off one of your more epic upsets. It’s not just that Miami is in the midst of a historic run of 34 consecutive victories. Or that the Buckeyes had to survive one close call after another just to get here. The reason most of the country puts little or no faith in Ohio State little runs at the very heart of the contrasts on display Friday night. To them, old-fashioned smash-mouth football of the variety Ohio State employs is considered out of vogue, replaced by the sleekness and explosiveness that has come to characterize teams like Miami. Besides Michigan’s split crown in 1997, no Big Ten team has won college’s ultimate prize since the Buckeyes’ last in 1968. Florida teams, meanwhile, have played for the title in 13 of the past 16 seasons, winning seven of them. “I was one of the fastest kids coming out of high school [in Chicago],” said Miami running back Jarrett Payton, “but down in the South, speed is different. I came in and saw guys like Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, Roscoe Parrish, guys that blow by you like, ‘Where’d they go?’ “Plus, up there, they think we’re not tough in the South, but they’re almost the same. It might be as cold, but we run the ball, we hit hard.” Welcome to the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, two similarly successful programs, two vastly different approaches. Only one will reign supreme Friday night. Stewart Mandel covers college football for CNNSI.com. Got a comment, question or scoop for Stewart? Click here.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
