run for the roses

Looking back at Ohio State's run for the roses, there might be some who will insist the Buckeyes were lucky to escape defeat at least once. . . . the Buckeyes whipped a jinx in the form of premature Rose Bowl talk.

The time had come, Dundee acknowledged, to decide if he was serious about making a run for the roses. It was only mid-1990, but presidential campaigns had evolved into two-year affairs, and if he really had that famous "fire in his belly," now was the time.