Title Must Wait for Ohio St.

As the John Cooper Era begins its second decade at Ohio State, it appears his Buckeyes are finally beginning to grasp the strategy for winning the national championship that has eluded the school since 1968.

They beat Texas A&M;, 24-14, in the Sugar Bowl on Friday night, giving Ohio State a bowl victory and a victory over Michigan in the same season for the first time since Cooper took over in 1988.

That combination is almost mandatory for any hope at a championship, and it would have done the trick this year if not for that little mishap against Michigan State on Nov. 7.

So it looks like the Buckeyes (11-1) will have to settle for considering this a building block and work on getting it right next season.

“It’s not a perfect season, but it’s a good, solid season,” said Cooper, who improved his record in bowl games at Ohio State to 3-7. “I don’t think we’re going to be any worse than No. 2 in the country.”

Things appear to be aligning favorably for Ohio State’s next season, which includes a game against UCLA. The Buckeyes’ victory Friday night gave the Big Ten a 5-0 record in bowl games, a favorable showing that should help in subjective considerations of the strength of Ohio State’s conference schedule.

There should be plenty of talent coming back. Only five of the offensive and defensive starters--most notably quarterback Joe Germaine and cornerback Antoine Winfield--are seniors.

Now the Buckeyes will have to wait to see if a few key juniors stick around or decide to go pro.

Split end David Boston maintains that he has not made his decision, but his play Friday gave a pretty good indication that he would be ready to play in the NFL. Boston had 11 receptions for 105 yards and was named the game’s most outstanding player. His receptions total broke the school bowl game record of nine set by Cris Carter against USC in the 1985 Rose Bowl.

And Boston did it all with a sprained ankle that he estimated was only at 80% strength.

As was the case in last year’s Sugar Bowl loss to Florida State, junior linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer turned in a far-from-dominant performance that would indicate it’s time for him to move on. Of his five tackles, two came after opposing runners had gained first-down yardage.

As good as this Sugar Bowl victory felt, it might be difficult for Ohio State to get past the feeling that it cost itself a national title with that one loss. Many people inside and outside the program think it’s the best team in the country, but the Michigan State game took that claim out of their hands and put it in the control of the poll voters and computers.

The Ohio State contingent in the crowd of 76,503 booed when the giant video screen showed a Bowl Championship Series promotion that called the Fiesta Bowl “the first true national championship.”

The Buckeyes still think they were more deserving than Florida State (which also had a regular-season loss) for a chance to face undefeated Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl.

Unable to change that now, they hoped a convincing victory in the Sugar Bowl combined with an uninspiring victory by Florida State over No. 1 Tennessee could persuade enough Associated Press voters to make them the champions of the media poll.

It would be hard to call a 10-point victory in which the Buckeyes scored only three points after the first quarter dominant.

Texas A&M; actually scored first. The Aggies moved 59 yards, gaining ground on each of their six plays and scoring on a nine-yard touchdown run by Dante Hall.

Not counting a drive that was cut short by the halftime gun, the Aggies punted on their next seven possessions.

One of the punts was blocked by Ohio State’s Derek Ross and returned 16 yards by Kevin Griffin for a touchdown that made the score 21-7 in the first quarter.

The Aggies didn’t bother to throw downfield against Winfield and the Buckeye secondary. That safe, conservative approach was no use against an Ohio State defense that ranked No. 2 in the country in yardage allowed and gave up only 283 yards Friday. Texas A&M; could have saved everyone a lot of time by simply punting on third down; the Aggies didn’t convert a third-down opportunity until the third quarter.

The Buckeyes should have put this game away by halftime. But they had some third-down issues of their own, converting only one of six in the first half. They also came up short when they went for it on fourth and one at the Texas A&M; 24 and they missed two field-goal attempts in the second half.

Germaine did work the short passing game, completing 21 of 38 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown. Running back Joe Montgomery, who rushed for 96 yards, scored Ohio State’s other touchdown.

Texas A&M; (11-3) trailed Kansas State, 27-12, in the fourth quarter of the Big 12 championship game and came back to win in overtime, knocking the Wildcats out of the No. 1 ranking and the championship picture. Earlier, Texas A&M; beat then-No. 2 Nebraska. But the Aggies couldn’t complete the trifecta against the third-ranked Buckeyes.

“We played a great football team in Ohio State, and we came up a little short,” Coach R.C. Slocum said.

“When you’re playing a team as talented as Ohio State, you can’t fall behind like we did.”

The Aggies actually outgained the Buckeyes, 152 yards to 140, in the second half.

With the help of three Ohio State penalties that accounted for 40 of the 68 yards on the drive, the Aggies scored a third-quarter touchdown on an eight-yard pass to LeRoy Hody to pull within 10.

But neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

“We just ran out of time,” said Texas A&M; linebacker Dat Nguyen.

So did the Buckeyes in their quest for the national championship.

“We’ll play head-to-head with anybody,” Boston said.

They won’t get the chance.