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Motivation not a problem today
Ohio State's 16 seniors hoping to tie a school record for wins with 43
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
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TEMPE, ARIZ. - Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn called today's showdown with Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl ``the battle of the what-ifs.''
The junior from Columbus surmised that had the Irish (9-2) not lost by three points to No. 1 Southern California and the Buckeyes (9-2) not fallen by the same margin to No. 2 Texas, Notre Dame and Ohio State might be meeting for the national title.
But missing out on the ultimate prize doesn't mean the Buckeyes lack motivation for the 5:12 p.m. game in Sun Devil Stadium. Sixteen OSU seniors want to secure what they believe will be an enduring legacy if they can prevail in just the fifth game against the Irish.
A victory would be No. 43 since they arrived, tying the school record by one class in a four-year period. The 1998 seniors won 43, including twice against Notre Dame, from 1995-98. The 1997 and 1996 classes recorded 41 wins, while the 1975, '76, '96 and '97 seniors totalled 40.
``This is excellence,'' senior left guard Rob Sims said of the record. ``I think we all deserve it. We've worked hard and kept this thing together through the ups and downs of whoever or whatever.
``I see when older guys come back how people respond to them. I want all the guys I came in with to have a reunion and everybody will be like, `Man, that was the class.' ''
Senior free safety Nate Salley also has his heart set on No. 43.
``It's definitely something we want to get done,'' Salley said. ``It will be a testament to our hard work and everything we've tried to do for this university. That's something you can look back on for the rest of your life and nobody can take that away from you.
``We're the winningest class ever at Ohio State, or at least we're tied. There's been a lot of great players and great teams that have come through here. To say that would be a huge accomplishment.''
There will be more on their list of accomplishments. A national championship in 2002. Going 3-1 against Michigan. Three BCS bowl invitations. Big Ten co-championships in '02 and '05. A 4-0 bowl record, if they can vanquish the Irish.
It could have been all downhill from '02, when only center Nick Mangold and then-left tackle Sims started in the double-overtime victory over Miami in the national championship game.
Others such as Salley, linebackers Bobby Carpenter and A.J. Hawk, the 2005 Lombardi Award winner, and defensive end Mike Kudla saw action. They were too young to realize what happened in that Fiesta Bowl.
``Me and Maurice were sitting there kinda like, `Where's the fireworks? What's going on?' '' Sims said of then-freshman running back Maurice Clarett.
``It was so intense the whole game and it ended we won and it was great and we were running around crazy, then there was this dead period where we were in the locker room looking around. You would think I would have this outstanding feeling of joy. I was too young to know what I really had.''
Mangold was just as clueless.
``Being a freshman and never been to a bowl game and getting thrown into the national championship the first one you didn't really understand,'' Mangold said. ``As each year passes you realize more and more how special that time was.''
But after the championship came chaos: Clarett's suspension for receiving illegal benefits; an NCAA investigation; Clarett's charges of academic improprieties; his suit against the NFL and its draft eligibility rules and his eventual departure; current quarterback Troy Smith's two-game suspension (last year's Alamo Bowl and this season's opener) for accepting $500 from a booster.
But the majority of these seniors are Ohioans. They played together in so many all-star games the summer before they arrived that Mangold said it felt like they had an extra year together. They were unselfish, good people who refused to let each other down.
``We lost a couple guys and the way things happened, it could easily have ripped us apart,'' Carpenter said.
``If we'd have been a little weak maybe we would have fallen apart and things wouldn't have worked out the way they did. Our strong bond became even closer. We had something to prove.''
Clarett and injury-plagued linebacker Mike D'Andrea headlined the No. 2-ranked recruiting class in 2002. But even without them, these seniors lived up to the hype.
``I remember watching TV when we were all getting recruited and they said this was the second-best class in the country. I was really a part of something,'' Sims said.
``We came in here and for the most part backed it up. This is what we all wanted to happen and it kind of unfolded to be this great legacy we're leaving behind. I hope we set the bar high for the next group of guys they put together.''
. this senior class compairs well with the 98 one imo. while my dreams for them were a tad bigger than what they could provide, you can't argue with the success they have had. easily one of the most successful teams on the field in tOSU history. im really going to miss seeing them play.
