Rooting for the underDawgs

By: Jamey Codding (jameycodding@bullz-eye.com)

12/31/2002

Codding Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home

Christmas is now long gone but we football fans in Northeast Ohio still have two gifts to unwrap, one Friday evening and another Sunday afternoon.

I am, of course, referring to the Fiesta Bowl match-up between Ohio State and Miami and the first-round playoff battle between the Browns and Steelers. Two pivotal games for two football teams that were shown very little respect all season. Two pivotal games for two football teams that weren't supposed to be where they nonetheless find themselves this weekend. Two pivotal games for two football teams still clinging to improbable championship dreams.

Two pivotal games for two football teams that apparently don't understand what the word "underdog" means. Or maybe they just don't care.

The 13-point spread in Friday's Fiesta Bowl equals the 13 wins the undefeated Buckeyes tallied this year, yet many feel the Hurricanes should be giving even more points to the co-Big Ten champs. Forget winning the game -- general sentiment has the Buckeyes getting trounced by two or three touchdowns. At least.

Never mind that Jim Tressel's team surrendered an average of just 12.2 points/game this year. Never mind that they beat four ranked teams along the way, including Big Ten rivals Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan as well as Pac-10 champion Washington State. And never mind that Ohio State allows just 78.7 rushing yards/game, the fourth-lowest total in the country, despite facing some of college football's elite backs, including Illinois' Antoineo Harris, Minnesota's Terry Jackson, Northwestern's Jason Wright and Heisman runner-up Larry Johnson, held to just 66 yards in Penn State's 13-7 loss to the Buckeyes on October 26. 

In fact, Ohio State's defense went head-to-head against nine different backs who amassed at least 1,000 rushing yards on the season, and aside from Wisconsin's Anthony Davis the Buckeyes held them all in check:

In other words this Ohio State defense, which hasn't allowed a running touchdown since that Penn State game, isn't afraid of Miami's Willis McGahee, the nation's fifth-leading rusher with 1,686 yards and 27 touchdowns. Do they respect him? Absolutely. Are they intimidated? Not a chance.

But the Buckeyes still find themselves on the underdog end of Friday's 13-point spread, a position they've grown accustomed to all season. Sure, they may have been favored over their opponents each week but very few people outside of Ohio thought the Scarlet and Gray could actually wrap up a perfect 13-0 season and a subsequent trip to Tempe on January 3.

Don't let the betting lines fool you: The Buckeyes have been playing the underdog role all year, and they've been defying the odds since their opening win against Texas Tech, 45-21.

Meanwhile, the 9-7 Browns haven't exactly stormed into the playoffs. Then again, who has in the AFC? With five of their nine wins coming against Houston, Baltimore, Jacksonville and Cincinnati (twice), Pittsburgh fans likely expect a walkover this Sunday against the Brownies, who lost both games to the Steelers in 2002. But let's take a closer look at the schedule and results.

Wins over the Titans, Jets, Saints and Falcons can't be ignored, and neither can the near-miss against the Colts three weeks ago in which Cleveland held a 16-0 halftime lead. Let's also not forget about the 16-13 overtime loss in Pittsburgh on September 29 or the 23-20 loss to the Steelers on November 3.

As for the Kansas City game and Dwayne Rudd's infamous helmet toss in week one... well, I think we've heard enough about that one.

This is a team that's played 12 games this year decided by eight points or less, and in those contests the Browns have gone 6-6, including last weekend's gripping 24-16 home win over the playoff-bound Falcons. 

Translation: Cleveland's used to close games that carry with them a playoff-like atmosphere. Even more important for Butch Davis and his team, the Browns have shown on several occasions that they know how to win those close games and that they sometimes even have luck on their side, which often stands as the deciding factor in this year's fickle NFL.

Just ask the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And yet, the Steelers are favored by eight points against a team that they've beaten by a total of six points in two separate games this year. And keep in mind that the Browns are 6-2 on the road with one of those losses coming in Tampa Bay.

Take a deep breath -- do you smell the upset brewing in Pittsburgh?

I know that some of you think I'm being too much of an optimist by believing that the Buckeyes and Browns actually have a chance this weekend, but is it really that far-fetched?

After all, Ohio State wouldn't even be in the Fiesta Bowl had Texas A&M not upset the previously unbeaten Oklahoma Sooners on November 9, 30-26, and even after shocking the Falcons, the Browns would still be postseason observers if the Jets hadn't upset the Packers later that afternoon.

Let's face it: Being an underdog doesn't mean much these days. Did you have money on the Anaheim Angels, who started the year 6-14 after going 75-87 in 2001, winning the World Series last season by beating the Yankees in the ALDS and then getting past Barry Bonds and the Giants in seven games? And how many of you picked the Patriots to beat the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI last year? Without Drew Bledsoe.

As sports fans we've always been drawn to the underdog, maybe because in some ways we feel like underdogs in our own day-to-day lives. It's fun to root for the athletes or the teams that nobody respects, hoping they can prove the alleged experts wrong by turning a slim chance into a big win. The Angels did it. The Patriots did it. Can the Browns and Buckeyes do it?

We won't know for sure until the final seconds tick off the clock Friday night and Sunday afternoon, but they'll at least make it interesting. A couple key turnovers, some big defensive stops, a gaping hole for Maurice Clarett or William Green, and suddenly the two Ohio underdogs will have the upper hand.

I'm not saying that the Bucks and Browns will both be victorious this weekend but at least they'll have a shot. And with the recent role reversals we've witnessed in the world of sports, that's about all an underdog fan can ask for this holiday season.

In the Bullz-Eye

The St. Louis Rams. Once thought to be football's latest dynasty, the Rams missed out on the playoffs with a lackluster 7-9 record this season after going a combined 23-8 the past two years. Is this the beginning of the end for Marshall Faulk and the Rams or just a deviation from the norm? There's undeniably still plenty of talent in St. Louis but that doesn't necessarily translate into wins and playoff berths, and with Kurt Warner's future in doubt and Faulk's health still a major question mark, you have to wonder what lies ahead for the former champs.

Questions/comments? Send all e-mails to jcodding@bullz-eye.com.