Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 14 Michigan – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/15/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 15, 1999
A QUICK LOOK AT THE MATCHUP
%^$The Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the Michigan Wolverines Saturday, Nov. 20, in the final regular season game of the season for both teams. ABC will televise the game to a national audience with Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson and Jack Arute calling the action from sold-out Michigan Stadium where a crowd in excess of 110,000 is expected. Kickoff is set for 12:10 p.m. For the first time since 1994 (when Penn State won the Big Ten by two full games), the Ohio State/Michigan game won’t determine the Big Ten Conference champion as Wisconsin clinched the title outright last week. Ohio State, 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten, is coming off a 46-20 loss at Ohio Stadium to Illinois. Michigan is 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten and is climbing the national rankings after its 31-27 win at Penn State. The Associated Press poll has the Wolverines ranked 10th while the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ poll has them ranked 10th. For the first time since 1994 and after 71-consecutive weeks in the Top 25, Ohio State has dropped from the Associated Press poll. The Buckeys fell from the coaches’ poll last week. %^$
%^$GETTIN’ UP FOR IT
%^$The Buckeyes should need no motivation. They are coming off back-to-back Big Ten losses for the first time since 1992 and they haven’t lost three-consecutive since 1988. An 11th-consecutive bowl game bid is at stake. And as always in this rivalry, pride will be on the line foremost because the opponent is Michigan. The Wolverines, meanwhile, can claim a tie for second place in the Big Ten with a win. Nine wins, including road wins over Rose Bowl-bound Wisconsin and last week in come-from-behind fashion at Penn State, will look attractive to the BCS bowl representatives. The opponent is Ohio State and Michigan has not lost to Ohio State at home since 1987 and consecutively since 1981-82.%^$
%^$RADIO FREQUENCIES
%^$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.%^$
%^$AN EXCLAMATION POINT!
%^$The 14 members of Ohio State’s 1999 senior class have been a part of three New Year’s Day Bowl games and two victories (the 1997 Rose Bowl win over Arizona State and the 1999 Sugar Bowl win over Texas A&M), two No. 2 national finishes, 38 victories and two Big Ten Conference co-championships. An exclamation point on their four-year run would be finishing with a 2-2 record against Michigan, something no Ohio State senior class has achieved since the 1987 class – featuring Chris Spielman, Tom Tupa, William White and Eric Kumerow – went 2-2. %^$
%^$OHIO STATE vs. MICHIGAN
%^$Ohio State and Michigan are meeting for the 96th time in a series that dates to 1897 and for the 82nd-consecutive season, the 10th-longest consecutive streak in NCAA Division IA history. Michigan owns a 54-35-6 all-time advantage in victories, including a 28-16-4 record in Ann Arbor and a 20-14-3 record in Michigan Stadium. The Buckeyes have lost five-consecutive games in Michigan Stadium dating to the 1987 contest, a 23-20 victory in Earle Bruce’s last game as Ohio State’s coach. %^$
%^$23-22-2: THE SERIES SINCE 1952
%^$Michigan does hold an 18-game advantage in wins – it won 13 of the first 15 games with two ties before Ohio State’s initial 13-3 win in 1919 – but since 1952 Ohio State holds a 23-22-2 series edge, including last year’s 31-16 win at Ohio Stadium. That win stopped a three-game losing streak to the Wolverines. %^$
%^$Buckeyes/Wolverines Notebook. . .
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The two teams will meet Nov. 18, 2000 at Ohio Stadium. OSU is18-20-1 vs. UM at Ohio Stadium.%^$
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Ohio State vs. Michigan was moved to the final Saturday of theBig Ten season in 1935. %^$
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Each team was the opponent in their respective Stadiumdedication games. OSU dedicated Ohio Stadium in 1922. Michigandedicated Michigan Stadium in 1927.%^$
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John Cooper-coached Ohio State teams are 2-7-1 vs. Michiganwith the wins coming in 1994 (22-6) and 1998 (31-16) in OhioStadium. The teams played to a 13-13 tie in 1992 at OhioStadium.%^$
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For 10-consecutive years, from 1972-81, the Ohio State/Michigangame determined which team would represent the Big Ten Conferenceat the Rose Bowl.%^$
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It won’t happen this year, but both teams have come into thegame nationally ranked by the Associated Press for the 36 times inthe 96-year history of the rivalry.%^$
%^$FOUR RUNS AT NO. 1
%^$The last four games in this series have featured national championship implications. In 1995, Ohio State carried an 11-0 record and a No. 2 national ranking into Ann Arbor but lost a shot at the national championship as Tshimanga Biakabatuka rushed for 313 yards to spark a 31-23 UM win. In 1996, Ohio State again was unbeaten (10-0) and No. 2 in the land, but lost, 13-9, after leading 9-0 at halftime. In 1997, Michigan was No. 1 and 10-0 while Ohio State was No. 4 and 10-1. The Woverines built a 20-0 hafltime lead and then held on for a 20-14 win. Last year, Ohio State finished No. 2 nationally for the second time in three years on the strength of a 31-16 win over Michigan and 24-14 win over Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl. %^$
%^$ARCHIE NEVER LOSES TO UM
%^$Archie Griffin, who had his No. 45 jersey retired in a surprise halftime ceremony Oct. 30 at Ohio Stadium, played on teams that went 3-0-1 vs. the Wolverines. %^$
%^$BORDER WARS & BROTHERS
%^$Four Buckeyes are from Michigan: true freshmen FL Ricky Bryant (Farmington Hills) and QB Craig Krenzel (Utica) and walk-on kickers Chad Erickson (Grosse Ile) and Eric Klaban (West Bloomfield). Michigan’s roster lists 12 players from the Buckeye state. It appears, based on media guide rosters, as if the only players who competed together at the same high school are OSU’s Erickson and Michigan linebacker Jake Frysinger, at Grosse Ile High School. One set of brothers are now rivals. OSU’s Ricky Bryant is red-shirting this season as a flanker while Michigan’s Kevin Bryant is a fifth-year senior receiver. %^$
%^$DIGGS & PLUMMER FOR MAJOR HONORS
%^$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 All-America and major award candidates in junior linebacker Na’il Diggs and senior cornerback Ahmed Plummer. Diggs, a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and the Football News Defensive Player of the Year Award, has 78 tackles (second to Gary Berry’s 80) and team-best totals of 14 tackles-for-loss, five sacks and three forced fumbles. Plummer, one of 12 semifinalists for the Thorpe Award who also has been awarded an $18,000 National Football Foundation Scholarship, has team-highs of five interceptions and seven pass break-ups. The academic All-America candidate has 14 career interceptions. Both Diggs and Plummer were selected as preseason All-Americans. %^$
%^$STULTZ NAMED TO GROZA LIST
%^$Junior kicker Dan Stultz is one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award which is awarded to the nation’s outstanding place kicker. Stultz is 11-of-14 in field goals this season (after hitting 15-of-25 last year) and has made nine of his last 10 attempts, including five-consecutive from 40 yards and beyond.%^$
%^$KEEP AN EYE ON THESE BUCKEYES
%^$In addition to Na’il Diggs and Ahmed Plummer defensively for the Buckeyes, first-year starter and sophomore Nate Clements (third with 76 tackles and second 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 45 tackles and 10 tackles-for-loss) and Ryan Pickett (42 tackles, seven tackles-for-loss and three sacks), are becoming the anchors of a line that also features emerging defensive end James Cotton (48 tackles, nine tackles-for-loss). Offensively, quarterback Steve Bellisari has thrown for 1,399 yards and nine touchdowns with six interceptions. He is also second on the team with 293 rushing yards. He throws to a pair of first-year starters in junior receivers in Reggie Germany (39 receptions, 15.3 yards per catch, one touchdown) and Ken-Yon Rambo (38 receptions, 20.5 yards per catch, six touchdowns). Michael Wiley, who is seventh at Ohio State all-time with 2,731 career rushing yards and has scored 31 touchdowns, leads the rushing game with 732 yards and nine touchdowns.%^$
%^$OHIO STADIUM RENOVATION PHASE II
%^$Phase II of the $187 million Ohio Stadium renovation will commence following the Illlinois game. The three-year project will improve aisle widths, seating for the disabled, food service and restroom facilities, escalator and elevator services, as well as increase seating capacity to about 97,000 fans. The project will be completed in time for the 2001 football season and it is the first extensive renovation of Ohio Stadium since it was built in 1922. Renovations that will take place over the course of the next 10 months will include:%^$
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New east-side C Deck stands and facade,%^$ Lowering the field14 feet 6 inches, %^$ New A Level seats to the field,%^$ PermanentSouth Stands,%^$ New lockerroom facilities,%^$ New post game pressconference rooms,%^$ New 175-foot high scoreboard%^$ New east-sideconcourse%^$
Last summer construction crews removed the track that surrounded the field for 77 years and completed one of the most crucial aspects of the project: the building around the field of a slurry wall of impermeable concrete, about three feet wide and from ground level to bedrock (40 feet). %^$
%^$OHIO STATE’S SEASON SO FAR
%^$Ohio State, which is averaging 342.0 yards per game (ninth in the Big Ten) and allowing 370.0 (seventh), has trailed in every game this season. And with a 6-4 record, it will have its string of consecutive 10-or-more win seasons snapped at four and its consecutive New Year’s Day bowl games snapped at five. 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 (OSU led 17-6 at halftime only to lose 42-17). The Buckeyes rebounded with a come-from-behind win over Purdue in a driving rain, limiting Drew Brees to no touchdown passes and to his second-fewest passing yards as a starter (205). The good feelings of that win ended the following week with a 23-10 loss at No. 2 Penn State. Back-to-back wins at Minnesota (20-17) and over Iowa (41-11) left OSU with a 6-3 overall record and confidence heading into the game last week at Michigan State. The win over Minnesota featured second-half comebacks from 10-7 and 17-14 deficits and an improved rushing game was evident the last half of the Minnesota game and all game against Iowa (354 yards those six quarters). A rested Michigan State team wasn’t impressed and its defense dominated in a 23-7 win last week that left the Buckeyes 6-4 overall and in need of a win to go bowling. %^$
%^$COOL DIGITS
%^$2 – Total combined losses that Ohio State has had entering the Michigan game between 1995-98. OSU entered Michigan week 11-0, 10-0, 10-1 and 9-1 the last four seasons, respectively.
%^$38 – Number of times the outcome of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game determined the Big Ten Conference champion, directly and indirectly.
%^$314 – School-record rushing total Eddie George had in the 1995 win over Illinois at Ohio Stadium.
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%^$FRESHMAN DOSS SHINES
%^$Michael Doss stood out vs. the Spartans on a day where there weren’t many good things happening for the Buckeyes. The freshman strong safety, who has been getting more and more playing time off the bench the past three weeks, totalled 12 tackles, including 10 in the second half. His total included seven solo tackles, which tied Gary Berry and Jason Ott for high-game honors. Berry led the Buckeyes with 13 tackles and Ott finished with 10. %^$
%^$PLUMMER PADS PICK TOTAL
%^$Ahmed Plummer, a Thorpe Award semifinalist and the recipient of a prestigious National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholarship, has recorded interceptions in the last two games to increase his season total to five and his career total to 14. He needs one more intercepton to tie Neal Colzie for fifth-place all-time at Ohio State. %^$
%^$DIGGS THIS
%^$Na’il Diggs is just one sack away from OSU’s all-time Top 5 in sacks. The junior, all-Big Ten last year as a sophomore and a preseason All-American this year, has 17 career sacks. He also has 37 tackles-for-loss to rank seventh at Ohio State. %^$
%^$WILEY NEARING 3,000 & 4,000 YARDS
%^$Michael Wiley has climbed into seventh-place on OSU’s prestigious Top 10 rushing list with 2,731 career yards. He needs 269 to reach 3,000. He needs 268 yards for 1,000 this season and thus make him one of five OSU backs with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. The others: Eddie George (1994-95), Keith Byars (1983-84), Tim Spencer (1981-82) and Archie Griffin (1973-75). Wiley’s all-purpose yardage total has grown to 3,917 (eighth at Ohio State) and leaves him just 83 yards from 4,000. %^$
%^$RAMBO REACHES 1,000 RECEIVING YARDS
%^$Ken-Yon Rambo has reached 1,000 career receiving yards. His career totals: 50 receptions for 1,002 yards and seven touchdowns. Partner Reggie Germany has 54 career receptions for 844 yards and five touchdowns.%^$
%^$KEY 1999 BUCKEYE STATS & NOTES
%^$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 (190 to 171) and control the football almost six minutes longer per game (32:56 to 27:03). The Buckeyes lost at least one fumble in nine of the first 10 games, part of the reason OSU trails in turnovers/takeaways, 23 to 20. Ohio State converts on 88 percent of its redzone opportunities (30-34) while its opponents convert on 82 percent (32-39). %^$
%^$D-LINE NUMBERS
%^$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. Cotton and Collins top all linemen with 48 and 45 stops respectively. Collins ranks second and Cotton third, behind Na’il Diggs, with 10 and nine tackles-for-loss, respectively.
