Game One – No. 9 Ohio State vs. No. 12 Miami – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/23/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 23, 1999%^$
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Two-Deep Chart%^$
%^$1999 KICKOFF
%^$Ohio State University and the University of Miami will meet for just the second time ever Sunday, Aug. 29 at 2:30 p.m. EST in Kickoff Classic XVII at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. ABC Sports will televise the game to a national audience with Brent Musburger and Dan Fouts calling the action from the press box high above Giants Stadium, the home to the National Football League’s New York Giants and New York Jets and also Major League Soccer’s New York/New Jersey MetroStars. The game will signal the start of Ohio State’s 110th season of intercollegiate football and the 12th season John Cooper’s tenure as coach. %^$
%^$RADIO COVERAGE
%^$The game will be broadcast around Ohio on the 71-station Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Sports 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 in the broadcast booth by third-year analyst Jim Lachey. Jim Karsatos, in his 11th season on the broadcasts, will provide additional commentary. The Westwood One Radio Network will broadcast the game nationally with Tony Roberts and Fran Curci describing the action. Curci was a 1959 Associated Press All-American and Academic All-American quarterback as a senior for the Hurricanes. %^$
%^$WHAT IS THE KICKOFF CLASSIC?
%^$The Kickoff Classic is managed by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority under the auspices of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Proceeds, which have topped $35 million since the game’s inception in 1983, benefit the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, the American Football Coaches Association and NACDA and its foundation. The Kickoff Classic is the oldest of the preseason college football games. %^$
%^$OHIO STATE’S THIRD KICKOFF CLASSIC
%^$The Buckeyes are participating in their third Kickoff Classic after appearances in 1986 and 1995. Ohio State was defeated by Alabama, 16-10, in the 1986 game and it defeated Boston College, 38-6, in the 1995 game. Miami competed in Kickoff Classic II in 1984, defeating Auburn, 20-18.%^$
%^$COOPER LIKES EXTRA GAMES
%^$John Cooper likes his team playing in these “early” season games for three reasons: It allows for more practice time, it provides a great opportunity for national television exposure and it ensures an additional source of revenue into the athletic department. %^$
%^$KICKOFF CLASSIC MOMENTS AND NOTES…
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Ohio State won the coin toss Feb. 25th and elected to be thehome team. When the players take the field, the Buckeyes will betrimmed out in their white jerseys with scarlet numerals and graypants with red, white and black stripes down the sides. Ohio Statewill be on the north side of the field, opposite of the pressbox.%^$
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Following the game, the Buckeyes will stay in New Jersey untilTuesday. The team will tour the Statue of Liberty and attend a NewYork Yankees game Monday. The team will resume practicing Wednesdayin preparation for its home opener Sept. 11 against UCLA.%^$
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Ohio State fans bought all 21,000 tickets the university had onsale at its ticket office for the game.%^$
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Ohio State and Miami will each receive the greater of $650,000or 30 percent of the gross revenues for playing in the game.%^$
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The game will be played on a removable tray system of naturalgrass. This is the first Kickoff Classic to be played on grass.%^$
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The loss to Alabama in the 1986 Kickoff Classic was the lastopening game loss for Ohio State. The Buckeyes have won12-consecutive season openers, including all 11 under head coachJohn Cooper, and 19 of its last 20.%^$
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Linebacker Chris Spielman was the MVP of the 1986 KickoffClassic and tailback Eddie George was the MVP of the 1995 game.Spielman set a still-standing Kickoff Classic record with 16tackles against Alabama. He was the first defensive player and thefirst player from a losing team to be named MVP. George kicked offhis Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1995 with 99 rushing yards andtwo touchdowns and three receptions for 44 yards.%^$
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Shawn Springs has the longest kickoff return in the KickoffClassic – 97 yards. It came in the second quarter of the 1995 gameand gave OSU a 14-3 lead over Boston College.%^$
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The Sears National Champion Football Trophy will be on displayalong the sidelines of this year’s Kickoff Classic. Ohio State is5-1 in games played before the Sears Trophy. Miami is 0-4. %^$
%^$THE BUCKS vs. THE ‘CANES
%^$These two powers have met only once with Ohio State claiming a 10-0 Ohio Stadium win in the 1977 season opener for both teams. The Buckeyes went on to claim a share of the 1977 Big Ten title under Woody Hayes that season and played Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Miami finished 3-8 under first-year coach Lou Saban.%^$
%^$COVERING THE SUNSHINE STATE
%^$Ohio State recruits Florida hard and this year’s team features six scholarship players from the state. Included is starting sophomore defensive tackle Ryan Pickett (Zephyrhills) and potential starters Courtland Bullard, a sophomore outside linebacker from Miami, Tam Hopkins, a junior left guard from Winter Park, and Steve Bellisari, a sophomore quarterback from Boca Raton. Additionally, Jerry Westbrooks is a junior tailback from Boca Raton, Fred Sturrup is a true freshman defensive lineman from Plantation and Frank Conrad is a red-shirt freshman walk-on tight end from Boca Raton. Miami does not have a player from Ohio.%^$
%^$HIGH SCHOOL TEAMMATES
%^$OSU’s Courtland Bullard was a high school teammate of fourth-year Miami linebacker James Sutton. OSU true freshman Fred Sturrup and Miami true freshman receiver Kevin Beard were teammates last year on Plantation High School’s 11-1 team.%^$
%^$PICKETT’S BROTHER WAS A ‘CANE
%^$Ryan Pickett’s brother, Booker, was an outside linebacker/rush end for the Hurricanes between 1993-96. When Ryan became a Buckeye he promptly named his new Rottweiler puppy “Buckeye.” %^$
%^$COACHING STAFF TIES
%^$John Cooper and Butch Davis have known each other since the late 1970s when Cooper was head coach at Tulsa and Davis was a high school coach in Oklahoma. Davis’s first head coaching position was at Tulsa Rogers H.S. in 1978. Cooper, meanwhile, was in his second year as head coach of the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes in 1978. Davis stayed one year before moving on to Jimmy Johnson’s staff at Oklahoma State University. Miami fifth-year offensive coordinator Larry Coker was defensive backs coach at Ohio State under Cooper between 1993 and 1994. He was named OSU’s quarterbacks coach in 1995, but left soon after to become the ‘Canes offensive coordinator. The Buckeyes were 10-1-1 and Big Ten co-champions in 1993 and 9-4 in 1994.%^$
%^$MISCELLANEOUS NUMBERS
%^$1: Common opponents. Miami plays Penn State Sept. 18 in the Orange Bowl. Ohio State travels to Happy Valley Oct. 16.%^$
%^$3: The number of Ohio State graduates – Fred Pagac, Bill Conley and Tim Spencer – and Miami graduates – Rob Chudzinski, Art Kehoe and Greg Mark – who are on their respective alma mater’s coaching staff.%^$
%^$5: Consecutive wins over Associated Press Top 25 teams for Ohio State. The Buckeyes defeated in 1998 No. 11 West Virginia, No. 21 Missouri, No. 7 Penn State, No. 11 Michigan and No. 8 Texas A&M.%^$
%^$5: Strange as it may sound, that’s how many consecutive home games the Buckeyes will have starting with the Sept. 11 home opener against UCLA and ending Oct. 9 against Purdue.%^$
%^$110 and 74: The football season for Ohio State and Miami, respectively.%^$
%^$KELLER & PLUMMER CHOSEN CAPTAINS
%^$Fifth-year seniors and three-year starters Matt Keller and Ahmed Plummer have been chosen by their teammates as 1999 team captains. Keller has 1,095 combined rushing and receiving yards as well as an OSU fullbacks’ record 52 receptions. Plummer, a Thorpe Award candidate, has 25 career pass break-ups and nine interceptions.%^$
%^$SCOUTING THE 1999 BUCKEYES
%^$Ohio State returns 43 lettermen and 12 starters from last season’s 11-1 team which captured a share of the Big Ten championship, was the No. 1 team in the nation for a school record-tieing 10-consecutive weeks, and defeated Texas A&M in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, 24-14. %^$
%^$Defensively: Coach Fred Pagac’s defensive unit, No. 1 against the rush (67.4 ypg) and No. 2 in total defense last year, has the makings of another standout group even despite the loss of two All-Americans (CB Antoine Winfield and SS Damon Moore), a Butkus Award-winning linebacker (Andy Katzenmoyer) and two-year starting linebacker Jerry Rudzinski. The foundation of the unit initially will come from the defensive line, which returns all four starters. Ends Brent Johnson and Rodney Bailey and tackles Joe Brown and Ryan Pickett combined for 30 tackles for loss last year and that number is increased to 36 when sophomore Mike Collins’s six are added to the mix. Na’il Diggs is the lone returning starter at linebacker, but he is exceptional, already earning Preseason All-American honors and among the initial candidates for the Butkus Award. Jason Ott, Ohio’s Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year as a high school senior in 1996, took the majority of snaps at middle linebacker this fall and looks to be the new man in the middle. No one will out-smart the graduated Rudzinski at the other outside linebacker position, but sophomores Courtland Bullard and Tim Cheatwood are fast, athletic and eager. Secondary coach Jon Tenuta, who has watched every one of his starting secondary players move on to careers in the NFL, has what he considers the best cornerback in the nation in senior team captain Ahmed Plummer and a rising talent in sophomore Nate Clements on the corners. Gary Berry, a potential All-American at free safety, returns for his third season as a starter and he will be the quarterback in the secondary. Red-shirt freshman Donnie Nickey won the strong safety position this spring and fall over senior Percy King, but King is experienced and will play a lot.%^$
%^$Offensively: Ohio State’s running game could be the flash point of the offense while offensive coordinator Mike Jacobs and staff retool the passing game with the NFL departures of Joe Germaine, David Boston, Dee Miller and tight end John Lumpkin. The quarterback battle has been well-documented between true sophomore Steve Bellisari and red-shirt sophomore Austin Moherman. Both are expected to share time during the non-conference season. Split end Reggie Germany and flanker Ken-Yon Rambo are talented and extremely fast in the open field. Their big game tests will come Sunday. Junior Vanness Provitt, who is coming off a pelvic fracture in 1998 and a broken fibula in 1999, had a tremendous fall camp and is in line to be OSU’s third receiver. He’s also the biggest of the receivers at 6-3, 200 pounds. The offensive line returns three-year starters and battle tested buddies at right guard (Ben Gilbert), center (Kurt Murphy) and left tackle (Tyson Walter), who collectively became known as the “bleach boys” when all three bleached their hair blond this summer. All agreed that “it hurt” sitting under the dryer. Replacements had to be found at the other two line positions, and the coaches will rotate players at both positions. Junior Henry Fleming and sophomore LeCharles Bentley (who can also play center) will team up at right tackle and juniors Mike Gurr and Tam Hopkins will man the left guard position. There is experience at tight end with seniors Steve Wisniewski and Kevin Houser in a deadlock at No. 1, but red-shirt freshman Darnell Sanders has been impressive in fall camp. The Buckeyes are loaded at tailback. Michael Wiley has talent, speed and smarts coming off a 1,235-yard rushing season in 1998. Sophomore Jonathan Wells is a bruiser at 230 pounds. Junior Derek Combs has great speed and junior Jerry Westbrooks has speed and athletic ability. Team captain Matt Keller is a three-year starter at fullback and he is capably backed-up by 245-pound Jamar Martin, a sophomore who played in 11 games last year.%^$
%^$Special Teams: Kicker Dan Stultz returns after having off-season back surgery. He has consistently put kickoffs well into the end zone this fall and is eager to improve on his 13-for-25 field goal effort in 1998. He is also comfortable punting and he could be the man until true freshman B.J. Sander gets over a bruised foot. Kevin Houser will snap for the fourth-consecutive year. Steve Bellisari will handle the placements. Any number of skilled veterans will handle punt return – Nate Clements and/or Gary Berry – and kickoff return – Michael Wiley, Jonathan Wells, Jerry Westbrooks or Ken-Yon Rambo – chores. %^$
%^$STARTERS STORIES
%^$The offensive and defensive lines feature players who have started a combined 69 and 54 games respectively. Ben Gilbert (25 starts), Tyson Walter (25) and Kurt Murphy (19) are the offensive line veterans while Joe Brown (17), Rodney Bailey (16), Brent Johnson (12) and Ryan Pickett (9) are experienced on the defensive line. Additionally, Matt Keller (22 starts) and Michael Wiley (11) bring authority onto the field offensively and Ahmed Plummer (25), Gary Berry (24) and Na’il Diggs (14) command defensive respect. %^$
%^$THESE YOUNG PUPS BITE
%^$John Cooper likes to play true freshman, subscribing to the theory that “if a dog will bite he’ll bite as a pup.” True freshmen who have made that growling noise in fall camp include strong safety Michael Doss, defensive tackle Tim Anderson, offensive tackle Adrien Clarke and linebackers Matt Wilhelm and Fred Pagac.%^$
%^$THE QB BATTLE
%^$Could it be any more ironic? Well, yes, but it is interesting that Steve Bellisari, who grew up not far from Miami, Fla. in Boca Raton, and Austin Moherman, who grew up in the shadows of UCLA, are battling for their first collegiate starts that could come against Miami and UCLA.%^$
%^$PLUMMER LIKES RECEIVERS
%^$Reggie Germany and Ken-Yon Rambo are replacing some talented players in David Boston and Dee Miller, who combined for 144 receptions, 2,350 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns in 1998. “They are good receivers,” Preseason All-American cornerback Ahmed Plummer said of Germany and Rambo during a recent interview. “I go against them every day in practice, and I can tell you those guys are really good receivers.” %^$
%^$EARLY WARNINGS
%^$Ohio State, which has had players win 23 major athletic awards and 17 win National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholarships – the most of any school – has at least three more players who will be in the running for such honors in 1999. Junior linebacker Na’il Diggs, a preseason All-American, is on the initial “watch list” for the Butkus Award. Senior tailback Michael Wiley, coming off a 1,235-yard rushing year in his first year as a starter, is a Doak Walker Running Back Award nominee. And senior cornerback Ahmed Plummer, another preseason All-American and called the best cover cornerback in the country by OSU secondary coach Jon Tenuta, will be a legitimate threat to win the Thorpe Award as the nation’s outstanding defensive back. He will also be Ohio State’s nominee for a National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholarship. Free safety Gary Berry is on many preseason publication lists as one of college football’s top free safeties in 1999.%^$
%^$GONE
%^$The 1999 Buckeyes will be chasing a fifth-consecutive 10-win-or-more season and the sixth in the last seven years. Each year Ohio State loses great players, but then more great players step up when it comes their time to shine. This year the Buckeyes are replacing 10 starters from last year, including seven who were selected in the 1999 NFL Draft. Included in the group are four All-Americans – CB Antoine Winfield, SS Damon Moore, SE David Boston and LG Rob Murphy – record-setting quarterback Joe Germaine, flanker Dee Miller, who had 132 career receptions, 1997 Butkus Award winner Andy Katzenmoyer and punter Brent Bartholomew, who is in line to be the Miami Dolphins starting punter this year.%^$
%^$SOME COOPER PHILOSOPHY
%^$There is no question that John Cooper has Ohio State football positioned among college football’s elite. Ten-or-more win seasons in five of the last six seasons and countless All-Americans and NFL draft-picks only begin to tell the story of what Cooper believes, and that is: “There are three things that high school student-athletes want: A quality education, to win football games and get recognized, and have a chance to move on to the NFL. I think we provide all three here at Ohio State better than any other school.%^$
%^$THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
%^$Located in Coral Gables, a community noted for its Mediterranean architecture and lush landscaping, the University of Miami is one of 25 private research institutions in the country to operate both a law and medical school. The Hurricane nickname dates back to a storm that forced the opening game of the 1926 football season to be postponed. One version of the story says the 1927 team chose the nickname because they wanted to sweep their opponents away, just as the storm had done to that game. The other version says a player on the 1926 team suggested the name to a reporter after learning school officials wanted to name the team after a local flower or bird. %^$
%^$1999 HURRICANE OVERVIEW
%^$The Hurricanes head into the 1999 season looking to build upon the momentum captured at the end of the ’98 season. Miami closed out last year with a 49-45 upset victory over No. 2-ranked UCLA to spoil the Burins hopes of an undefeated season. The Hurricanes then won a convincing game over North Carolina State, 46-23, in the Micron PC Bowl. %^$
%^$THE HURRICANE OFFENSE
%^$Offensively, the Hurricanes return seven starters from last season’s unit. However, the Canes need to replace their entire starting backfield from a year ago, most importantly, quarterback Scott Covington and running back Edgerrin James, both now in the NFL. Sophomore Kenny Kelly enters the season tabbed as the starting quarterback. Kelly combines a strong arm with scrambling ability to bring and added dimension to the Hurricane offense. Replacing James will be a pair of battle-tested backs in James Jackson and Najeh Davenport. The duo combined for 1,044 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns last season. The Hurricanes have a full arsenal of receivers at their disposal in 1999. UM returns a quartet of wideouts for their junior years that cracked the lineup as true-freshmen two seasons ago (Reggie Wayne, Santana Moss, Andre King, Daryl Jones). Again this season, the position features a balance between speed and possession receivers. Miami returns an experienced offensive line with three players that started every game last year. Left guard Richard Mercier, a first-team all-Big East selection leads this group. %^$
%^$UM’S TEN DEFENSIVE STARTERS
%^$Experience will be the key on the defensive side of the ball for Miami as 10 of 11 starters return. Two of the Big East’s top tacklers return in linebackers Dan Morgan and Nate Webster. They anchor a defense that returns two freshman All-Americans and four all-Big East performers. The Kickoff Classic will mark the debut of defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, who comes to Miami after spending the last three seasons on the coaching staff of the Chicago Bears. %^$
%^$THE COACH – BUTCH DAVIS
%^$Butch Davis enters his fifth year as the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes’ football program. Under his tutelage, Miami is 31-15 overall, 20-8 in the Big East and 2-0 in bowl games. The Kickoff Classic marks his first ever game against Ohio State and a Big Ten school.%^$
%^$OHIOSTATEBUCKEYES.COM
%^$Continue checking ohiostatebuckeyes.com for game recaps, highlights, and the most up-to-date information on all 35 varsity sports at The Ohio State University.%^$
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-GO BUCKS!-%^$
