OHIO STATE Fiesta notebook

Coach Mike: Girard native Mike Cochran, the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Ohio State, said the Buckeyes are ready to go. The players spent much of December in the weight room, doing what Cochran described as "heavy lifting."
"It's not hard to get these guys motivated," said Cochran, who followed Coach Jim Tressel from Youngstown State. "I have to credit the seniors; they basically took over [the motivation] after last season. They said, 'This [the Fiesta Bowl] is our one goal.' "
Cochran's assists Allan Johnson, the director of football strength and conditioning. He said there is little difference between Tressel's approach at Ohio State from Youngstown State.
"The Xs and Os haven't changed; neither has Coach's way of motivating the players," he said. "Players are players; they all want to win and be successful and once they believe in you as a coach they'll do what you ask of them."
ESPN predictions: "College Gameday" host Chris Fowler attended media day and gave this assessment of the game: "When you look at Ohio State's defense, they're not ranked highly in yards allowed or time of possession. They don't have really great stats, except for their red zone defense, which is brilliant.
"Miami's going to move the ball, there's no question about that. The key is, what's going to happen when they get to the [Ohio State] 20- or 25-yard line.
"If Miami scores three touchdowns, Ohio State has zero chance of winning. None, because Ohio State isn't going to light it up. And they haven't had to come from behind by more than one score all season.
"But, if Miami scores two touchdowns, or one touchdown, then it significantly improves Ohio State's chances."
Analyst Kirk Herbstreit, also on ESPN, and a graduate of Ohio State, offered this: "Ohio State's defense needs to keep it competitive. In fact, Ohio State's defense has to keep it competitive for them to have a chance.
"The key to game will be the first eight to 10 minutes. If Miami gets out to a fast start it will be over early."
Fourth quarter stats: If the game comes down to who wins the fourth quarter, there's no clear-cut favorite. This season, the Buckeyes outscored opponents 82-30 in the final 15 minutes. Miami, meanwhile, is 161-2 when leading after three quarters over the last 18 seasons.
Quick strike offense: The average drive on Miami's 67 offensive touchdowns this season is 1 minute, 58 seconds. Thirty-seven of the 67 touchdowns were scored under two minutes of drive time. Eighteen of those touchdowns were scored in less than a minute. In 12 games, 201 of Miami's 810 plays from scrimmage resulted in gains of 10 yards or more, an average of 24.8 percent.
Stingy defense: On the other hand, Ohio State's opponents averaged more than 3 minutes in drive time on 32 scoring drives this season. Of the 32 drives, nine took less than two minutes.
-- Rob Todor