Superdome visit first for Tressel
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NEW ORLEANS — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel got his first look at the inside of the Superdome when he arrived Saturday morning for the Media Day interview session on the stadium field.
The top-ranked Buckeyes have been preparing for Monday night’s BCS Championship game against LSU by practicing at Tulane University or the New Orleans Saints practice facility.
Tressel took a moment to gaze around the expansive stadium before fielding his first question.
“I’ve watched it on television, so many huge games, whether they be college games or pro football,” Tressel said. “Just look around and tie that together with what you saw in the national scheme of things with Katrina, and a lot of things pass through your mind.
“What’s been really neat about coming to New Orleans is it’s a special group of people that have been through a lot. In talking to the fellow that runs the security here, the way they look at this place is this place saved 38,000 lives. That’s incredible.
“So hopefully all of us from Ohio will grow to understand the specialness, if that’s a word, of this place.”
Meet the new LSU Tigers
Ohio State’s scout team wears jerseys and numbers matching those of their opponents. So, this week, some Buckeyes are in purple jerseys with purple caps over their helmets. Friday at Tulane, sophomore running back Joe Gantz was in LSU running back Jacob Hester’s No. 18, freshman fullback Spencer Smith was in wide receiver Early Doucet’s No. 9 and defensive back Matt Daniels was in running back Charles Scott’s No. 32. Gantz most resembled his opponent.
Miles is OK
Tressel isn’t making much of the fact that LSU coach Les Miles is a former player and assistant coach at Michigan, the Buckeyes’ most bitter rival. “I’m sure if I went up and pounded my fist on the table with our team and said, ‘Did you know that their coach is a Michigan guy?’ Our guys would say, ‘So?” Tressel said. “That’s because this is about Ohio State and LSU. We’ve had our chance to play Michigan this year, and now we have our chance to play LSU and we take a little bit of pride in the fact that Les is from Ohio and he’s from the Big Ten.”
Buckeyes’ King
Ohio State offensive lineman Kirk Barton described Tressel as “Elvis in Ohio.” “I can’t sing, I’ll tell you that much,” Tressel said when asked for a reaction to the description. “In college I had those longer chops, but that was back in the day. If I’m a little kid in Ohio and I see Kirk Barton wearing number 74 down the street with a little gray-haired coach, I’ll run up and see Kirk Barton.”
Recalling McNeese
Tressel has fond memories of coaching Youngstown State to a 10-9 victory over McNeese State in the NCAA I-AA title game in 1997.
“I think a championship game is the same whether it’s at the high-school level, at the I-AA level, or the BCS title game,” Tressel said. “I think if you really studied any of those championship games you’d find out that the same important issues are going to determine the game. That was a whale of a football game, and that was as exciting a day in my coaching life as any other day.”
Springs remembered
The Buckeyes are wearing small “23” decals on the back of their helmets to support Ron Springs, an Ohio State running back from 1976-78 and a former Dallas Cowboy, who is in a coma in a Dallas hospital after unsuccessful surgery in October.
Joe Schiefelbein and Les East contributed to this report.
The top-ranked Buckeyes have been preparing for Monday night’s BCS Championship game against LSU by practicing at Tulane University or the New Orleans Saints practice facility.
Tressel took a moment to gaze around the expansive stadium before fielding his first question.
“I’ve watched it on television, so many huge games, whether they be college games or pro football,” Tressel said. “Just look around and tie that together with what you saw in the national scheme of things with Katrina, and a lot of things pass through your mind.
“What’s been really neat about coming to New Orleans is it’s a special group of people that have been through a lot. In talking to the fellow that runs the security here, the way they look at this place is this place saved 38,000 lives. That’s incredible.
“So hopefully all of us from Ohio will grow to understand the specialness, if that’s a word, of this place.”
Meet the new LSU Tigers
Ohio State’s scout team wears jerseys and numbers matching those of their opponents. So, this week, some Buckeyes are in purple jerseys with purple caps over their helmets. Friday at Tulane, sophomore running back Joe Gantz was in LSU running back Jacob Hester’s No. 18, freshman fullback Spencer Smith was in wide receiver Early Doucet’s No. 9 and defensive back Matt Daniels was in running back Charles Scott’s No. 32. Gantz most resembled his opponent.
Miles is OK
Tressel isn’t making much of the fact that LSU coach Les Miles is a former player and assistant coach at Michigan, the Buckeyes’ most bitter rival. “I’m sure if I went up and pounded my fist on the table with our team and said, ‘Did you know that their coach is a Michigan guy?’ Our guys would say, ‘So?” Tressel said. “That’s because this is about Ohio State and LSU. We’ve had our chance to play Michigan this year, and now we have our chance to play LSU and we take a little bit of pride in the fact that Les is from Ohio and he’s from the Big Ten.”
Buckeyes’ King
Ohio State offensive lineman Kirk Barton described Tressel as “Elvis in Ohio.” “I can’t sing, I’ll tell you that much,” Tressel said when asked for a reaction to the description. “In college I had those longer chops, but that was back in the day. If I’m a little kid in Ohio and I see Kirk Barton wearing number 74 down the street with a little gray-haired coach, I’ll run up and see Kirk Barton.”
Recalling McNeese
Tressel has fond memories of coaching Youngstown State to a 10-9 victory over McNeese State in the NCAA I-AA title game in 1997.
“I think a championship game is the same whether it’s at the high-school level, at the I-AA level, or the BCS title game,” Tressel said. “I think if you really studied any of those championship games you’d find out that the same important issues are going to determine the game. That was a whale of a football game, and that was as exciting a day in my coaching life as any other day.”
Springs remembered
The Buckeyes are wearing small “23” decals on the back of their helmets to support Ron Springs, an Ohio State running back from 1976-78 and a former Dallas Cowboy, who is in a coma in a Dallas hospital after unsuccessful surgery in October.
Joe Schiefelbein and Les East contributed to this report.
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