Disappointment, embarrassment, frustration and letdown, all in big fashion.
Before early Friday morning, Steve Bellisari had a chance to change the way history would view him. Wins over Illinois (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) and Michigan would have given Ohio State (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) a Big Ten co-championship and a BCS bid, removing his name from the tag of less-than-outstanding OSU quarterback and giving his fellow seniors a triumphant exodus.
Instead of shedding the label of good athlete/bad quarterback, Bellisari damaged a more important one with a DUI – his personal reputation. Questions about his leadership, which Bellisari has been critcized for all year, can now be asked.
“He’s a hurting guy,” OSU coach Jim Tressel said. “He’s very, very disappointed in himself. I’m sure it was very painful today wherever he was. I think if you ask him he would really feel that he let his team down, his family down and let himself down. He understands he is going to have to live with that.”
Bellisari, the three-year starter at quarterback and two-time captain, was suspended from the Illinois game, missing “Senior Day.”
“The thing we feel worst about is this group of seniors didn’t get their wish of going out at their last time in Ohio Stadium and coming up with a win,” Tressel said. “We know they can’t play here again which probably won’t strike them for a while, but it’s real and it’s difficult to have your last one end that way.”
Tressel suspended Bellisari indefinitely Friday morning, a few hours after his arrest.
“I wasn’t utilizing any university policy when I made the decision. Playing football at OSU is a privilege and I think you have to do the things that earned you that right,” Tressel said. “It’s a gut check in that it hurts when you have to make those decisions. I think all of us know when we need to do the right thing even though it hurts sometimes.”
Bellisari’s arrest and suspension shocked the team a little more than 24 hours from kickoff. On the field other opportunities were missed because of Bellisari’s absence. With inexperienced quarterbacks Scott McMullen and Craig Krenzel in place of Bellisari, Illinois left wide receivers Chris Vance and Michael Jenkins in single coverage most of the day – opportunities Bellisari may have been able to take advantage of.
“We have a lot of confidence in Chris, Michael and Chris Gamble,” Tressel said. “(We) thought the way that (Illinois) played we could get by them and maybe force them to play a little bit different coverage so that it would help our run game.”
“I’m sure (Bellisari’s suspension) had an impact,” Tressel said. “But so did that punt block, so did those field goals, so did a couple of missed tackles, so did missed protections and opportunities. You’re not allowed in this lifetime to isolate things. Everything effects everything else.”
In Bellisari’s last three games he had passed for 675 yards with six touchdown passes and just one interception.
Krenzel and McMullen combined to complete 15-of-36 pass attempts for 206 yards, two touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Left in the fallout were devastated senior co-captains, running back Jonathan Wells and linebacker Joe Cooper.
“He’s (Bellisari) on our minds a lot. We wanted to come out here and get this win for him,” Wells said. “We had a quick team meeting and tried to put it behind us as much as we could…”
“That could have been anyone,” Cooper said. “Everyone learns by their mistakes … he’ll move forward. He’s part of this family and we never just kick anyone out of this family just because they made a mistake. No one in this room is perfect … we still love Steve.”
Jenkins, one of Bellisari’s favorite targets, shared the above sentiment.
“I really don’t know what to say. He knows he made a mistake and we’d be glad to have him back,” Jenkins said.
Tressel has still not decided if Bellisari will play against Michigan this Saturday.
“That’s a hard one for this moment. I’d like the opportunity to talk with my coaching staff, my administration and my team,” Tressel said.
Bellisari has not been available for comment since his arrest.
