Buckeyes Football Trounces Missouri – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/19/1998 12:00:00 AM | Football
September 19, 1998
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Play-by-Play | Stats | Notes | Quotes%^$
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%^$By RICHARD ROSENBLATT
%^$AP Football Writer
%^$ COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – In the end, there really was no option against No. 1%^$Ohio State.%^$
%^$ “That was a good old rock ’em, sock ’em football game,” coach John Cooper%^$said after his Buckeyes beat No. 21 Missouri 35-14 and held the Tigers’ option%^$attack to a measly 211 yards on Saturday. “Our defensive team played a great%^$game.”%^$
%^$ The offense wasn’t bad, either. Michael Wiley ran for a career-best 209%^$yards and two touchdowns and Ohio State rolled up 531 yards. It’s just that%^$some of the Buckeyes had a hard time holding the football.%^$
%^$ First-half fumbles by quarterback Joe Germaine and wide receiver David%^$Boston set up both Missouri touchdowns, but Ohio State rebounded from a 14-13%^$deficit to shut out the Tigers in the second half.%^$
%^$ “We were our own worst enemy early in the ballgame,” Cooper said. “We%^$need to secure the football. We’ll work on that.”%^$
%^$ The Buckeyes (3-0) also worked out a second-half strategy to stop Jones, the%^$6-foot-1, 222-pounder who ended up with 21 carries for 90 yards – just 32 on 13%^$carries in the second half. The passing game was no factor – Jones was 6-of-11%^$for 20 yards. And Devin West, who had a school-record 319 yards last week, had%^$86 yards on 21 carries.%^$
%^$ “When Corby was coming down the line, he was going to get hit,” Cooper%^$said of the changes.%^$
%^$ Jones questioned the decision to stick with the run.%^$
%^$ “We ran the ball well, but you can’t expect the guys up front to pound for%^$70 plays against one of the best teams in the country,” he said. “I think we%^$would have done better if we would have mixed it up. We would have had a better%^$chance to win.”%^$
%^$ Last year, Jones took a punishing hit from Butkus Award-winning linebacker%^$Andy Katzenmoyer and the tackle turned the momentum in Ohio State’s favor. This%^$time, the Big Kat was satisfied with a team-leading 12 tackles.%^$
%^$ “Jones was the key to their offense and it was very frustrating at times to%^$catch him,” Katzenmoyer said. “You have to play assignment football against%^$him, but this game was to my liking.”%^$
%^$ Missouri coach Larry Smith saw it differently.%^$
%^$ “We played hard and determined, but we were looking for more than just%^$effort,” Smith said. “It wasn’t enough. It was a loss.”%^$
%^$ For the third straight game, Wiley, a 6-foot, 198-pound junior, produced a%^$career-best effort as he carried 24 times and scored on runs of 21 yards in the%^$first quarter and 12 yards in the fourth quarter. The last Ohio State player to%^$run for 200 yards was Eddie George, who had 314 yards against Illinois in 1995.%^$
%^$ “With the holes they were opening, I could have gone inside or outside,”%^$Wiley said.%^$
%^$ The Buckeyes, though, were sloppy and sluggish through three quarters%^$against the Tigers (2-1), who are 0-8 against No. 1 teams.%^$
%^$ Boston, who caught nine passes for 112 yards, fumbled the ball away after a%^$42-yard reception and it led to Jones’ 10-yard TD run that tied the game 7-7%^$early in the second period before a crowd of 93,269.%^$
%^$ With the Buckeyes ahead 10-7, the Tigers took the lead when Germaine, who%^$was 19-of-25 for 211 yards, fumbled and cornerback Carlos Posey scooped up the%^$ball and ran 65 yards for a TD. It put the Tigers ahead 14-10 with 4:21 left in%^$the half.%^$
%^$ “I saw the ball come out and saw it on the ground,” Posey said. “If you%^$know my history of missing fumbles, you know I had to slow down, pick it up and%^$take it to the house. It was a good feeling.”%^$
%^$ Early in the second half, Wiley ran 29 yards to the Missouri 29, and Joe%^$Montgomery finished the drive with a 6-yard run, putting the Buckeyes ahead for%^$good 21-14 after a successful 2-point conversion.%^$
%^$ The Tigers then wilted under the Buckeyes’ defensive pressure. Jones brought%^$his team to the Ohio State 32, but after running for a first down on%^$fourth-and-1, he fumbled and the ball was recovered by cornerback Ahmed%^$Plummer.%^$
%^$ Germaine directed a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended in Wiley’s 12-yard run%^$and Derek Combs added a 9-yard scoring run with 3:54 left.%^$
%^$ The Tigers came into the game as 25-point underdogs but full of confidence.%^$They felt even better at halftime.%^$
%^$ Ohio State’s opening drive ended with Wiley’s 21-yard TD run, and the%^$Buckeyes were on the move again when Germaine hit Boston for 42 yards to the%^$Missouri 38. But Posey stripped the ball from Boston, free safety Harold%^$Piersey picked it up and ran 20 yards to the Ohio State 48.%^$
%^$ Jones scrambled 27 yards and capped the drive with a 10-yard run, outrunning%^$linebacker Jerry Rudzinski and leaping the final five yards into the end zone,%^$where he ended up on his back.%^$
%^$ Wiley ran 59 yards to the Missouri 30 one the first play after the kickoff%^$to set up Dan Stultz’s 27-yard field goal with 12:20 left in the half.%^$
%^$ Germaine took off running on a first-and-10 from the Missouri 42. Instead of%^$sliding to avoid two defenders, he took them on and linebacker Barry Odom%^$knocked the ball loose with a ferocious hit. Posey grabbed the ball and ran 65%^$yards to put the Tigers ahead.
