Article on Fox
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/9572393.htm?1c
Posted on Fri, Sep. 03, 2004 <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" align="right"> <tbody><tr><td><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="250"><tbody><tr><td><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td align="left" class="adlabel"> <script language="JavaScript1.1"> _krdDartInc++; document.write('<SCRIPT LANGUAGE=\"JavaScript1.1\" SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/mercurynews.sports/sports;kw=center6;c2=sports_homepage
os=center6;group=rectangle;tile='+_krdDartInc+';ord='+_krdDartOrd+'?"><\/SCRIPT>'); </script><script language=\"JavaScript1.1\" src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/mercurynews.sports/sports;kw=center6;c2=sports_homepage
os=center6;group=rectangle;tile=2;ord=1094274477417?"></script>
<noscript>
</noscript> </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> </tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
Fox continues tradition at Ohio State
[size=-1]BY BRIAN WINDHORST[/size]
[size=-1]Knight Ridder Newspapers[/size]
<!-- begin body-content -->
COLUMBUS, Ohio - (KRT) - He denies it, in fact laughs at the mere suggestion.
But he's wrong and it's all over his face. His demeanor is too calm with a dozen microphones circling his head like a halo, his eyes too set, his verbiage all too much like the coachspeak he has swallowed for years. Then, as he touches his chin in mimicked thought, the band wrapped around his left ring finger is the final affirmation.
Dustin Fox is an old man.
He confidently assures all who will ask that he's almost always in bed - with his wife - by 11. He has made 28 consecutive starts at Ohio State, making him just as much as fixture in the new Buckeyes era as a Jim Tressel sweater vest. He has gone from being perceived as a weak link at cornerback to a national champion, an All-Big Ten performer, and an unabashed team leader.
"I don't feel old, especially because I feel like I just got here," said Fox, who will make it start No. 29 in a row Saturday when the Buckeyes open with Cincinnati.
"But I guess I have seen quite a few people come and go."
Last week, Fox's teammates voted him to be one of the team's captains. He's the fourth member of his family - including uncles Ken Kuhn, Mark Stier and Tim Fox - to hold that honor. His brother and fellow GlenOak star, Derek, was a game captain during his senior season at Penn State.
Indeed, he's still a month shy of birthday No. 22 and been married only a few months to high school sweetheart Nicole Troyer, but he's not just another kid running around wearing scarlet and gray. He has seen the entirety of the Tressel era at Ohio State, playing in each of the 39 games since he and the head coach arrived on campus.
"Being a captain is a big responsibility, you have lead on and off the field sure, but you have to do everything right all the time," Fox said. "Guys are looking at you for an example. Your responsibility is to show them how to do things right."
That, perhaps, is his greatest value. In the past four years the Buckeyes have experienced plenty of success on the field and plenty of legal trouble off of it.Fox has been a model citizen.
"Dustin is the kind of person who leads without having to make a speech," Tressel said. "He sets an example that our players know to follow."
Of course, that could be said about a fifth-year walk-on, too. The reason that it flies with Fox is because he has worked hard to improve himself. He plays the boundary corner - the one closest to the sideline. That gives him less ground to cover, but also requires him to react faster to quick routes run to that side.
He was often picked on early in his career, one of the worst secrets in the Big Ten. He has seven career interceptions, the biggest of which came against Miami in the Fiesta Bowl two years ago. He has seen his fair of failures, too.
Nonetheless, he has persevered. Last season, no Buckeyes defender spent as much time on the field as he did. He led the team with 55 solo tackles and he was named second team All-Big Ten. That fact wasn't put up in lights with the likes of Will Smith, Chris Gamble, Tim Anderson, or Darrion Scott competing for attention, but it did signify just how far Fox had come.
"If you're going to play at Ohio State and you're going to play cornerback, you're going to have to have a short memory," Fox said. "The bar is set very high for me now, so I know I have to live up to it."Ginn to go both ways
Tressel said this week that speedster Ted Ginn Jr., the jewel of last year's recruiting class out of Cleveland Glenville, will likely see time on offense and defense Saturday. He has spent about 20 percent of his practice time running routes as a wide receiver and is also on the second team in the secondary, his true position. He might return punts, too.
Turano wins job
A former transfer who just became a scholarship player last week will replace Ray Guy Award winner B.J. Sander. Fifth-year senior Kyle Turano won the starting punter job over fellow senior Josh Huston after practice Tuesday. The two entered this week neck and neck for the job. There's been an unusual amount of attention paid to the race because Tressel considers the punt the most important play in football and because Sander and All-American Andy Groom set a standard.
Injury report
Medina graduate Mike Kudla, who scared the team when he had to go to the hospital with a neck injury suffered in practice earlier this preseason, will start at defensive end Saturday. The injury caused him to miss a week of practice. Fullback Branden Joe (ankle) is doubtful. Massillon graduate and wide receiver Devin Jordan (broken ankle) will be out an extended period.
---
