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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
Buckeyes returning to site of 2004 loss
Ohio State stumbled in overtime its last trip to play Northwestern
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Talk about the lowest of lows ?
On Oct. 2, 2004, Ohio State walked into Northwestern?s Dyche Stadium ranked seventh in the country and naturally feeling warm and fuzzy about itself, unbeaten and apparently reloading successfully after two straight seasons at or near the top of major college football. The Buckeyes walked out having absorbed a 33-27 overtime loss, their first loss to the Wildcats since 1971.
So much for laurels.
"I vividly remember walking off that field and a fan screaming, ?Overrated!? " Ohio State safety Brandon Mitchell said. "He was just running past me screaming ?Overrated!? "
So did Mitchell take him out?
"No, I did not take him out," Mitchell said. "I had my head down. In a situation like that, you?ve got to lick your wounds like a dog. When you?ve been beat, you?ve been beat. It was tough, though."
It?s germane to today because the Buckeyes (10-0, 6-0) stand No. 1 in the country, favored at Northwestern (3-7, 1-5) by 23 points and still they have something driving them in this game: the memory of 2004.
"We know that no matter how good we think we?re playing, or how good things are going for us, we know that any team on any given day can be knocked off," senior defensive tackle David Patterson said. "That?s why we just try to stay humble and work hard."
Forget Vince Lombardi. Maya Angelou put it best:
History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived,
however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
The funny thing is, in what has been a season filled with mostly one-sided wins, the Buckeyes have found blasts from the past that have served as significant rallying thoughts, Mitchell said. For example:
? On the trip to Texas, there was the memory of the Longhorns? fourth-quarter march to victory in Ohio Stadium in 2005 on their way to the national championship.
? In the opening Big Ten game against Penn State, there was the anguish the Buckeyes felt in their only other loss the previous year, to the Nittany Lions.
? In the first big Big Ten trip to Iowa, there was the memory of the Hawkeyes? 33-7 ambush there in 2004, the most lopsided defeat under coach Jim Tressel.
? Before the Michigan State game, they were reminded often of the way the Spartans upset the 1974 and 1998 Buckeyes when they were No. 1
? Before playing Minnesota, it was thrown in the defenders? face the way they had given up almost 600 yards of offense to the Gophers in 2005.
? Last week before the trip to Illinois, the players watched video of the Buckeyes? last trip there in 2002, when the Illini took the national championshipbound Buckeyes to overtime.
For three quarters or so last week, they seemed determined not to let history repeat itself. But in the fourth quarter, when Illinois cut the difference to 17-10 and just missed on an onside kick attempt, well, that just added compound interest to this week?s cause celebre.
"Any time you?re playing a team in the Big Ten, if you have played them a few years you?re always going to have a scare," Mitchell said. "That?s just because of how great the conference is.
"I think we lean on our past. We want to keep those things fresh in our minds so we know not to make the same mistakes."
Tressel isn?t against dredging up a skeleton or two, as long as "there is logical rationale behind it," he said. As long as it?s in the context of, " ?Hey, we want to be good.?
"This is 2006. It?s not ?98. It?s not ?74. It?s not 2004. We have enough reasons to want to be good. But when you add things that are logical, certainly that has to enhance your preparation."
Like today, the memory of getting beaten by a team for the first time in three decades ? that probably qualifies.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
New coaches feel at home at old schools
Fitzgerald takes advantage of Northwestern background
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Rob Oller
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Pat Fitzgerald, who is in first season as Northwestern coach, played for the Wildcats in the 1990s.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald no longer talks the talk of an 18-year-old, meaning that like many of us he mistakes R &B singer Ne-Yo for a Disney cartoon fish. But the 31-year-old still knows what it means to walk the walk.
Eleven years ago, Fitzgerald strolled the same path the Wildcats currently travel. Unlike other coaches who must make themselves familiar when landing on a new campus, Fitzgerald didn?t need directions on how to get from point A to point B.
"It helps being a Northwestern graduate, and not too far removed from not only the locker room but also walking down Sheridan Road and going from Patton Gymnasium down to the south end of campus," Fitzgerald said.
Included in that alumni package is the pressure of maintaining a program that has experienced more ups than downs in recent years under Randy Walker, who became the first coach in more than a century to guide the Wildcats to at least six wins four times.
When Walker died of a heart attack June 29, the university turned to Fitzgerald, who considers Northwestern his dream job.
Coaching at your alma mater, however, can also be a nightmare. Being an insider brings high expectations from fans who think the transition from old coach to new coach should be seamless.
Make no mistake that former Alabama quarterback Mike Shula is under the gun as coach of the struggling Crimson Tide. Likewise, Mark Snyder left Ohio State in 2005 to become coach at Marshall, where he played defensive back. Snyder has kept his critics at bay with three straight wins, but the Thundering Herd remains below .500 (4-5) this season after finishing 4-7 in 2005.
There are success stories as well, including Steve Spurrier, who won a national championship at Florida, where he was the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner. Former Tennessee offensive lineman Phil Fulmer won a national title in 1998 coaching the Vols, and West Virginia graduate Rich Rodriguez has the Mountaineers winning.
Earle Bruce played running back at Ohio State until 1951, when a knee injury ended his career, but he is better known for having coached the Buckeyes from 1979 to 1987.
Bruce knew that immediately following Woody Hayes would be a tough assignment, but coaching his alma mater was an opportunity he could not pass up.
"Following Woody was not a great, great thing, but timing is of the essence and when the job came open ? I took it," Bruce said, adding that alums benefit from knowing the ins and outs of the program.
"I know all the faults that go on, but the good always outweighs the bad. If you think about all the bad, then you probably shouldn?t take the job."
Losing on the field is only one pressure. Coaches returning to their alma mater also are expected to improve recruiting. Selling a program does tend to go easier at one?s alma mater, but the pressure not to embarrass the school from which you graduated also is stronger.
Joe Loth uses his experience as an Otterbein graduate to sell the program.
"Every school is different, as far as the experiences the kids have. I understand what they go through here on a daily basis," Loth said.
Often, those ties run deep. John Cooper won .715 of his games at Ohio State, and the Buckeyes twice finished the season ranked No. 2, but there were always complaints that he didn?t fit in as the outsider with the Tennessee twang.
Pittsburgh fans, meanwhile, cut Dave Wannstedt some slack because he is one of them, having played for the Panthers (1970-73) and having grown up in western Pennsylvania.
"His Pittsburgh background is very important in that part of the world," said Bill Curry, an ESPN analyst who left his alma mater, Georgia Tech, to coach at Alabama before moving on to Kentucky. "In some places, it doesn?t matter where you?re from, but there it does."
Fitzgerald has the Northwestern pedigree, which includes knowing that the Wildcats will not contend for the national championship most years. But Fitzgerald knows they can be competitive in the conference, because he saw it happen as a player.
"I know what it means to be a Wildcat, and all that goes with it," he said.
He also now knows that playing linebacker, a position he played when Northwestern won Big Ten titles in 1995-96, isn?t as easy as he made it look while becoming a two-time national defensive player of the year.
"When I came back here originally, when Randy gave me a chance to be the linebackers coach at 25, I really struggled with those expectations," Fitzgerald said, explaining that he thought Northwestern linebackers should have been able to do what he did on the field. "I had quickly forgotten how long it took me to become a starter here. Every day that you get out from taking that helmet off, you learn more that you have to teach these guys."
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Props to Doug Harris for getting this right. Numerous articles this week have stated that it's the 6th time tOSU has been 10-0, since the official site stated that in it's game preview this week. I can only think that the official site was not including the '54 and '68 teams, which didn't get their 10th win until the Rose Bowl.
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UpNorthBuckeye
Hall of Fame
How are the roads?? I'm working til noon, then heading out of TSUN for Worthington to watch the game with family. Brother has a nice 42inch flat screen.
Getting pumped for this one. Hoping JT unleashes the offense a little bit.
We need a 28 point third quarter lead before we call off the dogs!
My predictions:
Beanie, two touchdowns today.
Gonzalez, one touchdown receiving.
Roy Hall one TD reception.
Ginn, three good punt returns, 8 receptions, but no touchdowns.
Pittman, 19 for 115.
Troy, 18 of 23, 275 yards, two touchdowns, 40 yards rushing.
Zwick, 4 of 5, 75 yards.
OSU 31 NW 6
Go Buckeyes!
Getting pumped for this one. Hoping JT unleashes the offense a little bit.
We need a 28 point third quarter lead before we call off the dogs!
My predictions:
Beanie, two touchdowns today.
Gonzalez, one touchdown receiving.
Roy Hall one TD reception.
Ginn, three good punt returns, 8 receptions, but no touchdowns.
Pittman, 19 for 115.
Troy, 18 of 23, 275 yards, two touchdowns, 40 yards rushing.
Zwick, 4 of 5, 75 yards.
OSU 31 NW 6
Go Buckeyes!
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