Once, upon a time.  It has to begin that way doesn’t it?  Any description of the 2002 Buckeyes football team will forever be categorized in the fairy tale genre of literature.  In what may have been the greatest sporting event yours truly has ever witnessed, in a setting in which the Buckeye fans converted  a neutral field into a cathedral of true believers, this Ohio State team pulled off what was thought to be a huge upset to win college football’s ultimate prize.  How could there have been more drama?  They beat the defending champions, who went down as great champions should – fighting valiantly with their last breath.  Everyone(at least those within earshot of Trev Alberts and Mark May) had heard why the Buckeyes would not win or even threaten the mighty Hurricanes.  We all saw the game, and we know the outcome.  How then, in the name of the Brothers Grimm, did the impossible happen?

 

            Now that the Hurricanes have been down-graded to a tropical depression, let’s try to figure out how this happened.  There are many reasons.  This OSU team was more than the Little Engine That Could.  A lot more.  Defense wins championships.  Everyone has heard that, the Fiesta Bowl proved it…..Again.  The Ohio State defense was better, faster and hit harder than anyone the Hurricanes had faced.  One has to wonder how the Hurricanes would have held up if they played a Big 10 schedule.  Ohio State had only one turnover (when you lose the ball and get it back before the play is over, it doesn’t count). Miami had five.  Cie Grant is a human missile when blitzing.  Matt Wilhelm is simply the best linebacker in college football, bar none.  The OSU defensive line simply dominated the trash-talking and overrated Miami offensive line. Maybe the butt- pinching tactic of Mr. Romberg was not so much a ploy to get opponents off their game as it was a demonstration of his sexual tendencies. The Buckeyes kept Miami under control on both offense and defense for the entire game.  Miami’s much-hyped speed advantage never showed up.  The longest play from scrimmage was a Krenzel to Gamble pass.  Andre Johnson is still out there in the desert trying to shake Chris Gamble.   Ken Dorsey, following Wilhem’s hit, is still answering telephones that aren’t ringing.

The much-maligned OSU offensive line simply got the job done.  They far out-played their talkative counterparts on the Miami O-line.  They gave Krenzel much better protection than what was afforded Dorsey, and allowed Krenzel to be the game’s leading rusher.  Craig Krenzel simply wins football games.  Wins all of them.  Mark Dantonio is the best defensive coordinator in the nation.  Jim Tressel and staff manage a football game better than any staff in the country. The Tressel method may drive us crazy at times, but think about this.  In 26 games at OSU we have never been out of a game.  In the five losses in 2001 we had opportunities to win each of them late in the game.    Putting your team in position to win, no matter who the opponent; now that is  great coaching.  Last but not the least are the Buckeye fans.  Buckeye fans love their team and show it - LOUDLY.  The Buckeye Nation took over Tempe all week and on Friday night in Sun Devil Stadium they gave the Buckeye players an overwhelming home field advantage.  Ohio State, the team nobody thought would win, found themselves surrounded by 70,000 scarlet and gray loyalists who believed they could not lose.

 

So as much as the Cane fans want to deny this, the best team won.  The Buckeyes out hit the Canes, they played with more heart and were much more of a TEAM.  But simply put, the Buckeyes were a far better football team than most “experts” thought and Miami was not quite the overwhelming force some imagined them to be.   There was no talent gap. Sorry Mr. Winslow II, you did not beat yourself.  The Buckeyes beat you up physically and beat you on the scoreboard. Ohio State forced Miami to play Big Ten football in the desert.  All the southern teams enjoy the home-climate advantage during bowl season.  It is the northern teams who most figure out how to win in the cold and wind of a Columbus or Ann Arbor in November. Then they must retool their weapons to fit the heat of the bowl season.  Does anyone think the Canes could have come into Columbus in November and stayed on the field with the Buckeyes?

 

So as it turns out the experts were wrong.  The king is dead.  Long live the king