Hartline's role questionable
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - After committing an apparent rules violation in the days leading up to the game, wide receiver Brian Hartline's starting position in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl might be in jeopardy.
Hartline, who leads the team with 479 receiving yards this season, has played in every game during his three-year stint with the Buckeyes. According to Tressel, that could change tonight.
"We may have some discussions as we go [about Hartline]," Tressel said. "But for the moment, Brian Hartline, the only thing I would say is that he is going to have a great part of this football game."
According to Columbus Dispatch reports, the violation might have stemmed from a missed curfew on New Year's Eve.
Utah national champions? Not so fast…
Following Utah's 31-17 win over heavy favorite Alabama in the Sugar Bowl Friday, speculation began to swirl about a possible share of the national title for the Utes. The championship title, which is voted on by the Associated Press and determined by the winner of the Bowl Championship Series title game, has undergone much criticism in recent years because it can be difficult to determine a clear champion.
Yet, according to Tressel and Texas coach Mack Brown, there is only one clear-cut claim to fame: the winner of the BCS Championship game.
"As a part of the American Football Coaches Association, and also Mack and I are both on the Board of Trustees, we have an agreement that we'll vote the winner of the BCS National Championship game as the national champion," Tressel said. "So I have always been one that believes that you go with the system because you agreed upon it on the way in the door."
Utah sealed its bid as college football's only undefeated team this with a 13-0 record. Its run to the top 10 rankings included wins over Michigan, TCU and BYU.
No-show Pryor
With rumors swirling around Glendale about the possible use of both Todd Boeckman and Terrelle Pryor in the same backfield, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel pulled out yet another trick from his playbook when he held Pryor out of Friday's media event.
With 30 players scheduled to attend, Fiesta Bowl officials and media alike expected all starters to be a part of the game's final media opportunity. But Tressel had plans of his own - a plan that revolved around getting all 28 seniors to the event.
"Really, we were just asked to bring 30 players and we sent in a list of players," Tressel said. "I did get one call asking, 'Did you happen to miss any?' And I said you might be talking in terms of Terrelle and [Michael] Brewster because they are starters.
"But they are freshmen. When decided when we were counting to 30, there were 30 others that afforded the opportunity to be here."
Standing true to what he had done all season, Tressel opted to keep Pryor out of all weekly press conferences. Regarded as one of the top story lines in tonight's Fiesta Bowl, Pryor was not available for comment all week. Instead, Tressel believed his time would best be served in the film room.
"My feeling is he probably had something that would be more impactful on our cause and that was to spend time in the meeting room," Tressel said.
Different mind-set
Two years ago Ohio State entered its showdown with Florida in the 2006 title game with a care-free mind-set. And after an embarrassing 41-14 shellacking, they opted to go with a business-only mind-set against LSU.
Neither worked.
Yet today this senior-laden Buckeye squad seems to have met a happy medium. In what will be their last chance to don an Ohio State uniform, many of the 28 seniors were upbeat and ready to consume everything the Fiesta Bowl has to offer.
"The bowl game trips are always fun, that's what they are suppose to be," said senior tight end Rory Nicol. "The first couple days are a little more relaxed, but football is obviously always the number one priority. You want to take advantage of all Phoenix has to offer and I think we've been able to do that."
One team that has had tremendous success dealing with the pressure surrounding big bowl games is the Buckeye's Fiesta Bowl opponent, Texas. The Longhorns have won six of their last seven bowl games, including a thrilling 41-38 victory in the 2006 National Championship.
"You can't change the way you do anything," said Longhorn All-American Brian Orakapo. "You have to be consistently good to be great. We're loose and people are having fun at practice. I mean it really is just another game, people forget that."
Matt Gottfried can be reached at gottfried.35@osu.edu.
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