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Ohio State coach Jim Tressel jokes about when he won the first of four Division I-AA national championships at Youngstown State, the first question asked before he got off the field was whether or not he could do it again.
After the Buckeyes beat Miami in double overtime Friday night, it was again the first question posed to him. But it was done in the postgame press conference.
"You guys are a little slower than they were," Tressel joked. "They hustled a little bit more - they asked me when I got off the field."
Regardless of when it's asked, it's always a legitimate question. And with this team, it's worth thinking about.
Every single starter returns on offense next year. In fact, the only key member leaving is Chris Vance, and he had a subpar season by any standard.
In an offense that throws as little as possible, Vance had 12 catches for 170 yards, vastly lower than his 34 receptions in 2001.
With both Roy Hall (Brush) and Santonio Holmes coming off redshirt seasons, the Buckeyes shouldn't have any trouble at receiver, even if Chris Gamble becomes a full-time cornerback. And given how well he held up playing both offense and defense this year, that doesn't seem very likely.
The defense loses five starters - defensive tackle Kenny Peterson, linebacker Cie Grant, free safety Donnie Nickey and a pair of All-Americans in linebacker Matt Wilhelm and safety Mike Doss.
But Will Allen has waited three years now to start at safety and proved this year how valuable he can be. Allen had the game-ending interceptions against both Cincinnati and Michigan, he recovered a crucial fumble Friday night and he might have ended Willis McGahee's career with a vicious - but fundamentally clean - hit on McGahee's knee.
"There's high expectations for those guys next year," said linebacker Matt Wilhelm, whose next move is the Hula Bowl next month before the NFL comes calling.
The tremendous recruiting class Tressel hauled in last year should receive increased playing time next season. All three freshmen linebackers - Mike D'Andrea, Bobby Carpenter and A.J. Hawk - could be starting in eight months when the Buckeyes open against Washington.
D'Andrea and Hawk are two of the better bets, since D'Andrea was Wilhelm's backup in the middle and Hawk backed up Cie Grant on the weak side. While Robert Reynolds returns at strong side next year, he hardly did anything to stand out on the field. With a year now in the program and spring ball coming in April, Carpenter could conceivably pass Reynolds by August.
Just in case things don't work out with either Carpenter or Reynolds, another highly-touted sophomore says he's ready to help out on defense.
Maurice Clarett.
Clarett said after the Fiesta Bowl he wants to play defense next year. And he wasn't kidding.
"I'm too much of an athlete to just play on one side of the ball," he said in all seriousness. "Players make plays regardless of position."
Apparently Clarett said Gamble playing both ways and said "I can do that."
But before anyone thinks this is turning into a glorified high school team, with 11 guys playing both ways, remember that Tressel would never allow that to happen.
Linebackers with bad shoulders don't make very good linebackers. And the physical punishment of playing linebacker and running back is far superior to the pounding a corner and flanker receive.
So while Clarett will remain only a tailback, that's the only place he needs to be. A healthy Clarett would conceivably compete for the Heisman Trophy next year, with the possibility of a 1,700-to-2,000 yard season. Combine that with the rest of the talent the Buckeyes have coming back and ... who knows?
"I think we've got some good guys," Tressel said. "I think we've got some great coaches, now it's all about what you do. We don't make predictions. We didn't sit there at the Outback Bowl after the game talking about the bright future of 2002. We just went to work. That's what we'll do in 2003."
