SPORTS
MONDAY, AUGUST 18,2003
Ohio State offensive line returns five seniors to squad
By Emily Haynam
The Lantern via U-WIRE
Ohio State University
(U-WIRE) COLUMBUS, Ohio - If potential Heisman Trophy candidate Maurice Clarett has any motivation to rejoin his team, it could start with the five guys that clear a path for him every time he touches the ball.
In its College Football Yearbook, the Sporting News rated the Ohio State University Buckeyes' offensive line as the number one unit in the nation for a good reason. The Buckeyes' front line is made up of five returning starters, all of whom are seniors with a wealth of experience. Together, the group has combined for 110
starts.
starts.
"It really helps playing with these guys for so many years. Guys like Bryce [Bishop] and Alex [Stepanovich] and I have basically played two, three years together," right tackle Shane Olivea said. "For us, it is just a point of doing what we do better."
Adrien Clarke and Ivan Douglas complete the five players on a line that has an average height of 6-4, and an average weight of 315 pounds.
Olivea said he thinks this is the best offensive unit the Buckeyes have had since he has been here. He said one advantage the team has in its favor is a lot of experienced returning players.
we've been very fortunate this
year with the amount of guys returning back, it is not like we have to re-teach everything. Guys know the system, and it is really all about getting the younger guys acquainted with the system." Olivea said.
Going into the Fiesta Bowl last year, the offensive line had the mentality they would not face any defensive lineman in the game who was any better than what they face every day in practice. Since Sunday — the first day of full-contact practice — the two lines have been going head to head once again.
"I really haven't faced a team that has an offensive line like ours," defensive end Will Smith said. "I think they make us better.
and we make them better. They are good at their techniques, and are big physical
guys, and bigger than the average team we play. Going against them every day makes the games a little bit easier."
Aside from senior leadership, the offensive line has talent and depth at every position. Left tackle Robbie Sims and center Nick Mangold played crucial minutes as true freshmen last year and will challenge for more playing time this year. Also in the mix are right tackles Mike Kne,
Doug Datish, T.J. Downing, who was moved from tight end to tackle last year and Adam Olds who is progressing well after hip surgery. Kne, Datish and Downing were redshirt freshmen last year.
year.
The number one thing offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Jim Bollman looks for in his linemen is the ability to finish plays more consistently and hustle through an entire football game, he said. He said he is pleased with the pride his line takes in what they are doing.
"When you do the same things for a decent period of time, and you can keep doing them with the same amount or more enthusiasm, then you get better," Boll-
man said. "The main thing is the attitude that you put forth to what you do, and certainly this line has been together long enough that there is not a lot of assignment things that they are going to have problems with."
Bollman said one unusual thing about the offensive line is it is not about one guy, but about five guys that work together as a single unit. Bollman said it is easier on everybody to have so many guys back, but now, more than ever, the level of expectations is raised.
Stepanovich and Olivea are both candidates for lineman awards. Stepanovich is up for the Rimington Award and Olivea for the Outland Trophy.
1 goal leads Dallas over KC Wizards
The Associated Press
SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Joselio Vaca scored a goal and had an assist to lead the Dallas Burn to a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night.
day night. Dallas (4-12-4) had not scored a goal in its previous three games and had surrendered eight goals in its previous two losses to the Kansas City Wizards (7-6-7).
Brad Davis scored the goahead goal on a penalty kick in the 54th minute after the Wizards' Nick Garcia fouled Burn forward Eddie Johnson inside the penalty box.
Davis fired a shot into the left corner of the Kansas City Wizards goal for his fourth goal of the season and a 2-1 Dallas lead.
has lead.
Johnson added an insurance goal on a header in the 71st minute. Vaca and Oscar Pareja assisted on the goal, which gave the Burn a 3-1 lead.
Vaca's goal in the 30th minute snapped a scoreless streak of 370 minutes for the Burn.
Dallas' Toni Nhleko crossed a pass to setup Vaca who fired a shot from 12 yards away for his second goal of the year. That goal tied the match at 1-1.
City. Preki was awarded the penalty kick after Dallas' Shavar Thomas tackled Preki from behind on a breakaway attempt.
at 1-1.
The Wizards took a 1-0 lead on Preki's goal in the 26th minute off a penalty kick; the score broke a 338 minute scoreless streak for Kansas City.
attempt. Kansas City's Francisco Gomez scored in the 77th minute for the Wizard's second goal of the game.
The Burn were playing their first game since their leading scorer Jason Kreis tore the ACL in his left knee and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
Bowden, Paterno in twilight of careers
The Associated Press
They are in the twilight of their careers, yet desperately trying to stay connected to the changing world of the kids they lead. On the recruiting trail, their rivals assail them for their age and the well-known fact that they won't be coaching too much longer.
coaching too hard Still, Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno keep plugging away two of the best coaches in history, neither with anything left to prove, both hanging in there while they struggle to find anything that would satisfy them more than being on the football field.
"I don't know why, but I have no desire to retire," Bowden said. "There'll be a day when that will change. It will come from losses."
being on the footing. Paterno, 76, is entering his 38th season as head coach at Penn State. With 336, he has more victories than any major college coach. Bowden, 73, is heading into his 28th season at Florida State. His 332 victories rank second.
change. It will excite.
Losses have been building at Florida State — nine over the last two seasons — and so have the problems. Gambling allegations involving quarterback Adrian
McPherson and a few odd slips of the tongue have fueled the longheld belief that Bowden is little more than a titular head of a program running amok.
Before last season began, Bowden declared "Let's roll" would be his team's slogan for 2002. It was supposed to honor the passengers on Flight 93 who took action against Sept. 11 hijackers after hearing Todd Beamer's call for action. It came off, to many, as a misguided effort to make football seem as important as life and death.
Just as Bowden was overcoming that public-relations problem, he twice in postgame interviews declared the Notre Dame offense to be like "serial killers; they kill everyone the same way," in the aftermath of a 34-24 loss. This came at a time when snipers were shooting and killing 13 people over a three-week period in the Washington area.
"Bowden, it appears, is losing a grip on his team—and perhaps his program," columnist Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel wrote after the Notre Dame loss.
written note. The coach didn't help his image when, in interviews with police, he insisted he had no recollection of
conversations a few months previous about the possibility that McPherson was gambling.
McPhelson was guitarist. His critics, a small group that has grown dramatically as the Seminole have lost more games in the last two seasons than they have in the previous six, had trouble believing he was either a) that forgetful; or b) that detached from the program he built and defined over more than a quarter decade.
"For the rest of my career that's going to be part of it. He's too old," Bowden said. "You get that everywhere you go."
everywhere you go! Especially on the recruiting trail, where opposing staffs aren't above using the potential lack of stability at a program as a specter for impressionable teens to worry about.
about.
It didn't help Paterno when Penn State lost 14 of 20 games during a span in the 2000 and '01 seasons. But the Nittany Lions rebounded last year for a 9-4 record, quieting those who insisted that "the game was passing him by."
murry. Despite last season's rebound, Paterno hinted that he might begin facing his age issue head-on. Earlier this year, he suggested he might
step down after 2006.
step down from the When he decides, he says he might begin the process of choosing his successor.
ng no scissors.
"So when we're out recruiting, a kid can identify with the people that he would be with maybe his sophomore and junior year," Patemo said. "I want to be fair."
Of course, to every rival that uses age against the old coaches, there is an effective reply. Who else, after all, commands the respect of a Bowden or Paterno when they walk into the living room?
want to wait.
"Every school tried to use that. He's not going to be around X number of years," things along those lines. But he's a walking legend, and you have to be here to play with him." Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson said.
How much longer will they be there to coach?
While Paterno can see the end, Bowden is less committal.
Bowden is in the office. Unspoken by any aging coach is knowledge of the way it ended for the man they spent years trying to catch: 523-game winner Bear Bryant.
bryant "Quit coaching?" Bryant said late in his career. "I'd croak in a week."
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