COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is aware of all the snickering taking place behind his back, directed at his team’s miserable failures in recent big games.
It seems most college football fans and media observers consider the Buckeyes a bunch of overrated chokers who cannot compete with the nation’s best teams. They’ve come to that conclusion because the Buckeyes have played poorly in four nationally televised games during the past three seasons.
But Tressel said he doesn’t feel any personal pressure to deliver a win when the Buckeyes take on Texas in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 5.
“If we do, that will be wonderful,” he said during the team’s bowl preparations. “If we don’t, that will be disappointing, but it won’t change my life. You might write some bad things about me, but I’ll get over it. So, no, I don’t feel a pressure.”
The players are well aware that most of America has little respect for them.
“We’re always a great program and we have great talent,” safety Kurt Coleman said of the public perception of the Buckeyes. “The last two years, we haven’t shown up the way we needed to. I think this year it’s a whole new team.”
The case against the Buckeyes begins with the 2006 national title game, when Florida dominated in every dimension while pounding Ohio State 41-14. With a cocky, talented lineup that included Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith, the Buckeyes were actually favored going into that landslide loss.
Then came last year, when the Buckeyes muddled through a mediocre schedule, losing their final home game to Illinois. They were No. 8 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings after that setback, but then all the tumblers started to fall into place for them. As one team after another in front of them lost, they climbed until they were No. 1 in the final BCS rankings, earning a spot opposite a two-loss LSU team in the national championship game.
However, in the BCS title game the Buckeyes fell 38-24 in a contest that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score might indicate. They led 10-0 and scored the final touchdown, meaning they were outscored 38-7 the rest of the game.
The Buckeyes enter the Fiesta Bowl as an afterthought. Their opponent is a team many consider the best in the country but which was deprived of a shot at the national title because of the vagaries of the BCS.
No wonder oddsmakers have tabbed the Longhorns as an 8 1/2-point favorite.
The Buckeyes say they are tired of all the putdowns and slights.
“If you have enough people saying negative things and they’re trying to back you down in a corner or make you feel small, I think that is when animals or people alike are dangerous,” Ohio State punter A.J. Trapasso said.
