An unbiased and even keeled preview of the 02 NCG.....

[JCoz]

Check out this preview of the OSU-UM NC game in 2002.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/200 ... -bowl-fans

The desert will be overrun with Ohio State fans. It will look like a Buckeyes home game. Miami fans will be outnumbered at least 5 to 1.

And you know what? It won't matter.

By the time the Fiesta Bowl is over, the scarlet on the shirts of the tens of thousands of Ohio State fans will match the color on their faces. The famous "Script Ohio" will look more like a "Scrapped Ohio." The traditional dotting of the "I" will be replaced by the burning of the game tape.

Ohio State's resurgence is a great story, but the story will end badly in the Arizona desert. The Buckeyes aren't going to come within three touchdowns of winning this game. Not with a quarterback who couldn't start for any of the five Division I-A teams in the state of Florida. The Buckeyes, bless their boring little Big Ten hearts, couldn't throw change into a tollbooth receptacle.

The Buckeyes run their offense to set up punts. Seriously. They punt, play phenomenal defense, get the ball back, then punt again -- this time a little deeper into enemy territory. This traditional field-position game might work against Michigan; it won't against Miami.

The Buckeyes of today play football like the Buckeyes of 30 years ago, when Woody Hayes said, "There are three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them ain't good."

Ohio State will find out that their old-school ways simply won't work against a program that wrote the book on new-age football. They will find out this isn't just a bowl trip; it's a trip into another sphere, another dimension.

[furls]

Nice read and good find. Reading that article really makes you realize how good that Miami team was. That seriously was one of the best teams in recent memory. (AND THE SWEATER VEST BEAT THEM)

[JCoz]

Someone found the next days article same author:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2003-01-04/sports/0301040214_1_miami-hurricanes-ohio-state-lost-a-game

I would have never believed it until I saw it. Miami, the big, bad Hurricanes, actually lost to a team that completed five passes in regulation Friday night. That's right, five passes. Somewhere in That Big Coaching Box in the Sky, Hayes and Bear Bryant were high-fiving each other.

The 'Canes, with all their pentium-powered offensive gadgetry, just aren't supposed to lose to a caveman team that is a throwback to college football's stone ages. I'm not sure, but I think Ohio State's quarterback was named Og. After the game, you half expected his postgame comments to consist of, "Fire good. Pass bad."

I swear I'm not making this up: Ohio State's most effective play of the game was the quarterback sneak. Really. But I guess you dance with one who brung ya -- even if she is ugly and has warts on her nose. When you have a smothering defense like the Buckeyes have, you can obviously get by on quarterback sneaks.

Not only did Ohio State force Miami into mistake upon mistake, they knocked Miami's two Heisman candidates -- Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee -- out of the game. Dorsey returned. McGahee may be seriously injured.

The only thing missing from this game was the battle fatigues. This was eerily like Miami's last national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl 16 years ago against Penn State. Remember that one? The undefeated and heavily favored Hurricanes showed up wearing camouflage fatigues and were upended by the Nittany Lions in the final seconds.

Ironically, Penn State only completed five passes in that game 16 years ago and took advantage of five Miami interceptions. Sixteen years later, Ohio State again forced Miami into five turnovers.

"I don't think they're as talented as we are," Miami tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. said. "But talent only takes you so far. They were a very disciplined team. Give them credit. They did the things they had to do to win."

[hermanfontenot]

I believe that the 2002 team is, to this day, underrated. People forget how dominant that team was early in the season when Clarett was healthy. They absolutely killed a very good Washington State team with MoC going for 230 yards. Had he been healthy all season I guarantee Miami wouldn't have been a 13-point favorite going into the Fiesta Bowl.

And the Buckeyes had some glaring advantages over Miami. They were superior in the kicking game, their defensive line matched up very well with Miami's offensive line, they were better coached and they played a much more difficult schedule (the Big Ten was very tough that season.) Play that game ten times, I really believe Ohio State wins AT LEAST five of them.

Even Buckeye fans underrate the 2002 team. Ask what Tressel's best team was and I'd wager more of them will say 2005 than 2002. They'll say about the 2002 team, "Well, they had great heart" or "all they did was win" or "they found a way to get it done." And all of those things are true, of course. But they were also really, really good. Better than people give them credit for even now.

[Squints]

Very surprised that there wasn't any sour grapes regarding the cal in the latter link, considering both links were written by the same person.


***-250th post!!!****

[jb]

Ask what Tressel's best team was and I'd wager more of them will say 2005 than 2002.

That's because 2002 was Coop's team coached by JT. Best of both worlds.

[FUDU]

I believe that the 2002 team is, to this day, underrated. People forget how dominant that team was early in the season when Clarett was healthy. They absolutely killed a very good Washington State team with MoC going for 230 yards. Had he been healthy all season I guarantee Miami wouldn't have been a 13-point favorite going into the Fiesta Bowl.

And the Buckeyes had some glaring advantages over Miami. They were superior in the kicking game, their defensive line matched up very well with Miami's offensive line, they were better coached and they played a much more difficult schedule (the Big Ten was very tough that season.) Play that game ten times, I really believe Ohio State wins AT LEAST five of them.

Even Buckeye fans underrate the 2002 team. Ask what Tressel's best team was and I'd wager more of them will say 2005 than 2002. They'll say about the 2002 team, "Well, they had great heart" or "all they did was win" or "they found a way to get it done." And all of those things are true, of course. But they were also really, really good. Better than people give them credit for even now.

I agree with you Herm in that the 2002 team was vastly under rated, even by our own, however I have a hard time saying they were definitely better than the end of the season 2005 team. I have no problem with somebody suggesting it as you are, b/c IMO it is a legit claim, I just see the 2005 O as way too balanced and explosive compared to the 2002 O.

IMO 2002 was one of the best defenses in college over the last 40 years, they were sick. The thing that has always struck me about it was the fact they were so good while IMO not having a stud LBer. I always thought Wilhelm was a bit over rated, good but not as good as most thought then or now. IMO one of the biggest reasons that D was so good was Dantonio himself, he just knew how to game plan and call a game so well with that talent he had to work with.

I'm also with you on the fact that if that game was played ten times OSU wins minimum 4 or 5, most people then and now still say Miami would win 7 or 8. That night OSU put a physical beating on the Hurricanes that most programs receive once every 15 years. Also to this day I still say that is the greatest college football game I've ever seen. Better than Boise/OK and way way better than Tex/USC.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I was at that 02 game, the arrogance of Miami fans was awe inspiring. I think alot of them were surprised we actually showed up. When they didn't put up 24 points in the first quarter, their mood changed, and when Willis McGahee had his knee blown up, they were starting to really worry. When Clarett stripped that ball I knew we were gonna win. Maybe the biggest play by an OSU player in my lifetime.

[Loo]

The two worst spots for real journalism are Orlando and Washington (only certain newspapers). I've seen several sports writers from those papers in those areas do their best to absolutely destroy objective journalism.

It really makes me sick.

[tired]

We don't belong on the same field as Miami. Quote from Winslow Sr.