By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

TEMPE, Ariz. - From Heisman candidate to no nameplate.

That's the sobering trail of Chris Gamble's lost season. When Ohio State took part in the Fiesta Bowl's media day this week at Sun Devil Stadium, its top 12 or so players sat behind placards bearing their name. Gamble didn't rate one.

The junior, a two-way sensation and co-MVP of the team's 2002 season, played little offense this fall and was beaten badly a few times at cornerback. He lost his punt-return duties. A consensus All-American in preseason, Gamble wasn't even consensus all-Big Ten.

"I didn't play like I was supposed to," he said.

He had just four catches and two interceptions. Last season he had 31 catches and - in part-time defensive duty - four game-saving interceptions.

Yet his talent remains tantalizing. Gamble is weighing whether to forego his final season to enter the NFL draft, and he was ranked No. 1 among draft-eligible cornerbacks in a list published during the season by The Sporting News.

"If I thought I'd go in the first round, I might consider it," he said.

Coach Jim Tressel said he advises players to jump to the pros if they'll go in the first 20 picks.

Gamble said Tuesday that it has been hard to stay in tune when teams throw away from him most of the game and then attack him just once or twice.

Said safety Will Allen: "At times Chris has slipped up, but who doesn't? He has been extremely good for us. He has taken away a lot of good players."

Gamble hurt his right thumb against Michigan State Nov. 8, then found out it was fractured after the Michigan game two weeks later. He had a metal plate surgically implanted in the thumb after the regular season.

He said the injury was the reason he dropped a potential game-clinching interception in overtime against Purdue. Yet much of his seeming failures in 2003 might have been because of his billing.

"Everybody thought, 'OK, if he made this many plays when he played half a year (at cornerback in 2002), he ought to make twice that many plays if he plays the whole year,' " Tressel said. "I'm sure the expectations were high."

TOVAR LEAVES: Steve Tovar, who served as defensive film assistant, has been named linebackers coach at Army. The former OSU All-American and Bengals linebacker joins the staff of new Army coach Bobby Ross.

NOT LIKE LAST YEAR: The Buckeyes enjoyed a decisive crowd advantage in the Fiesta Bowl last year, but their fans probably will be outnumbered Friday by Kansas State's.

OSU sold its ticket allotment of 15,000, but KSU ticket manager Bob Howell has said he directed some Wildcat fans to OSU's office after his sold all of the 22,000 tickets it requested from the bowl.

It's uncertain how much of a fan advantage KSU will have. Bowl officials said about 30,000 OSU alumni live within a day's drive of Tempe and many might have bought tickets through the bowl office. KSU's fervor comes in part because this is the school's first Bowl Championship Series bowl.