Another USC haunts Ohio St. this New Year's Day.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

TAMPA, Fla. _ It was an in-your-face move that wound up getting Ohio State slapped. And knocked around. And whipped. And the South Carolina Gamecocks expected no less.

"It was disrespectful, but that's how the game is played," said USC outside linebacker Kalimba Edwards after the Gamecocks' 24-7 win in the Outback Bowl, " . . . Why should they not go for it? If they can overpower the big guys in their conference, why shouldn't they just run over us?"

That is a question they will ponder over a long winter in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes, traditionally one of the Big Ten Conference's strongest and biggest teams, showed what their intentions were the first time they touched the football. Facing fourth-and-1 at the USC 32, and the option of a field goal try or a punt _ or just running over USC _ Ohio State gave the ball to 230-pound running back Jonathan Wells, and he stuffed the defense for 3 yards.

When the Buckeyes faced the same situation on the next set of downs at the 20, Wells ran it up the gut again. This time, inside linebacker Kenneth Harney stuffed him.

It might have taken USC's offense until the second half to get rolling, but from that moment, the defense was set on "Kill."

"Intimidation is not a factor," Edwards said. "The only factor is execution. If we'd executed poorly and those big guys had gotten their paws on us, obviously, there's a problem, but being scared? A lot of us have been playing football since we were eight years old and if intimidation is a factor, you have no business being on the field."

The underdogs wouldn't be run under the porch. In fact, they'd do a little barking of their own.