The Associated Press

PHOENIX - Mike Doss hopes it can be done. Matt Wilhelm and Kenny Peterson do, too. And so does Mark Dantonio, Ohio State's defensive coordinator, whose task is to devise a plan to derail Miami's high-powered offense in the Fiesta Bowl.

"They're big, fast, athletic and they put up a lot of points," said Doss, the Buckeyes' All-American strong safety. "This is the big challenge - to see if we can contain them."

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Second-ranked Ohio State (13-0) has until Friday night to fine tune its strategy before taking on No. 1 Miami (12-0) for the national championship.

"We'll need to play with great toughness, great effort and we'll have to know what to do," said Dantonio, whose defense allowed just 12.2 points per game. "We do those things, and then we'll need to tackle."

Naturally, the Hurricanes don't think they can be stopped from becoming just the second team since 1979 to win consecutive national titles.

"All the different looks we have on offense ... it's amazing," Miami All-American center Brett Romberg said Sunday. "I definitely wouldn't want to be a defensive coordinator going against our football team."

Led by quarterback Ken Dorsey and running back Willis McGahee, Miami scored a school-record 503 points, 41.9 per game. The scary part was the speed with which points were produced - the average drive time on 67 offensive TDs was 1:58, with 18 scores coming in less than a minute.

Dorsey, maligned this season for his inconsistency, threw for 3,073 yards and 26 touchdowns. McGahee ran for 1,686 yards and 27 touchdowns, both school records.

"You can't really stop them, you just want to slow them down, starting with McGahee," said All-American linebacker Wilhelm, the Buckeyes' leading tackler. "But with their great offensive line, it's tough to do, and no one's done it all year. We'll try to contain them and take away some of the big plays."

Before last year's national title game in the Rose Bowl, Nebraska defenders also believed Miami's offense could be sidetracked. The running game was slowed, but Dorsey threw for 362 yards and three touchdowns in the Hurricanes' 37-14 victory.

There's more to Miami than just Dorsey and McGahee. Wide receiver Andre Johnson had 48 catches for 1,038 yards and nine TDs, and tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. had 46 catches for 604 yards and seven scores.

While the Buckeyes handled high-scoring teams like Texas Tech and Washington State, Miami's offense is much more versatile. Winslow, for example, runs with the speed of a wideout, and it's virtually impossible for a linebacker to cover him one-on-one.

Romberg likened Ohio State's defense to Nebraska's of 2001, and said the Buckeyes in no way compared to speedy Florida State, which gave Miami's offense all it could handle before the Hurricanes won 28-27.

"They don't have that Florida State kind of speed, they just control the gaps well and are fundamentally sound," Romberg said. "I see no speed demons on that football team."

Peterson disagrees.

"Speed can be deceiving on film," Ohio State's 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive tackle said. "We have a very athletic group and we mix it up. We have straight power rushers, speed rushers and little bit of both. To say we're not as fast as Florida State and compare us to power rushers like Nebraska ... that's not a fair assessment."

Like most basic defensive plans, Ohio State will look to shut down the run first, then force Dorsey to pass. At that point, it's time to intensify the pass rush and try to rattle a quarterback who is 38-1 as a starter.

"I hope we can," Dantonio said. "We won't win if we can't."

Dorsey is looking forward to matching wits with the Buckeyes.

"We'll try to do a lot of different things and find mismatches," the QB said. "Because of our balance, it makes it much more difficult to prepare for us."

At times, Miami's offense has sputtered, but opposing defenses weren't the reason. Penalties were.

Against Florida State, Miami had 14 penalties for 109 yards; in a 42-17 win over Rutgers there were 13 penalties for 120 yards; and in a 28-21 win over Pittsburgh, there were 10 flags for 95 yards.

Romberg figures Ohio State will play its regular sound defense, and wait for Miami to make mistakes.

"They'll probably have a couple of blitzes and then wait for us to screw up," the center said. "People have been pressing that all year long - that we're not disciplined. We've got to go out there and not make mistakes, because we know they're not going to."

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