No. 1 Football Gets Sweet Revenge on No. 7 Penn State – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/3/1998 12:00:00 AM | Football
October 3, 1998
%^$
%^$By RICHARD ROSENBLATT
%^$AP Football Writer%^$
%^$ COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – As soon as Ohio State coach John Cooper saw the rain,%^$he told his team it was a day for defense. That’s all linebacker Jerry%^$Rudzinski needed to hear, especially after waiting nearly a year for another%^$chance at Penn State.%^$
%^$ “This game was taken a little bit personally, and we wanted to redeem%^$ourselves from that embarrassment last year,” Rudzinski said Saturday after%^$recovering a fumble for touchdown as No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 7 Penn State%^$28-9. “We had the same players back and wanted to step up and show the%^$country.”%^$
%^$ A year ago, Penn State ran up 316 yards on the ground, rallied for a 31-27%^$win at State College, Pa., and moved into the No. 1 ranking the next day. This%^$time, the Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) held the Lions (3-1, 0-1) to 181 total%^$yards – 79 rushing – and showed why they are set for another national title%^$run.%^$
%^$ “I found Ohio State a pretty good football team going in, and they didn’t%^$do anything to disprove that,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said as a followup%^$to his pregame remark that “we’re playing one of the best football teams I’ve%^$seen in 50 years.”%^$
%^$ While both offenses were slowed by the daylong rain at The Horseshoe, the%^$Buckeyes’ defense turned the game late in the second quarter.%^$
%^$ With Penn State leading 3-0 and facing a second-and-10 from the 13, Kevin%^$Thompson dropped back to pass. Rudzinski blitzed untouched from the right, and%^$was heading straight for Thompson when the football rolled off the%^$quarterback’s fingertips and fell into the end zone. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound%^$linebacker pounced on the ball for a touchdown and the Buckeyes had the spark%^$they needed.%^$
%^$ “It looked like he tried to run a bootleg and the quarterback got his and%^$coughed it up,” Cooper said. “That woke us up.”%^$
%^$ Yes it did. The Buckeyes then forced a Penn State punt and took over with%^$1:48 left. Joe Germaine capped an eight-play, 51-yard drive with a 20-yard TD%^$pass to Michael Wiley with 23 seconds left.%^$
%^$ “Those mental lapses before the first half kill mental lapses before the%^$first half killed us,” Penn State cornerback David Macklin, who intercepted a%^$pass and blocked a field goal, said “You just can’t do that against the No. 1%^$team in the country.”%^$
%^$ When the second half started, the Lions were forced to punt again, and this%^$time, Pat Pidgeon’s kick was blocked by Percy King and recovered in the end%^$zone by Joe Cooper for a TD. Just like that, it was 21-3 and the Buckeyes were%^$never threatened.%^$
%^$ “There’s no question weather was a factor,” Cooper said. “We would have%^$been more wide open and thrown it more downfield than we did.”%^$
%^$ Ohio State came into the game averaging 39.3 points and 530.7 yards per%^$game, but the Lions’ defense kept Germaine, Wiley and wideouts David Boston and%^$Dee Miller relatively quiet.%^$
%^$ Germaine was 16-of-30 for 213 yards, one TD and an interception. Wiley was%^$held to 62 yards on 19 carries after averaging 166.7 yards in the Buckeyes’%^$first three games. He also caught five passes for 31 yards.%^$
%^$ Thompson, who played the first three quarters, was 11-of-20 for 106 yards%^$and an interception. Fullback Mike Cerimele scored from a yard out to make it%^$21-9 with 9:41 left in the third quarter. Rashard Casey, who shared time with%^$Thompson in the first three games, replaced Thompson in the fourth quarter. The%^$Lions converted on only 2-of-15 third-down attempts.%^$
%^$ Ohio State’s Joe Montgomery added a 1-yard TD run with 3:08 left in the%^$quarter to close out the scoring.%^$
%^$ “That was a good, solid performance, and the only time they scored we gave%^$them good field position,” Cooper said. “I think we’ve beaten three real%^$good, solid football teams this year.”%^$
%^$ Those would be wins over West Virginia, Missouri and Penn State. Now, the%^$Buckeyes have a chance to sail through their next six games before getting%^$ready for Michigan on Nov. 21. Ohio State’s toughest game before that – against%^$Michigan State – is at home.%^$
%^$ Before a drenched crowd of 93,479, the teams had trouble handling the ball,%^$with Ohio State losing one of five fumbles. Penn State’s errors, though, were%^$more costly.%^$
%^$ Travis Fortney kicked a 42-yard field goal to give the Lions a 3-0 lead with%^$8:08 left in the second quarter. The field goal was set up when Macklin blocked%^$a 50-yard field goal attempt by Dan Stultz, who also was wide left on a 40-yard%^$attempt in the first quarter.%^$
%^$ After Wiley’s TD catch, quarterbacks coach Tim Salem, who was up in the%^$coaches’ box, put his hand through a window and sent glass shattering into the%^$press box. School officials said he had small cuts on his index finger and%^$forearm. No other injuries were reported.
