Now that OSU is No. 1, they ‘better buckle up'

Todd Boeckman woke up Sunday knowing he was the starting quarterback for the top-ranked college football team in the nation.

The congratulatory messages were there on the Ohio State junior's cell phone.

"I had a lot of text and voice mails about that," Boeckman said. "It's something I always dreamt about, just being a part of Ohio State and being the No. 1 team in the country."

How Boeckman and the rest of his teammates handle being No. 1 will factor into whether they stay on top or fall like other No. 1s have this year.

The Buckeyes (7-0) enter the stretch run of the regular season in control of their own destiny. If they win out, they will play for a national title for a second straight year.

Some of the players already know what it is like to have such a target on their backs. Ohio State was No. 1 all last season before the national championship game against Florida.

The Buckeyes also realize that everything can suddenly unravel. No. 1 was simply a pregame ranking when Ohio State was taken apart by Florida, 41-14.

"Everybody out there is going to give us their best shot," Boeckman said. "We know coming in that we're the defending Big Ten champs the last two years, and now we're the No. 1 team in the country. Everybody wants to knock that team off, so it's motivation for us to play hard each and every week."

Head coach Jim Tressel is not a man who gets too euphoric about rankings when there are six games left, including a bowl game.

Tressel has coached many No. 1 teams, including a Division I-AA national championship squad at Youngstown State that felt very comfortable with its top billing.

"I had a team in '94 that just said, 'Hey, we're No. 1, we're the best team, don't worry about it coach,' " Tressel said. "I heard that 10 times a day from those guys. 'Relax coach. You know, we'll be fine.'

"I was petrified."

The 2007 Buckeyes cannot afford to relish their No. 1 ranking like the 1994 Penguins, who finished 14-0-1.

"We weren't in a league in 1994, and that's different," Tressel said. "When you're in a league like ours, everybody knows everybody. Everybody knows every step you're going to take, every route you're going to run, every everything. You better buckle up."

Ohio State is the third team to be ranked No. 1 and one of just six undefeated teams remaining. Five more unbeatens fell Saturday, including previous No. 1 LSU.

The meat of Ohio State's schedule lies ahead, and some outside the state probably would not be too surprised if the Buckeyes cannot stay on top the rest of the season.

"There might be a couple of people out there that doubt us," defensive lineman Dexter Larimore said. "But nobody is going to doubt us if we can keep winning.

"If you can get a W every week, that's really all that matters."

Reach Canton Repository sports writer Mike Popovich at (330) 580-8341 or e-mail: mike.popovich@cantonrep.com.