My head is slowly clearing, just in time to be able to focus on Monday’s game. I feel like I’ve been slacking a bit, while I try to recovered from whatever bug kicked my ass this week. But now it’s time, sickness or not — sometimes, Dan Jenkins says, you gotta play hurt.

Some thoughts about speed. We all remember the run-up to the game against Miami, and the stereotypes that were thrown around: Southern football=Fast, Midwestern football=Slow. We also remember that it was pretty much a bunch of crap four years ago, and it’s even less relevant today. But speed will play a role on Monday, because Florida likely will be the fastest team we’ve faced all season. I don’t know if that’ll make a difference or not, but it’s an adjustment Ohio State will have to be ready to address.

There’s another parallel to the Miami game that’s making me a bit uneasy. In that game, there was one team that was an overwhelming favorite. It had dominated nearly every opponent it encountered that season, and seemed to have all the advantages going into the title game. The overmatched opponent in Tempe probably shouldn’t have even bothered to show up for the game … so it was a shock to everyone, except for a few thousand of that team’s fans and and one alumnus/TV football pundit, when the overmatched opponent won the game and the title.

The story of the 2002 game sounds a little too similar to that of this year’s version, except OSU is in the role of big-time favorite. I haven’t been uncomfortable in the favorite’s chair all season, but for this game, I wonder how we’re going to respond to being something other than an underdog, as we were four years ago.

Those are my fears. They pop into my mind from time to time.

But then I think about the good stuff. A coaching staff that didn’t allow complacency during the season — with the possible exception of the Illinois game — despite being favored in nearly every game. A team loaded with upperclassmen, many of whom were around for the 02 season and understand the commitment and focus necessary to win this one last game. The experience of familiar suroundings — while the game itself will be played in a different building, the team is staying in and practicing at the same places it’s been in three of the past four bowl seasons.

And, um, there’s one other thing: We’re pretty good. That’s going to help.