It’s No. 20 Ohio State at No. 19 Michigan State on ESPN This Saturday – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/1/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 1, 1999
A QUICK LOOK AT THE MATCHUP
The Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Spartan Stadium Saturday Nov. 6 to take on the Michigan State Spartans in the 32nd renewal of a simmering rivalry. Kickoff is set for 12:10 p.m. with ESPN televising the game to a national audience. The Buckeyes, who were knocked out of the national championship picture last year after a 28-24 loss in Ohio Stadium to the Spartans, are 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten Conference following Saturday’s 41-11 Homecoming game win over Iowa. Michigan State, under fifth-year coach Nick Saban, has had a bye week to prepare for the Buckeyes and ponder its back-to-back losses after opening the season 6-0 and climbing to as high as No. 5 in the Associated Press poll the week of Oct. 10. After beating Michigan, 34-31 Oct. 9, the Spartans have lost at Purdue, 52-28, and at Wisconsin, 40-10, in their two most recent games and stand 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten.
BIG TEN, BIG GAMES and BOWLS
Both teams are tied with Michigan for third place in the Big Ten (with Purdue and Indiana a half game out at 3-3, respectively) and both are fighting for New Year’s Day bowl game opportunities. The Buckeyes, who have played in five-consecutive Jan. 1 or later bowl games, need a win this week to maintain that hope with games against Illinois and at Michigan upcoming. Michigan State, which hasn’t played in a Jan. 1 game since the 1989 Gator Bowl, still has games remaining at Northwestern and with Penn State. Jan. 1 bowl games with Big Ten ties: the Rose, Citrus and Outback.
DIGGS & PLUMMER FOR MAJOR HONORS
Ohio State features 11 players who are in their first year as a starter, including seven freshmen or sophomores, but the Buckeyes also feature two legitimate All-American and major award candidates in junior linebacker Na’il Diggs and senior cornerback Ahmed Plummer. Diggs, one of 11 semifinalists for the Butkus Award, leads the team with 73 tackles and also has team-best totals of 12 tackles-for-loss, four sacks and three forced fumbles. Plummer, one of 12 semifinalists for the Thorpe Award who this week was named a recipient of an $18,000 National Football Foundation Scholarship, has team-highs of four interceptions and six pass break-ups. He has 13 career interceptions. Both Diggs and Plummer were selected as preseason All-Americans. RADIO FREQUENCIES
The game will be broadcast around Ohio on the 71-station Ohio State Radio Network with Sports Radio 1460 (AM) The Fan the flagship station. Calling the action and in his second year as play-by-play announcer is Paul Keels. He is assisted by third-year analyst Jim Lachey. Jim Karsatos, in his 11th season on the team, provides sideline commentary.
WORLD WIDE WEB BROADCASTS
The game can be heard world wide via the internet simply by logging on to ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
WATCH THESE BUCKEYES
In addition to Na’il Diggs and Ahmed Plummer defensively for the Buckeyes, first-year starter and sophomore Nate Clements (second to Diggs with 71 tackles and tied with Plummer with six pass break-ups) has had a terrific season stepping in for departed Thorpe Award winner Antoine Winfield. Sophomore tackles Mike Collins (leads all linemen with 43 tackles and nine tackles-for-loss) and Ryan Pickett (35 tackles, seven tackles-for-loss and three sacks), are becoming the anchors of a line that also features emerging defensive end James Cotton (42 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss). Offensively, the quarterback is Steve Bellisari, who has thrown for 1,338 yards and eight touchdowns with just five interceptions. He is also second on the team with 311 rushing yards. He throws to a pair of talented junior receivers in Ken-Yon Rambo (37 receptions, 20.4 yards per catch, six touchdowns) and Reggie Germany (35 receptions, 16.3 yards per catch, one touchdown). Michael Wiley, who is seventh at Ohio State all-time with 2,708 career rushing yards and 30 touchdowns, sparks the rushing game with 709 yards and eight touchdowns.
RANKINGS REPORTS
Ohio State is No. 20 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll and also in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll. Michigan State, the sixth Top 25 opponent for OSU this year, is No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll.
23-10-1 vs. TOP 25 TEAMS SINCE ’92
Since 1992, John Cooper’s teams are 23-10-1 against Top 25 ranked opponents, including 3-2 in 1999, with a 7-7-1 record vs. Top 10 teams.
HISTORY: OHIO STATE vs. MICHIGAN STATE
The Buckeyes and the Spartans are meeting for the 32nd time on the gridiron in a rivalry that started in 1912. Ohio State leads the all-time series, 20-11, and has won five of the last six games in the series and 13 of the last 16. The Spartans, however, are enjoying the latest victory: a 28-24 win in Ohio Stadium last season that knocked Ohio State from the No. 1 ranking it had enjoyed all season and eliminated it from a shot at playing for the national championship.
BUCKEYES/SPARTANS NOTEBOOK. . .
• Ohio State is 10-7 vs. Michigan Sate in Columbus and 10-4 in East Lansing with all 14 games played at Spartan Stadium.
•Ohio State has won seven of the last eight games in Spartan Stadium, dating to 1974, with the 1988 game, a 20-10 loss in John Cooper’s first year as Ohio State coach, the exception.
• Cooper’s Buckeyes are 5-2 vs. Michigan State, including 27-17, 23-7 and 37-13 wins at Spartan Stadium in 1992, ’94 and ’97, respectively.
• Michigan State secondary coach Mark Dantonio was a grad assistant at Ohio State in 1983-84 and strength coach Ken Mannie was a grad assistant in 1984.
SURREAL. . .28-24 SPARTANS
Nov. 7, 1998 in Ohio Stadium, 4-4 Michigan State pulled off one of the most unexpected wins, defeating 9-0 and No. 1 Ohio State, 28-24, after trailing 24-9 midway through the third quarter. The loss eliminated the Buckeyes from any chance at controlling their destiny to the BCS Championship Game. Damon Moore’s 73-yard interception return boosted OSU into a 24-9 lead after first-half touchdowns by John Lumpkin and Michael Wiley and a 20-yard Dan Stultz field goal. The Buckeye defense – No. 1 for much of the year in total defense – then held deep in MSU territory, forcing a punt. Instead of a game-clinching touchdown drive, it all broke loose for OSU. Craig Jarrett’s short, line drive punt hit an OSU defender and MSU recovered. Five plays later the score was 24-15. An OSU fumble on the next series set up Paul Edinger’s fourth field goal of the game. An eight-play, 92-yard drive capped by Sedrick Ervin’s 3-yard run soon followed and gave MSU the lead, 25-24. Edinger’s fifth field goal increased the lead to 28-24. MSU then stopped OSU’s next drive on 4th-and-1 at the MSU 26. The Buckeyes drove to the MSU 15 on their final possession, but four cracks at the end zone resulted in three incompletions and a fourth-down interception. Bill Burke (18-of-46 for 323 yards), Plaxico Burress (four for 125 yards) and Edinger starred. Michael Wiley rushed for 100 yards, but the OSU offense was held to 353 yards, 159 below its average.
MSU HAD DONE IT BEFORE
Michigan State had ruined OSU seasons twice before. In 1972 MSU defeated No. 1 Ohio State, 16-13, snapping the Buckeyes’ 19-game winning streak. Levi Jackson’s 88-yard touchdown with 3:17 remaining the winner in a game that ended in controversy. Champ Henson’s six-yard near touchdown plunge had set OSU up at the goal line with 29 seconds to play. But time – game officials say – had expired before Brian Baschnagel carried the ball into the end zone after it had squirted through Cornelius Greene’s legs. In 1974, also at Spartan Stadium, MSU defeated unbeaten Ohio State, 19-12, one week after legendary coach Duffy Daugherty had announced his retirement.
SOME COOL NUMBERS
1 – Difference between OSU’s rushing (202) and passing (203) yards in the 37-13 win at Spartan Stadium in 1997, played through a driving rain.
2 – Touchdowns for Gary Berry vs. Michigna State as a sophomore in 1997. The scores turned a 3-3 game into a 17-3 OSU lead.
2:07 – Minutes between Berry’s touchdowns, one a 45-yard interception return and the other a 1-yard blocked punt return.
42 – Past captains who attended the 65th annual Captains Breakfast Sunday to honor the 1999 captains: Matt Keller and Ahmed Plummer.
71 – Consecutive weeks, dating to 1994, that Ohio State has been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
80 & 81 – The seasons Spartan coach Nick Saban was Ohio State secondary coach under Earle Bruce.
97.0 – Average yards per game over the next three that tailback Michael Wiley needs to become the first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher at Ohio State – and fifth all-time – since Eddie George did it in 1994 and 1995.
217 – Series high (for both teams) rushing yards Eddie George had in the 1994 OSU win in East Lansing.
COMPLETE EFFORT OVERPOWERS IOWA
A confidence boost. That is what Ohio State got last week in its 41-11 win over Iowa as the offense produced a season’s-best 534 yards of offense and the defense didn’t allow a touchdown after the first drive of the game. Steve Bellisari passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns plus scored on an 18-yard run to lead the attack. Ken-Yon Rambo had another huge day as he was on the receiving end of seven Bellisari passes for 179 yards and one score. The tailback tandem of Michael Wiley and Jonathan Wells combined for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Na’il Diggs led the hit parade with 11 tackles. Ahmed Plummer (personal season high eight tackles) andNate Clements (seven) were active as well. Three second-half interceptions – by Kenny Peterson, Plummer and Joe Cooper – stopped Iowa drives and two of them led to Ohio State touchdowns. Iowa gained just 52 yards off 26 rushing plays but threw for 283 yards off 45 attempts.
ANOTHER HUGE DAY FOR RAMBO
Ken-Yon Rambo had his third 100-plus yard receiving game of the year with his seven-catch, 179-yard effort vs. Iowa. Included was his fifth catch of the year of over 50 yards. He also had a 40-yard touchdown. The Buckeyes’ fastest players had previously torched Ohio (7-181) and Cincinnati (3-164). He averages 20.4 yards per catch and already has three of the top 15 (and two of the top 10) receiving yardage games in school history.
COOPER COMING UP WITH PLAYS
Junior linebacker Joe Cooper has emerged as a playmaker. The second-year Buckeye, who started as a strong safety two years ago, moved to outside linebacker last year and is currently learning the middle position, has nine tackles, three tackles-for-loss, a sack, an interception and a forced interception the last two games. In the fourth quarter against Minnesota he had a key sack deep in UM territory and another 3-yard tackle-for loss. Last week vs. Iowa, he made six tackles, tipped a pass to himself that turned into an end zone interception, forced the Iowa quarterback into throwing an interception and made a key 4th-and-1 stop in the second quarter of a 21-8 game.
WILEY AND WELLS’ WORLD
The tailback tandem of Michael Wiley and Jonathan Wells has produced 297 rushing yards and four touchdowns the last two games. Wiley had 88 yards vs. Iowa after a slump-ending 118-yard, two-TD game vs. Minnesota. Wells, a sophomore, had a career-high 51 yards and the first two-touchdown game of his career vs. Iowa.
WILEY NEARING 3,000 & 4,000 YARDS
Michael Wiley has passed Raymont Harris to move into seventh-place on OSU’s prestigious Top 10 rushing list. He has 2,708 career yards and needs 292 to reach 3,000. His all-purpose yardage total has grown to 3,847 (eighth at Ohio State) and leaves him just 153 yards from 4,000.
PLUMMER’S DREAM WEEK
Ahmed Plummer has reason to smile. Last Wednesday, he was named a Thorpe Award semifinalist. Thursday he became the 18th Buckeye – increasing Ohio State’s nation’s-best total – to be granted a prestigious National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholarship. Saturday vs. Iowa he recorded his fourth interception of the season, and the 13th of his career, plus had a personal season’s best eight solo tackles to spark the win.
3 TOUCHDOWN GAME FROM BELLISARI
Quarterback Steve Bellisari, 5-2 as a starting quarterback, completed 12-of-21 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns vs. Iowa. The left-hander, who opened the season as the back-up but took over the starting position following an 11-for-16, 159-yard, two-touchdown performance in the comeback win over UCLA, also scored on an 18-yard rush. His touchdown passes were the first since the Wisconsin game, but he has continually hurt teams with his running ability. He is second to Michael Wiley with 311 rushing yards with a long of 69.
KEY 1999 BUCKEYE STATS & NOTES
Ohio State starts two seniors on defense and five on offense. It has first-year starters at five defensive positions (T Mike Collins, LB’s Courtland Bullard and Jason Ott, and defensive backs Nate Clements and Donnie Nickey) and at six offensive spots (QB Steve Bellisari, G LeCharles Bentley, T Henry Fleming, receivers Reggie Germany and Ken-Yon Rambo and the tight end tandem of Steve Wisniewski and Kevin Houser). The Buckeyes have trailed in every game this season, but have come back to win six times. Statistics that jump out: Opponents have more first downs (173 to 167) and control the football almost five minutes longer per game (32:21 to 27:39). Opponents are outgaining OSU in total yards, 377.7 to 371.2. The Buckeyes have lost at least one fumble in every game, part of the reason OSU trails in turnovers/takeaways, 22 to 19. Ohio State converts on 88 percent of its redzone opportunities (29-33) while its opponents convert on 79 percent (27-34).
OHIO STATE’S SEASON RECAP
Ohio State has won three of its last four games since the jeckyl-and-hyde loss to Wisconsin (OSU led 17-6 at halftime only to lose 42-17). During that time coach Fred Pagac’s defense has allowed just 29 second half points with just one fourth-quarter touchdown. OSU opened the season with a 23-12 loss to No. 13 Miami in the Kickoff Classic but followed with wins over No. 13 UCLA (42-20), Ohio (40-16) and Cincinnati (34-20). Then came the Wisconsin nightmare in Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes rebounded with a come-from-behind win over Purdue in a driving rain, but the good feelings of that win ended with a 23-10 loss at No. 2 Penn State. Good vibrations have returned once again after back-to-back wins at Minnesota (20-17) and last week over Iowa (41-11). The win over Minnesota featured second-half comebacks from 10-7 and 17-14 deficits. A rushing improvement – 354 yards the last six quarters – has been pleasant and extremely crucial toward the wins.
JUST DIGGS THIS
Na’il Diggs, all-Big Ten last year as a sophomore and a preseason All-American this year, has 36 tackles-for-loss to rank seventh at Ohio State and 16 quarterback sacks to rank sixth at Ohio State.
INVESTING IN HOUSER
Kevin Houser hasn’t missed a snap in his four seasons as OSU’s long snapper. He’s making an impact in other areas as well. After not catching a pass the first five games, he has caught at least one in four straight, including a three-yard touchdown pass vs. Iowa for his first career touchdown. He’s busy away from football as well. A finance major, he has been working the past six months as a financial consultant for New York Life.
THAT D-LINE CONTINUES TO SHINE
The OSU defensive line is getting dynamite play from senior end James Cotton and sophomore tackles Mike Collins and Ryan Pickett. All three have soared passed their 1998 totals. Collins and Cotton top all linemen with 43 and 42 stops respectively. They rank second and third, respectively, to Na’il Diggs with nine and eight tackles-for-loss. Pickett, who recorded his third sack of the season vs. Iowa, has 35 tackles and seven tackles for loss. A fourth lineman – Rodney Bailey – has also topped his 1998 total with 21 tackles on the season.
KICKIN’ IT WITH STULTZ, CLAPTON & CO.
Rock-and-roller Dan Stultz – he playsguitar in his free time and digs Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn – is having a terrific season kicking and punting. The junior has made 11-of-14 field goal attempts, including nine of his last 10, and he has made five-consecutive from beyond 40 yards (41, 45, 47, 43 and 40). In his first year as a punter, he is averaging 40.5 yards per punt and getting better. The last four games he has averaged 42.2 yards per punt.
SUPER SOPHOMORE NATE CLEMENTS
Nate Clements, the second-leading tackler on the team (72), does more than just hit, although 14 tackles (and an interception) vs. Miami, 11 vs. Cincinnati and 10 vs. Penn State would suggest otherwise. Against Minnesota he set OSU up with a first-and-goal from the 5 by intercepting a pass on the third play from scrimmage and returning it 36 yards. He blocked a field goal attempt by Penn State. He averages 9.7 yards per punt return and he is tied with Ahmed Plummer with six pass break-ups.
MORE ACTION FOR AUSTIN
Austin Moherman, the starter in Games 1 and 2 of the season but who had played very little in the next five games, has given the Buckeyes a lift off the bench. Against Minnesota, he entered midway through the third quarter and led the Buckeyes to a go-ahead touchdown. He completed 5-of-10 passes for 49 yards that day. Saturday vs. Iowa, he entered in the fourth quarter and completed 4-of-4 passes for 71 yards with one touchdown, a career-long 41-yard strike to Vanness Provitt.
CHOICE TARGETS
Reggie Germany (four catches for 61 yards vs. Iowa) and Ken-Yon Rambo continue to be the targets of choice for OSU quarterbacks Steve Bellisari and Austin Moherman. The two have combined for 72 catches, 1,326 yards (an 18.4 per catch average) and seven touchdowns. Tight ends Steve Wisniewski and Kevin Houser have combined for 11 receptions and two touchdowns. Vanness Provitt became the third receiver to catch a touchdown pass when he stole from his defender a spectacular, 41-yard reception from Moherman for a score vs. Iowa.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYS OF THE YEAR
Special, special teams plays are starting to add up for Ohio State. The Buckeyes have blocked three field goal attempts the last four games (Brent Johnson blocked a game-tieing Purdue attempt with 56 seconds to play and Jason Ott and Nate Clements each had blocks against Penn State). Two Buckeyes have forced fumbles on kickoffs. Percy King opened the Purdue game with a fumble-inducing hit on the opening kickoff. Jerry Westbrooks forced a fourth quarter fumble on a kickoff (that freshman Matt Wilhelm recovered) with the Buckeyes leading Minnesota by three.
SCARLET and GRAY GOOD STUFF
Archie Griffin’s jersey No. 45 was officially retired in a surprise halftime ceremony of the Ohio State/Iowa game, marking the first such jersey in OSU athletics history to be formally retired. Griffin, with tears in his eyes, said the honor is “very much at the top” of his list of honors. . .Griffin’s oldest son Andre saw his first collegiate action when he carried three times for six yards vs. Iowa. . .Ben Gilbert, who provided the key block on Jonathan Wells’ second touchdown, was named co-lineman of the week along with LeCharles Bentley. . .Captain Matt Keller, who has missed five games with an ankle sprain, returned to action vs. Iowa. He owns the OSU record for fullbacks with 56 receptions. . .Making the most of their time in the runaway vs. Iowa were three Buckeyes. Red-shirt freshman defensive end Kenny Peterson became the first OSU lineman to record an interception this year when he picked off Kirk Mullen in the third quarter. Peterson, who rumbled 31 yards with the interception, actually had an interception before his first collegiate tackle. Freshman linebacker Matt Wilhelm had three tackles from his outside linebacker position and sophomore Jim Massie played extensively for the first time at left tackle. . .OSU quarterbacks have not thrown an interception the last two games or in the last 11 quarters. OSU’s tailbacks haven’t fumbled the last three games. . .Against Iowa, OSU’s offense produced its first 200-yard rushing game in Big Ten play and a season’s-best 317 yards passing. . .Michael Wiley the quarterback has completed 9-of-10 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns during his career. He is 4-of-4 for 102 yards and one touchdown in 1999. . . Ken-Yon Rambo had a school-record three 50-plus-yard catches vs. Cincinnati game.
