DaytonDailyNews.com

On the bus following last season's BCS championship game, Kirk Barton wanted to say something.

"But what was there to say?" said Barton, the Ohio State senior offensive tackle and team captain. " 'What time's our flight tomorrow,' maybe? 'Hide the razor blades,' I guess."

The biggest feeling after that 41-14 defeat against Florida was motivation. The players, without speaking, were grinding their teeth, hoping to again reach this game to prove they could indeed perform on that major stage.

The Buckeyes, whatever they say in front of cameras and reporters, want redemption. A second chance has emerged to end the snickering and national embarrassment suffered when the underdog Gators ran over and around OSU one year ago in Glendale, Ariz.

But Ohio State as a team isn't alone. This national title game features a number of individual comebacks and personal salvation goals to go with the matchup of college football's top-ranked teams.

The Tigers have their own score to settle, and it centers on their loss column. After two triple-overtime losses, including a 50-48 defeat against Arkansas on Nov. 23, they appeared to be out of the title race after competing most of the season in the front seat.

"A roller-coaster ride, just as nervous as everybody else," said Glenn Dorsey, the LSU defensive tackle. "People said, 'Stop giving us close games, you're giving us heart attacks.' Well, we're getting heart attacks too."

Like on the plane ride home after winning the Southeastern Conference championship against Tennessee. Reports were coming in on the evening's two pivotal games — No. 1 Missouri facing Oklahoma and No. 2 West Virginia hosting Pittsburgh. Both higher-ranked teams were losing.

When the Missouri score went final and the Tigers learned the news, their excitement seemed to be stronger than cheers.

"The plane dove down some, and everyone screamed and yelled, 'We're going down!' " said Carnell Stewart, the LSU senior offensive tackle. "I said, 'We need to get off this plane first before we start celebrating.' Everybody was so impatient, we couldn't go to sleep. We know what chance we've been given."

Two hungry teams

One headline the day after OSU's blowout loss to Florida screamed "Ohio State proved second-rate."

It was a feeling shared around the country after the Buckeyes' second national championship game appearance in four seasons ended in disaster. The 27-point loss came after almost every national pundit chose Ohio State, many of them thinking a big win was coming. Instead, the failure has hung around OSU's necks the entire season, even as the Buckeyes set records for regular-season and Big Ten winning streaks. Imagine phrases echoing through players' heads.

"The Buckeyes," wrote one Associated Press columnist, "still looked perpetually confused."

Listening to the Buckeyes in the weeks leading up to this year's title game, they say they're not out for blood.

"I don't know if I embrace redemption," said Jim Tressel, the Ohio State coach. "I embrace the opportunity we have to play the best we can play. But I'm not exactly sure what redemption is. This is 2007.

"I guess if we got to play again in 2006, you could have that thought. This happens to be 2007 and we want to do the best we can."

Indeed, a new year, but a chance to right an old wrong. The same goes for LSU, which opened the season ranked No. 2 and cruised with an emotional win against Florida before losing to Kentucky in three overtimes the next week. By Week 11, the Tigers were again on top after Ohio State's loss to Illinois.

It didn't last long. In their final regular-season game, the Tigers were befuddled by running back Darren McFadden in another triple-overtime loss, this time to Arkansas.

LSU then won the SEC title while the argument began about whether a two-loss team deserved a chance to play for a national title.

"This football team has it," said Les Miles, the LSU coach. "And they wanted it — they wanted the (SEC) West, and they wanted the conference, and they knew they were going to have to play and play with injury. At that point, they were playing for a glimmer of a national championship, and now they have a chance to prove they deserve it."

Small struggles

The entire season, Ricky Jean-Francois has been locked to the LSU sideline. The sophomore from Miami was suffering a season-long suspension for his poor academic performance. A first-team freshman All-American last season, Jean-Francois was counting down the days with his teammates.

"They would say, 'Ricky, you've got 100 days, you've got 24 days, you've got 19 days,' " said Jean-Francois. "Now I'm back."

As a starting defensive tackle in the SEC championship game, he made three tackles. Now Jean-Francois is an example of a player who has individual goals to fulfill in this championship game, outside of team redemption.

"Now," he said, "I'm appreciating things I never did before, and I'm so thankful to be in this game, to have this chance."

Todd Boeckman, meanwhile, has spent much of his break in the film room. The Ohio State junior quarterback finished the season in a funk, tossing three interceptions in the loss to Illinois and completing just seven of 13 passes for 50 yards in the season finale against Michigan.

The once-reliable Boeckman had his only two sub-100 efficiency performances of the season and totaled four of his 12 interceptions in the final two games. For the Buckeyes, he might have the most to prove — that he's not too experienced, not too slow, not too unlike Troy Smith to succeed.

"Coach and I sat down and watched, I think, about half a season of throws throughout the year," Boeckman said. "We noticed some of my footwork getting just a little lazy; I wasn't doing the exact same things I wanted to the whole year."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or

knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.