By Bill Koch
Enquirer staff writer

Richard Hall, who carried once for 16 yards in UC's 23-19 loss to the Buckeyes in 2002 at Paul Brown Stadium, will start at running back Saturday. The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

As a student at Ohio State University in 2000, Richard Hall would attend football games on Saturday afternoons, sit in Ohio Stadium and try to envision himself running onto the field in front of that huge, adoring crowd decked out in Buckeyes' scarlet and gray.

But he could never make the picture come into focus.

"It was kind of weird because I would always tell my friends that I can't picture myself running out there on that field for some reason," Hall said.

Talk about weird. Hall, now a 25-year-old senior, will finally get the chance to play on that field Saturday, but he'll be wearing a University of Cincinnati uniform and playing against the Buckeyes.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Hall said. "It's an atmosphere like no other. Playing down at Paul Brown was only 66,000 (fans). This is going to be 110, so it's going to be that much louder."

THE HALL FILE

A snapshot of former Wyoming High (Class of 1999) standout running back Richard Hall since transferring to UC in 2001 from Ohio State, where the prep phenom never did more than work out with OSU: • Rushed for 264 yards and scored three touchdowns in a backup role as a sophomore at UC. • Rushed for 777 yards and scored 10 touchdowns in 10 games. • Now a 25-year-old senior and starting tailback. —Bill Koch

Hall remembers the first time he saw an Ohio State game in person. It was during a recruiting trip, the Buckeyes were playing Illinois and he watched and listened to the massive crowd in awe of the electric atmosphere.

That day erased any lingering doubts he might have had about where he was going to college.

"It was eye opening," he said, "just to see the loyalty by the fans, to see how they care just as much as somebody out on the field. Those people would die for Ohio State football. It's like some people would view going to war for your country. Those fans up there are as just as diehard like that."

This won't be Hall's first appearance against Ohio State - he carried once for 16 yards in UC's 23-19 loss to the Buckeyes in 2002 at Paul Brown Stadium - but this time he'll take the field as the Bearcats' starter at running back, six years after he signed with Ohio State following a legendary career at Wyoming High School that saw him gain 7,386 yards.

"I'm sure he'll be excited," UC coach Mark Dantonio said. "I'm sure he'll feel he has something to prove."

By now, Hall's story is familiar to most Cincinnatians. After he graduated from Wyoming, he got caught in a web of OSU admissions regulations and his own academic shortcomings that prevented him from ever playing for the Buckeyes.

As he reflects on what happened, he blames only himself.

"If I had just done what I was supposed to do," Hall said, "there's no telling where I'd be now. I would be a graduate of Ohio State and possibly somewhere on an NFL roster."

Hall admits that he didn't want to go to class and wasn't willing to do the required academic work. It was a difficult time for him.

"I would tell everybody I'm all right," he said. "But deep down in my heart, I wasn't all right."

The decision to transfer to UC in 2001 gave him a fresh start and he has taken full advantage of it. He gained 777 yards on 185 carries with 10 total touchdowns last year for the Bearcats before suffering a concussion in the Southern Miss game. He didn't play the following week against Alabama-Birmingham, then returned to gain 123 yards against Army. But he carried only 18 times in the Bearcats' final four games.

He should get plenty of work this year under Dantonio.

"He's got great vision," Dantonio said. "He's got the ability to make people miss in space. He catches the ball well. Hopefully he'll have a great year because I think he has that kind of ability."

Hall still hopes to play in the NFL, but he knows at the age of 25 that's not as likely as it once seemed. He's on schedule to graduate in December with a degree in criminal justice.

"There are more realistic goals now," he said. "It's not a do-or-die situation for me now. A lot of people didn't think I'd make it this far, to be a graduate. I'm proud that I'm going to be a graduate for my mother's sake. It feels good. I don't have to go out and say anything because my degree speaks for itself."

He would like to make another statement on the football field this year, beginning Saturday in the stadium many thought would be his home for four years.

"What would really cap it off," he said, "is when that buzzer goes off and it says the Bearcats have more than what the Buckeyes have got. I'll sprint 100 yards then. It doesn't matter to me how we get it done, just as long as we get it done."

NOTES: Dantonio, a former Ohio State defensive coordinator, wore his OSU national championship ring on his right hand Monday as he met the media from Cincinnati and Columbus.

"I like to wear my ring every now and then just as a symbol of a championship," he said. "To me, it's a symbol of what can happen if you believe and focus."...

Junior-college transfer Kevin Lovell will be the placekicker against Ohio State. Dantonio still hasn't made a decision between incumbent Chet Ervin and junior-college transfer Brian Steel for the punting duties. ...

UC's captains are Gino Guidugli, Kyle Takavitz, Daven Holly and Andre Frazier.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com