Ross' playing status still in doubt
The senior running back was suspended for last week's game.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Lydell Ross, Ohio State's leading rusher the last two years, is cooling his heels on the scout team while trying to avoid charges that he passed bogus coupons at a local strip club. He was suspended from last week's game against Indiana.
"People make mistakes," said quarterback Troy Smith. "I'm not going to hold it against him because of one mistake that he possibly made."
Ross is accused of using the purple and white Platinum dollars -- used to tip dancers and buy dances -- even though they were counterfeit and did not have serial numbers.
Customers normally get the currency, which comes in $10 increments, with credit cards.
A club manager said Ross refused to say where he got the fake bills and did not offer to reimburse the club.
Ross is just the latest Buckeye to get in trouble. Smith was found guilty of disorderly conduct after a campus fight during the 2003 season. Backup running back Branden Joe was arrested on an alcohol-related charge, as was defensive lineman Quinn Pitcock. Tight end Louis Irizarry and tailback Ira Guilford, both of whom were expected to play pivotal roles for the Buckeyes this year, are no longer with the team after being charged with robbing a fellow student.
General rules
Coach Jim Tressel tries to treat his players like men even though they sometimes act more like the teenagers they are. The Buckeyes don't have curfews etched in granite, nor is their close oversight over what cars they drive or who they hang around with.
"We have a general statement that we make that we would like them to remember who they are and that they represent everyone else around them and the school," Tressel said. "I guess I stop short of where you ought to be. I don't stop short of when you ought to be there. We don't have a curfew, but we tell them often that we haven't seen too many good things happen past 10 [p.m.] and certainly past the stroke of midnight lots of bad things happen."
On Saturday, Ross will likely be on the sidelines, dressed in his uniform and familiar No. 30 jersey and ready to play. Tressel is uncertain if the senior co-captain will see action.
Tressel said Ross has already paid a penalty by being kept away from the team.
"While his suspension may be still in place competition-wise, it's not still in place [in terms of] being with his teammates," Tressel said. "That was the hardest part for him."
Tressel added, "He's anxious to get back with his teammates and I think it's appropriate to have him do that."