Buckeyes are all business for title game

Ohio State players don’t want a repeat of last season.

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

NEW ORLEANS — If you can’t have a good time in New Orleans, you must be trying.

The Buckeyes are trying.

Temptation isn’t just on every block, it consumes entire stretches on Bourbon Street. Billboards advertise clubs with thousands of pretty girls — and three ugly ones.

Buckeye quarterback Todd Boeckman could throw a pass from Ohio State’s hotel and hit the top of Harrah’s Casino. That’d be as close to the casino as any Buckeye got, too.

LSU players were spotted Thursday night in Harrah’s. Coach Jim Tressel made the casino off limits. Most of the Buckeyes were in the game room at their hotel or studying film.

Fifth-year senior and co-captain Kirk Barton shunned an invitation to go out. Kurt Coleman hasn’t left the hotel, while fellow defensive back Malcolm Jenkins has seen the city ... a little.

“I’ve been to Walgreen’s. That’s about it,” Jenkins said.

A year ago, the Buckeyes stayed at the Princess Resort in upscale Scottsdale, Ariz. The air at the Princess smelled like a prom date.

“The Princess gives you the feeling that you’re on vacation,” Jenkins said. “This year, the hotel is more business-like. A lot of guys aren’t going out. We have earlier curfews. We’re approaching this game a lot different.”

College football players often talk about making a bowl trip a business trip. Walking the walk is another thing.

“This,” Barton said, “is a business trip.

The fear of failure, one that stayed with the Buckeyes like a sore throat all season, has motivated them to take Monday’s BCS National Championship game seriously.

“You don’t want that feeling again like it was last year,” Coleman said. “No one wants to relive that.”

That doesn’t mean Ohio State isn’t having fun in New Orleans. It means the team isn’t having the same kind of fun as other tourists.

“They give us the freedom to go out. They want us to have fun and enjoy our time,” Coleman said. “Staying in the film room is fun to me.”

Doug Worthington, who is large enough to be a block on Bourbon Street, took a stroll down the famous road. He met a couple of LSU players, stayed for 20 minutes and left.

“It was too cold,” Worthington said. “We try to have a little bit of fun, but at the end of the day, it’s about focusing on the game.

“The difference between our team this year and last year is tremendous. We watch film before we even step out of the hotel. We didn’t come out here as early as we did last year. We don’t have the temptation of going out. ... We’re ready for Monday.”

Yes, there is a fine line between focus and uptight. Ohio State seems consumed by proving the doubters wrong.

Wouldn’t walking off the field Monday night to a second straight title game loss be more devastating since the approach is more serious?

“For me, if I can leave the field knowing I’ve done everything I can to win the game, I won’t feel as bad as I did last year,” Coleman said.

Last year, Coleman said, the Buckeyes left more than points on the field against Florida. They left regrets.

“I definitely think someone might’ve felt like they could’ve gone that extra step or ran that extra yard,” Coleman said. “I think this year is going to be a different story.”

Despite being ranked No. 1, OSU is a 4-point underdog. Last year, the Buckeyes started and ended the season No. 1. This year, they backed into the title game.

Ohio State players don’t fear failure as much as they seem to fear letting themselves down again.

“That was the worst trip home,” Jenkins said of the flight from Phoenix to Columbus. “We let our entire state down. We didn’t take that game as serious as it was. That’s a mistake we’re not going to make this year.”