Layoff days are spent wisely

The team's preparation before traveling to Phoenix reminded one player of preseason camp.
TOLEDO BLADE
COLUMBUS -- We're talking about a major calendar chasm here.
From the final snap of the 42-39 win over Michigan on Nov. 18 until the ball is placed on the tee to start the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game in Arizona next month, 51 days and about 41/2 hours will have passed for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
That's well over 1,200 hours between bouts playing football that counts.
That's an awfully long time for a football team to be conditioning, practicing and looking at film of No. 2 Florida, top-ranked Ohio State's opponent in the Jan. 8 title game. Noah spent less time bobbing around in his floating zoo, waiting for the weather to break.
Time not wasted
But Ohio State coach Jim Tressel took what amounts to seven consecutive bye weeks in the schedule in stride, and did what he always does -- he made up a systematic, step-by-step plan that incorporated football, school and significant R & amp; R time.
"You design a system that you hope is the right one," Tressel said about parceling out the nearly two-month break between games. "It began with a lot of rest and the opportunity to be fresh for finals. Then the fundamental work. And then digging in to your Florida preparation."
Built into that Tressel non-game, game plan, he found a way to get the Buckeyes home for a couple of holiday meals. They had Thanksgiving off, following the win over Michigan that completed a 12-0 regular season, gave them their first outright Big Ten title since 1984, and a wire-to-wire run as the No. 1 ranked team in the country this season.
Tressel sent them home for Christmas on Saturday for another extended break from the rigors of their workouts.
"We wanted our guys to have Christmas at home, so we practiced here until noon on the 23rd, and then gave them a week at home," Tressel said.
Climate counts
The team will leave Columbus and arrive in Arizona Saturday. Tressel thinks the acclimation will help, and his chances of getting more productive practice time will be greatly enhanced in the desert clime.
"Rather than coming back here, I'm guessing the weather won't be as good here as it is in Arizona, so we're going to go straight to Arizona," he said.
Tressel took the 2001 Buckeyes to Tampa even earlier to prepare for the Outback Bowl, a game Ohio State lost to South Carolina 31-28 in Tressel's first year as head coach.
"We hadn't been together much and we just need more time together to grow and know one another and learn what the expectations were," Tressel said.
He said that the travel schedule for the national championship game was dictated as much by the way the month was laid out, and the fact he did not want to resume practice in Ohio, then have to halt it again for the long trip.
"Exactly when we are going is a function of the calendar," Tressel said, "because we wanted them home for Christmas and didn't want to come here, and then go over there. Everyone is going straight to Phoenix, and we'll go on from there."
Similarity
Ohio State senior defensive tackle David Patterson said the lull between games, and the regimen Tressel has in place, reminds him of the way the Buckeyes prepare for the start of the season.
"I don't have any complaints about the layoff, or the number of days between our last game and the bowl game," Patterson said.
"We got an opportunity to spend some time together as teammates off the field. And when we put in our conditioning and practice work here, we realize how important that is as part of our total preparation. Here in Columbus, it's a lot easier to just focus on the game and not have any outside distractions. We work on some basics, put some things in and study film. It reminds me a little of preseason camp."
Buckeyes' quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith said he's not worried about the extended break having a negative impact.
"Nobody feels like we've slacked off or anything like that," Smith said. "I'm confident everyone still has their eyes on the ultimate prize. We talked since very early in the year about having a chance to play for a national championship, and with that as the only thing left in front of us, we'll get down to some serious work preparing."
Relaxation
Tressel said the Christmas holiday break will afford the players time to relax and heal, and give him and the rest of the Ohio State coaching staff the opportunity to tweak the game plan for taking on the No. 2 Gators.
"They'll have time off to be with their families, and then hopefully have great focus once they land in Phoenix to polish up that preparation," Tressel said.
"It gives us a little time between when they leave here and the time we reconnect with them in Phoenix to really look at what were doing and say, 'this might not have been good and let's do a little less of that and a little more of this.' But I don't have any sure-fire formula. We just do what we think is right and see how it goes."