All eyes remain on Navy

CHICAGO — Jim Tressel was reaching. But it was obvious his message has reached his players.

On Monday at the Big Ten football media days, Tressel talked about how tough Ohio State’s football opener against Navy (8-5 last season) on Sept. 5 would be.

He threw in everything except the kitchen plumbing equipment, talking about Navy’s unique style of play and the fact that a military academy has not played at Ohio Stadium since 1930.

Tuesday, when some of the Buckeyes took their turn speaking at media days, that same message reappeared.

The reason for this naval focus isn’t hard to find. The Navy game is followed by OSU’s much-anticipated Sept. 12 game against Southern California at Ohio Stadium.

It is a make-or-break game for Ohio State in terms of national respect this season. And it’s a chance to avenge a 35-3 loss at USC last season.

Senior defensive lineman Doug Worthington admitted it is hard to avoid letting thoughts of a return match with USC cross his mind.

“I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t be, with everybody talking, everybody saying what happened in the USC game last year. But that’s what Navy wants. Navy is a great team, it’s going to be a great, great battle.”

Asked if he had the date of the USC game memorized, Worthington said, “I have the whole month of September memorized.”

Senior defensive back Kurt Coleman says the veterans on the team have gotten this message. Now they’re in charge of passing it on to the younger players.

“That’s what a veteran has to do. You have to keep telling the younger guys that we have to get past Navy first to get to USC,” he said. “I think their mind wanders a little bit but you have to keep bringing them back down to reality. You have to get past game one to get to game two.”

“We’ve been training and watching film on USC, but right now our focus is getting ready for Navy,” he said.

The OSU players were less reluctant to talk about an opponent 10 games beyond Southern California on the schedule.

The Buckeyes’ win over Michigan last season stretched their winning streak over their biggest rival to five years.

Worthington and Coleman said extending that number to six in a row is one of their biggest goals.

“It’s something you don’t want to let go,” Worthington said about the streak.

Coleman said, “Beating Michigan is our first goal. We’ve won five straight, we want to go for six.” 

Worthington called the 2006 OSU-Michigan game his best memory of that streak.

“Probably my favorite memory is No. 1 vs. No. 2, just how epic that game was. I didn’t play too much in the game, but just the whole game, the whole atmosphere, it seemed like something in a movie,” he said.

With Michigan coming off a 3-9 season last year, a repeat of that environment seems unlikely.

But Worthington was cautious, almost Navy game-like cautious, when he talked about this year’s game.

“When a dog is wounded, they’re most dangerous. I feel Michigan is very, very dangerous. They’re basically waiting in the wings for the game,” he said.