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Who had the biggest impact on 2002 season

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Who was the main reason the Buckeyes won in 2002?

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It's tough to pick one guy; there were so many contributors. Krenzel, Clarett, Jenkins, Gamble, Hartsock, Stepanovich, Olivea, Mangold, Sims, Will Smith, Scott, Anderson, Wilhelm, Reynolds, Hawk, Carpenter, Grant, Nickey, Doss, Allen, Fox, Nugent, Groom......the list goes on and on. You can name several huge plays each of these guys made throughout the season that helped push them to the national championship.
 
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I voted for Mike Doss because I think he set the tone for the season. When he said at his press conference that he was coming back to tOSU for his senior season to win the NC it gave me goosebumps. I think his impact as a leader was HUGE in making everyone believe they could win.
 
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I voted for Mike Doss for being the leader he was. I don't think the defensive unit would've played so well together without Mike Doss as the leader. I also voted for him because of what Findlay Buck said about him coming back for his senior year to win the national championship.
 
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I went with Tress. That saved me from having to choose from Krenzel, MoC, Doss, Gamble, Smith, or Jenkins.

Or copping out by saying the 'defensive unit'. And that was already done. :wink2:
 
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When all is said and done, every single starter on that team except for Bryce Bishop will have been drafted. If you subtract any single player, you can find a play that would not have been made, and possibly changed the outcome of a single game, and therefore the season, without that player's presence on the field.

We've had teams ('95, '96, '98) that couldn't get it done before, and you could certainly make the argument that any of those teams had 22 players who were superior at every single position to the bunch in 2002, except for possibly Gamble, Doss, and the D-Line.

The one thing that changed was the head coach, which is why I voted for Tressel. Tressel accomplished what Coop couldn't, and with less talented players that Cooper recruited.
 
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BB73: "Or copping out by saying the 'defensive unit'. And that was already done."

I went with 'Other' because I think the single biggest reason was the D-Line as a whole. I don't even think the Defense as a whole was 'great' if you put an average D-Line in front of them. Granted, they had great players: (the Kaiser, Doss, Hawk, & Gamble), outstanding speed (Grant), and good role players (Will Allen, Foxie, & Reynolds), but the D-Line made them great. Especially with the problems that team had in coverage. It cleared up a lot of mistakes.

Dryden: "Tressel accomplished what Coop couldn't, and with less talented players that Cooper recruited."

I don't agree with this statement. The Cooper teams were top heavy, but the '02 Bucks were just as talented (top to bottom) as any team that Cooper had, and were more talented in unglamorous positions (notably D-Line & Special Teams) than any team that Coop put on the field.
 
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My answer was on a thread where it doesn't belong ("Better freshman year: Clarett or Ginn?"). My answer was Krenzel. But I answered that before realizing that the question isn't about the PLAYER with the biggest impact. So if I could go back and change my answer, I would change it to Jim Tressel. Either his coaching style coincidentally fit perfectly with that team, or he altered his coaching style around that particular team. Either way, the Bucks would not have won the NC with Cooper still on the sidelines.

I stick to my biggest impact PLAYER as Krenzel. I think its somewhat cheating to say "defensive unit," but with an average, or even good defense, the Bucks would have lost several games. Even a GREAT defense probably would have lost to Purdue, and maybe Wisconsin, Michigan, and Miami (though they wouldn't have had the chance to play them). Only the 2002 defense would win the NC for them.
 
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Zurp said:
I think its somewhat cheating to say "defensive unit,"
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I don't understand this logic. How could you choose one player from that squad as the key to the defense? Doss for leadership? Any member of the D-Line for simply being dominant? Wilhelm or Grant for tackling anything that that moved? Nickey for actually making Buckeye fans forget his first few seasons? Who is expendable? Who could miss a game and the defense not miss a beat?

Although Chris Gamble's INT won the PSU game on the scoreboard, there were 10 other guys out there who shut PSU down for 4 qtrs of D-1 football. To me, as the question asks, they are most responsible for the NC.

When non-tOSU fans think of that team, they think of 3 things: MoC, Krenzel, and the defense.
 
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AJHawkfan said:
It's tough to pick one guy; there were so many contributors. Krenzel, Clarett, Jenkins, Gamble, Hartsock, Stepanovich, Olivea, Mangold, Sims, Will Smith, Scott, Anderson, Wilhelm, Reynolds, Hawk, Carpenter, Grant, Nickey, Doss, Allen, Fox, Nugent, Groom......the list goes on and on. You can name several huge plays each of these guys made throughout the season that helped push them to the national championship.
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Thats my thoughts exactly, so voting on this I did other. The whole team and our defense was Awesome.
 
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id say the d unit as a whole also, but i voted for matt

to many stories of him that year, you guys are dead on doss was the leader, but matt was the guy whod walk over grab a guy by the helmet and rip him a new one for half assing it. snyder gives matt a lot of credit for his development and challenging every scheme and idea.

BUT the true answer is it is a team game, teams win championships...
 
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