Columnist Steve Guiremand: Rebels getting talent in JaJa

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Jan. 3, 2003 | 8:49 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at steveg@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-2324.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Ohio State running backs coach Tim Spencer was up in the bleachers at Sun Devil Stadium earlier this week watching as his star running back Maurice Clarett was mobbed by reporters on Fiesta Bowl Media Day.

Clarett, the probable 2003 Heisman Trophy frontrunner after rushing for a OSU freshman record 1,190 yards, has made his share of headlines this week. He has accused school officials of lying for saying he hadn't filled out the NCAA-mandated paperwork that would have allowed him to fly home and attend a funeral of a longtime friend in Youngstown, Ohio, in what police indicated was a drug-related shooting.

So Spencer actually seemed somewhat relieved when a reporter asked him to talk about another running back he had recruited to Columbus ... JaJa Riley.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Riley won't be suiting up for the Buckeyes tonight in their national championship showdown with Miami. That's because he decided last month to transfer to UNLV because of what he felt was a lack of playing time. Riley, a redshirt freshman from San Diego who was fourth on the depth chart at tailback behind Clarett and talented sophomores Lydell Ross and Maurice Hall, carried the ball just 12 times in six games for the Buckeyes for 44 yards.

"What (UNLV) is going to get is a young man who has tireless effort in terms of work ethic," Spencer said. "There won't be anybody there who can work any harder than him. The young man can run all day.

"It's just unfortunate for us (Riley transferred)," Spencer continued. "He was probably a year or so away. You know, when you've grown up and come from a high school program where you're the guy, you're the man, it's a little hard sometimes to wait your turn. I think he probably thought his time was a little sooner than the coaches thought."

Still, Spencer had nothing but positive things to say about Riley, who will enroll in UNLV for the spring semester but must sit out the 2003 season per NCAA transfer rules.

"Oh, JaJa's a heckuva athlete," Spencer said. "He probably was the second fastest tailback on our team. He's very elusive. He's a slasher and a physical runner. And he works his butt off.

"I wish he would have stayed. Sometimes kids think that if they aren't playing as a freshman, it isn't going to happen. What I tried to tell JaJa and the rest of our guys is that there really have been only three guys that have come to Ohio State and played as a freshman -- Archie (Griffin), Maurice and Robert Smith. The rest of us did fine. I really played two years and Eddie (George) played two years. Eddie is second in rushing here, I'm third ... and we really only had two years."

"He kind of got caught up in a system where he didn't get too many chances because we are so deep," Ohio State fullback Brandon Joe said. "Once you get in a state like that, it's hard to catch up sometimes. I think coming out to UNLV, JaJa will be ready to compete. He's a heckuva athlete. We hate to see him go, but we like to see what's best for JaJa."

"He was a good running back," added starting cornerback Chris Gamble, who was a member of the same recruiting class as Riley. "He was quick and fast. I thought he could have gotten a chance to get some more reps in the game. I thought he should have been on the field, too."

The Cooper factor

It is ironic that tonight's national championship game should be played at Sun Devil Stadium where John Cooper coached Arizona State to a Rose Bowl in mid 1980s.

Cooper, now a part-time scout with the Cincinnati Bengals who also did color on Fresno State's Silicon Valley Classic victory over Georgia Tech on Tuesday, recruited 19 of Ohio State's 22 starters before getting fired after the 2000 season. One of his assistants at Ohio State and also at Tulsa was Miami head coach Larry Coker.

Although many people blame Cooper's firing in Columbus because of his dismal 2-10-1 record against arch-rival Michigan, Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger seemed to hint that a rash of off-the-field and academic problems was the major reason Jim Tressel was brought in to replace Cooper. Geiger spent 11 years as athletic director at Stanford, so he knows a thing or two about mixing academics and athletics.

"I'm very happy now with the health of the program, particularly in the area of academics," Geiger told the Arizona Republic. "We're in a much better situation now."

Notes, quotes and anecdotes