FIESTA BOWL Ohio State gearing up for speed-happy Hurricanes

Many believe that Miami has cornered the market on speedy players.
PHOENIX (AP) -- There's one recurring theme whenever an Ohio State coach or player talks about the Miami Hurricanes: team speed.
The Buckeyes are bigger and stronger, yet it is Miami's turbocharged quickness at almost every position that awes opponents and sets the defending national champions apart from the rabble of college football.
"Speed is the key to any game," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said after the Buckeyes' first workout Friday in Arizona for Friday's showdown against No. 1 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl. "Any time human beings play on their feet, the faster ones usually win."
Unless, of course, they find an edge of their own.
The Buckeyes are spending their days in the sun working on ways to combat Miami's perceived advantage in speed. To a man, they acknowledge that the Hurricanes defenders are sprinters, that their wide-outs allow no room for error by a defense, that one simple misstep can easily end in a long touchdown.
Fast team
Every team puts a premium on speed. It's just that most experts believe that Miami started the trend and still corners the market on guys who can run.
Ohio State offensive lineman Alex Stepanovich said it's not just hype.
"Oh yeah, they're definitely fast," he said. "I'm not going to sit here and tell anybody they're like any other team."
Fifty-seven players on Miami's roster come from Florida, which has long been considered by most coaches as the main conduit for speedy players. The Hurricanes' burners include flanker Roscoe Parrish, split end Andre Johnson, tailback Willis McGahee, linebacker Jonathan Vilma and cornerback Kelly Jennings. Tight end Kellen Winslow is 6-foot-5 and weighs 233 pounds but can run like a track star.
After a while, the numbers associated with Miami's quick-strike offense -- fueled by their speed -- become overwhelming.
The average drive time on the Hurricanes' 67 offensive touchdowns was just under 2 minutes. They scored 18 times within a minute of getting their hands on the ball. They ran 187 plays that gained at least 10 yards -- one of every four snaps.
No mismatch
Almost everyone but Ohio State's players considers the game a mismatch in terms of speed.
"It's because we're from the Big Ten, we're from Ohio, the Midwest," free safety Donnie Nickey said. "It's the stereotypes that go with certain parts of the country, like West Coast offense. People get stuck in a style of football. We've got speed, they've got speed. It's that they've got it in more places than you expect. Their linemen can run.
"But I don't buy the whole thing that Ohio doesn't have any speed and Miami is where the speed is."
The Buckeyes don't have to reinvent themselves to combat Miami's main asset. All year Ohio State's offense has muscled teams up front and relied on the quickness of freshman tailback Maurice Clarett, the smarts of quarterback Craig Krenzel and the big-play proficiency of wide receiver Michael Jenkins.
But running the ball is the first item on the Buckeyes' to-do list.
"When you've got a team with so much speed, they like to pass rush and run up the field off the corners and that leaves them open for the draw," tight end Ben Hartsock said. "You can't stop everything they do, but you can use what they do to their disadvantage."
On defense, the Buckeyes hope that they can hold their own out wide and in the secondary while the interior wall and linebackers put the clamps on McGahee and the running attack.