A dramatic duel in the desert

The two powerhouses will be meeting for only the fifth time in history.

By ROB TODOR

VINDICATOR SPORTS EDITOR

TEMPE, Ariz. — Trying to decide the best storyline for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl is kind of like putting a child in a toy store and telling him to pick just one thing to buy — they're so many good choices.

Perhaps it's the matchup between Notre Dame's explosive offense against Ohio State's stingy defense.

Or is it Ohio State's emerging offense, which has played very well the last half of the regular season, against the Fighting Irish's defense, which has given up some big plays and a lot of points?

Could it be the special teams, featuring the Buckeyes' Ted Ginn Jr. and Santonio Holmes, and kicker Josh Huston, against Notre Dame's ace returner, junior Tom Zbikowski?

And then there's the coaching matchup. Jim Tressel, who can sport five national championship rings earned at Ohio State and Youngstown State, against Charlie Weis, who's won four Super Bowl rings as an NFL assistant.

The rubber match

Perhaps it's this: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, for just the fifth time in history. That kind of sums everything up, doesn't it?

"When you watch Ohio State you realize they're so fundamentally sound and well-coached," said Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood. "You have guys that compete for 60 minutes so when you talk to your guys you tell them that they have to compete for 60 minutes and finish every play because that's what they're going to do."

Notre Dame features quarterback Brady Quinn, the fourth-ranked passer in the country who already (he's just a junior) holds most of the school's biggest passing records. He has a 1,000-yard rusher (Darius Walker) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Jeff Samardzija and Maurice Stovall).

"It's a huge challenge for us," said Ohio State senior defensive end Mike Kudla. "We know we definitely have to get pressure on [Quinn]. We may not be able to hit him every time but we just have affect him a little bit."

The leaders of the Ohio State defense have been their linebackers, A.J. Hawk, Anthony Schlegel and Bobby Carpenter (whose status for the game is still questionable because of the foot injury he suffered in the Michigan game Nov. 18).

Hawk won the Lombardi Trophy and is considered by NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. as the top defensive candidate.

"Hawk is a competitor," said Haywood. "He competes for 60 minutes and you realize you have to match his intensity."

Buckeyes defense

Ohio State center Nick Mangold has seen the Buckeyes' defense up close every day in practice.

"They're too good," he said. "It's ridiculous. They always like to test out new blitzes and new coverages on us. They have some crazy stuff that they put in.

"I like to think I study the game pretty well and know what's going on, but I think [defensive coordinator Jim] Heacock has made it his personal mission that when we go against each other he's going to try confuse me. He's done a good job."

From Notre Dame tight end Jeff Fasano, who proclaimed Ohio State the best defense his team will face this season: "Besides their numbers and their stats, they play very hard and hustle to the ball. We have a lot of respect for them."

Not only will this game be an intriguing physical matchup, but it promises to be a great battle of wits as well.

"We've got a lot of things going into the offense, so you've got to be on your toes every day," said Samardzija. "Every time we install new stuff you've got to be ready to go. It takes a lot of smart guys, guys who are in tune to the system."

Quinn is the man

Leading that offense is Quinn, who's thrown for over 3,000 yards and 32 touchdowns, with just seven interceptions.

"Everyone knows Brady's always had the arm, he's always had the physical talent, he's always been a smart quarterback," said Samardzija. "But once Coach Weis got here, he kind of instilled a mentality in Brady to let him know he's got that skill and that he just needs to buy into the system and know when to take his shots."

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock is impressed with Quinn.

"He's a big, strong football player and he's hard to get to the ground even when you get to him," said Heacock. "He's got a great arm [and] can find the open receiver. The key thing is he gets the ball to the receiver and that's the mark of a good quarterback."

While Quinn has played well all season, his Ohio State counterpart, Troy Smith, had a slow start but has steadily improved. Over the last five games of the regular season, Smith threw eight touchdowns and just two interceptions. His season highlight came against Michigan, when he led two touchdown drives in the final eight minutes of the game and a 25-21 victory.

"Everything starts with Smith," said Notre Dame defensive end Victor Abiamiri. "He touches the ball on every single play and he beats you with his arm and his legs. Stopping Smith will give us a better chance to win the game, but they are not just limited to Smith. They can beat you in a lot of different ways."

Wide receiver Santonio Holmes has watched Smith's development this season.

"He's had a few times this season when he's been up and down," said Holmes. "But as the season has progressed he's just slowed himself down and realized he's capable of making a mistake; he just has to play through it."

Added offensive coordinator Jim Bollman: "He's done a very good job as a leader. He has a lot of confidence in himself and everyone else out there on the football field.

"He has really done a good job, especially the second half of the year, of making good decisions and having a steady performance. One of the hardest things to do on offense is be consistent and he's done a really good job."

Smith's partners

Helping the Ohio State offense this season has been the play of sophomore tailback Antonio Pittman, who exceeded 1,100 yards. The trio of wide receivers — Ted Ginn Jr., Holmes and Anthony Gonzalez — can prevent many defenses from ganging up at the line of scrimmage.

"If we put all of our eggs in one basket they will beat us another way," said Abiamiri. "They can run the football, they can throw the football. They have play makers all across the field so we can't limit ourselves to stopping one person or one thing."

Smith said his improvement has been due to a feeling of "being held accountable."

"At [a crucial] point in the game I think I have to do it," said Smith. "That's when I put all the weight on my shoulders. When I was a young guy and we were down a touchdown in pickup football I always wanted the ball in my hands. It's carried over to now; I feel the same way.

"As a quarterback, you have to very, very accountable for everything you do. If we win, I accept some of the glory, but if we lose I'm able to say it was my fault. I'm able to take the blame."

With all the focus on Notre Dame's offense and Ohio State's defense, the importance of the special teams has been pushed to the back burner. But not for Tressel.

"You can look at every bowl game, every big game, there's going always be a play or two or three in the special teams that you can say may have changed the momentum of the football game," said Tressel.

"The biggest thing about Notre Dame that impresses me is how fundamentally sound they are. I don't care what you're looking at, if it's their special units or their offense or their defense, they're very aggressive," he added. "They apply a lot of pressure and they have a veteran group who've played a lot of football games. They've stayed relatively healthy so they've got a lot of experience in big games."

todor@vindy.com