BY MATT MARKEY (Toledo Blade) — COLUMBUS — For most of the last couple months, they have been tucked away in the bunker, sequestered and protected from the expected barrage of prickly questions as a scandal rampaged and the Ohio State football program teetered toward implosion.

They continued to meet, to work out, and make preparations for the 2011 season, but they operated cloaked in secrecy, as much like a cloistered convent as an elite college team.

A few days ago, some of the Buckeyes still standing emerged to give a status report.

Following the clumsy exit of their ultra-successful head coach Jim Tressel, and the blatantly self-serving departure of starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the Ohio State players indicated they are forging ahead despite a climate far removed from business as usual.

Regardless of being saddled with NCAA suspensions, with potentially crippling sanctions yet to come, the incumbent Buckeyes are hugging a party line that adheres to the philosophy that what hasn’t killed them will indeed make them stronger.

“We have all become closer together through the adversity,” senior defensive back Nate Oliver said. “It’s been different, but we understand there’s adversity that happens every day. You just have to face it and move on … and we’ll be better for it.”

The Buckeyes will enter the 2011 season with former defensive assistant Luke Fickell as head coach…..

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