Balancing the books at OSU

COLUMBUS - Ohio State defensive lineman Nader Abdallah gave himself a tough challenge this fall.

But it had nothing to do with sacking quarterbacks, dropping running backs for a loss or getting postseason honors.

The senior from New Orleans signed up for 21 hours of classes, a formidable workload for any student, much less one who sees much of his time gobbled up by the demands of playing big-time college football.

And these classes weren't in trap shooting or social dance, courses one of his teammates admitted taking earlier in his academic career.  All of them were in business finance.

"I don't know how I did it," Abdallah said recently. "Nobody ever does that, but I wanted to do it because I wanted to be finished with football and school at the same time. So I took it upon myself to load up this quarter and stay focused.

"I had classes in the morning, classes in the afternoon, if I didn't have practice. Classes at 7:30 at night. I was extremely busy the whole quarter, but I'm extremely happy I was able to do it," he said.

Abdallah is one of 16 Ohio State players who have already earned degrees.

For those who aren't finished with school, bowl games played as late as this year's Fiesta Bowl or the last two national championship games can create a conflict between athletics and academics.

Ohio State's players will miss the first day of the winter quarter by playing in the bowl game. Last year, they missed the first four days of the quarter.

"It's television," OSU coach Jim Tressel said, when asked why the bowl schedule stretches into the first seven or eight days of the new year. "And we're good partners, you know we're good partners."

Last year, Ohio State brought tutors along to the BCS championship game in New Orleans. This year, the Buckeyes will take a charter flight home from Phoenix early on Jan. 6.

"We're flying home at, like 5 o'clock in the morning, so I would expect them in their 8 o'clock classes," Tressel said, with a smile.

Several OSU players, like Todd Boeckman and Marcus Freeman, who had red-shirt seasons, were taking graduate-level courses this fall. Fullback Brandon Smith had only one class during the season.

Tight end Rory Nicol, like Abdallah, has already graduated. He needed only seven hours in the fall quarter to finish his degree requirements.

"I probably did used to think, ‘Man, I've got class and I don't want to go back (after a bowl game).' We'd leave after the bowl game and start class literally the next day. Now I kind of wish I was coming back and taking classes. I just wish this wasn't over," he said.