This the-Ozone 2006 Fiesta Bowl Coverage made possible by:

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The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas

This is our house: Ohio State fans in the stadium in Tempe were pretty excited following OSU's win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. During the post-game presentation ceremonies there were several chants that came down from the crowd that reflected their mood. First came "We-own-Tempe!" That was followed up a few minutes later with "This-is-our-house!"

Speaking of fans, the massive Notre Dame following that was predicted for the game failed to materialize. Most estimates had Ohio State fans in the stadium outnumbering Notre Dame fans by about a 60-40 margin, despite the fact that OSU has been to Tempe in three of the last four years and the novelty of the trip has worn off for OSU fans. That was clearly evident all week, as OSU fans seemed to outnumber Irish fans on the streets wherever you went. If a future bid to the Fiesta comes down to OSU and the Irish, we're betting the local chamber of commerce will be lobbying for the Buckeyes.

Who's the guru? Prior to the game much was written and said about the advantage Notre Dame would have because Head Coach Charlie Weis had a month to get ready for the Buckeyes. That seemed to get under the skin of some of the Buckeyes who's remarks after the game indicated that they felt their coaching staff got sold a little short.

"I've been hearing a lot about how are you going to beat Notre Dame when Charlie Weis has four weeks to prepare for you. I kept thinking 'How about giving coach Tressel four weeks to prepare for you," said OSU linebacker A. J. Hawk.

"He's four-of-five in bowl games. I think our coaches did a great job of finding the perfect balance of how much to practice, what to do and how to get you ready for a significant game."

Offensive lineman Rob Sims also got in a more subtle but just as effective jibe at the Weis-is-better-than-Tress concept.

"Now that I've been with Coach Tressel four years I just think he's an offensive Guru. He makes a game plan and most the time it's right," said Sims.

When the first half ended with OSU leading 21-7, one press box wag was overheard to say "Is that's what Charlie put together in four weeks? He better be able to do better in a 20-minute half time."

The Irish actually did do better in the second half, not allowing OSU to extend it's 14 point lead, but also not able to reduce it when the game ended.

OSU quarterback Troy Smith also got in on the act. When asked what allowed him to be successful against the Irish, Smith immediately talked about the coaching.

"I'd have to attribute everything today to the offensive play calling," said Smith.

"The scheme today was set up for us to make big plays. We really, really set out this week to not overthrow the deep pass. The guys stepped up today. The offensive line did a great job withstanding blitzes that came and I was just fortunate to be able to connect with Santonio and Teddy on a couple of those passes."

Holmes agreed.

"The plays that were called really allowed me to get behind their secondary," he said, also crediting OSU offensive staff.

"I feel that they were very aggressive on trying to stop our run game. We just had the right play called at the right time."

Ticket glut: People hoping to sell tickets at the game were disappointed, and scalpers lost money on the Fiesta Bowl, at least at the bowl site. There were tons of tickets for sale all week and the day of the game, and very few buyers. On game day, tickets were going well below face value, and there were actually a few seats left empty in the stadium. As game time approached, ticket prices plummeted to right around 50.00 a pair, far below the 90.00 per ticket (180.00 per pair) face value. Even at that price, there were people with wads of tickets in their hands still trying to sell when kickoff took place.

We talked to one in-the-know individual who said that Notre Dame had requested extra tickets for the game, then returned them to the Bowl when they didn't sell them. That probably accounted for at least a part of the glut.

Mismatch: The expected mismatch in the Fiesta Bowl was the tall Notre Dame receivers vs. the OSU secondary. Notre Dame had some success in the air, but it was OSU wide receivers who made the spectacular plays.

"I think Teddy and Santonio are a mismatch against everybody. I think they're that good and I really appreciate what they did. They got it done. They got it done," said Sims.

Apparently, going up and winning "jump balls" is not the only way to be a dominant receiver. Holmes and Ginn simply made the Notre Dame secondary look like it was wearing cement shoes.

No adjustments: Notre Dame made it look easy on their first drive, scoring quickly on the Buckeye defense on their first possession. We were surprised when OSU defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said he didn't really make any adjustments after that drive. He just got his guys to play more like their regular-old selves.

"We missed some tackles, we were a little bit out of character," said Heacock.

"We had a couple of mistakes on that first drive. Guys were a little bit tense, a little bit excited about playing I think. We just needed to settle down and play our game," Heacock said.

Tress to 'Tone: No, not Jim Tressel and Santonio Holmes, but Dick Tressel to Antonio Pittman. Pittman wrapped up the win with a 60 yard gallop down the sideline for the final score of the game. His coach, Dick Tressel, said the OSU coaching staff felt it was only a matter of time until Pittman broke one, and had a bit of advice for Pittman before the big play came about.

"The thing that was going through my mind was that we had talked about early in the game was that when you do that Pittman, don't put your finger in the air," said Tressel in reference to the unsportsman like penalty that Holmes had drawn on his 85 yard touchdown reception.

"He's a great running back We knew they would be stunting and one of those plays would come out."

Offensive lineman T. J. Downing was also not surprised that Pittman eventually broke a big run against the Irish.

"We could tell in the second and third quarter that they were wearing down. They started to substitute guys and we started to push them around a little bit," said Downing.

"We really pounded them all night," added Kirk Barton.

"Even in pass pro we were clouting them pretty hard, and that wears on a team. Eventually they just broke."

Adieu Santonio: Wide receiver Santonio Holmes made it clear after the game that he will enter the NFL draft following the season. Jim Tressel said he has no trouble at all with that decision.

"Santonio and I have talked about it and I have inferred it publicly, he's a fourth-year guy and he's well along toward a degree. If it's the right time for him to go I think he's proven in mind that not many guys would be drafted ahead of him, because he's a playmaker, a competitor, a blocker, a return man. I always tell my guys that if they're going to be in the first round, they probably need to go, and Santonio is going to be in the first round," said Tressel.

OSU quarterback Troy Smith agreed, but added that Holmes definitely will be missed.

"Santonio means a lot to the whole ball club," said Smith.

"For me as a quarterback, he takes a lot of burdensome situations off my shoulders, because he's a student of the game. He understands things just as I do. Santonio is going to be greatly missed. From day one, he's been a great receiver, a great guy, a team leader, but like coach said, it's time for him to step up and go to another level, because he's done pretty much everything that we've asked of him here."

Holmes himself seemed to have absolutely no regrets about his days as a Buckeye.

"I had a wonderful career here. I love everything that's taken place here," said Holmes.

Big play(s): Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis called the incomplete pass call on the pass to Anthony Gonzalez the biggest play of the game. Jim Tressel said it was a big play, but pointed out there were more than just a few others that had an outcome in the game as well.

"That was a hard one to see in the game because it happened so fast. I wasn't sure if it was an incompletion or if it was one of those questions of does the ground cause a fumble. It looked to me like an incompletion. I supposed that was a 70 or 80 yard play, but I was just looking at the stats and we had 617 yards, so I suppose there were some other important plays," said Tressel.

Pressure: Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn had a reasonably good day passing, but was outplayed by Troy Smith. The OSU defense had a little bit to do with that, sacking Quinn five times and keeping constant pressure on him throughout the game.

"Our game plan was to come out and pressure him," said A. J. Hawk.

"We felt like if we got good pressure on the quarterback we could do some things on defense. We felt like we could make them throw the ball quick and that's what they did."

Fan to the field: This is the first time the Irish and the Buckeyes have met during the playing career of OSU offensive lineman Doug Datish, but not the first time Datish has seen the Irish and Buckeyes clash on the gridiron.

"I was at the last two games, but it's way better playing them. It's awesome. It's nice not to be the team that snaps the streak," said Datish of Notre Dame's bowl losing streak.

"I think we wore them down a little bit towards the end. We picked up a lot of their stunts and I think we took them out of their game plan."

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