By Rusty Miller
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - If not for his fear of flying, Maurice Clarett might well be battling Willis McGahee for playing time in the Miami backfield.

Instead, Clarett - who says he's healthy after a season of injuries - will lead No. 2 Ohio State against top-ranked Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3.

"I wanted to go to Miami. I'm not going to lie," the tailback said Monday. "Coach (Jim) Tressel knew I wanted to go to Miami, but I was too scared to fly."

Ohio's Mr. Football in 2001 and the national offensive player of the year in USA Today, the Youngstown native was interested in being a Hurricane - but not getting on an airplane to be one.

"I'm sorry I didn't go down there and visit," Clarett said while surrounded by reporters on a makeshift riser near the end of Ohio State's massive indoor practice field. "But I think I would have stayed in Ohio just because my mother's right up the road and I'm from Ohio."

Tressel said there was never any surprise when Clarett bloomed into a standout tailback as a freshman. It helped, he said, that he knew the player from his days as the coach at Youngstown State, not far from where Clarett played in high school.

"Everyone in America knew he was a great running back. He was not a secret," Tressel said. "The thing that we knew because we were in his locale was his passion to achieve is extraordinary."

Clarett missed one game early in the season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, then missed two more games and parts of two others because of a nerve injury to his left shoulder.

Despite playing the regular-season finale in pain, Clarett rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown as the Buckeyes completed a 13-0 season with a 14-9 victory over rival Michigan.

Since then, Clarett has tried to rest his shoulder while remaining in playing shape.

"He's done everything anyone else has," Tressel said.

Clarett has not encountered the searing pain that limited him to just 38 carries over the Buckeyes' final five games. Even though his playing time was limited in the second half of the season, he still set Ohio State freshman records for touchdowns (16), points (96) and rushing yards (1,190).

"My shoulder's like normal. It's 100 percent," Clarett said. "It feels a little slow coming back now because everybody's been off for two weeks. But physically I feel fine."

Running backs coach Tim Spencer didn't think Clarett was completely over the shoulder injury but that he would be by the national championship game.

"He's his old self," Spencer said. "He's getting hit, he's running hard and he's looking good."

The Buckeyes are working out in full pads Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before a light workout Friday. Tressel didn't think Clarett would face much, if any, contact.

"I don't think we'll be tackling him, probably for his sake and ours," Tressel said. "It appears to me that he's working hard on his strength. There's nothing that he's not able to do at this point in time."

Ohio State will board a charter flight for Phoenix on Dec. 26. Clarett was taking Benadryl prior to flights early in the season so he could rest and calm his nerves.

He said he had a simple plan for the flight west this time.

"Just go to sleep," he said with a wide grin.