Monday, December 31, 2001
OSU, South Carolina stars learned from mistakes
Bellisari, Watson bouncing back
Enquirer wire reports
TAMPA, Fla. — At one time, they were the driving forces behind their respective football teams. Now Ohio State quarterback Steve Bellisari and South Carolina tailback Derek Watson are simply trying to steer clear of controversy as preparations wind down for Tuesday's Outback Bowl rematch.
Bellisari was OSU's quarterback of record in last year's 24-7 loss here to South Carolina and made 31 consecutive starts before his arrest for drunken driving on Nov.16. He did not play in OSU's final two regular season games — serving a one-game suspension against Illinois and watching the 26-20 win at Michigan from the sidelines — and is probably looking at only spot duty in Tuesday's 11a.m. (ESPN) contest.
Watson, the Gamecocks' leading rusher the past three seasons, sat out the last Outback Bowl as punishment by coach Lou Holtz for speeding and driving with a suspended license af ter totaling a teammate's car in an accident.
Both players say they've grown wiser as a result.
“Anytime you make a mistake like that, you'd better learn from it. If you don't, it shows your ignorance,” said Bellisari, the Boca Raton native who is back in his home state for his final collegiate game.
“It kind of forced me to grow up — not that I felt I was that far behind — but it forces you to learn you'll have to deal with some situations. I guess it's part of life.”
Watson, unlike Bellisari, got his starting job back after his brush with the law. But he rushed for only 591 yards and five touchdowns this season, down from 1,066 yards and 11 TDs last season.
He looks at his first bowl game as a chance for atonement.
“Leaving guys on an island - stranded — for last year's bowl game, it hurt me and I know I left the other guys down,” Watson said. “This year I'm here to prove I'm here to play football, not just have fun.”
Bellisari, who spent the last three seasons trying to duck pass rushers and biting criticism of his erratic play, didn't dodge responsi bility for his actions in the early morning hours of Nov.16.
“Football teaches you a lot about life,” he said. “You're not going to win every game, you're not going to win every play, you have to deal with your own mistakes and pitfalls. You put it behind you and move on, move forward.”
Coach Jim Tressel has reinstated Bellisari as a captain after stripping him of that honor in the final two regular season games.
“It wasn't necessarily a 100 percent popular opinion,” Tressel said of the reinstatement.
“But his teammates elected him and we're now into a new chapter, into our bowl game. As I stepped back, I couldn't foresee me saying that he wasn't going to be the captain.”
Since the team's arrival in Tampa on Dec. 21, Bellisari has practiced at quarterback, tailback and wide receiver, as well as on special teams.
Tressel confirmed that Bellisari would get some snaps in the game at quarterback behind sophomore Craig Krenzel.
“That much I can tell you,” Tressel said. “Where else exactly he will play is the interesting point. We've got to have some fun with that.”
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OSU, South Carolina stars learned from mistakes