Cooper Looks For Number 100 Against The Bearcats – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/20/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Coach Cooper’s Weekly Press Conference
%^$ Two-Deep Chart
%^$ Top 25 Polls
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Sept. 20, 1999
OHIO STATE vs. CINCINNATI
%^$Saturday, Sept. 25, for the first time in 68 years, the Ohio State University Buckeyes and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will meet on the football field. Kickoff is set for 12:10 p.m. in sold-out Ohio Stadium. ESPN Regional will televise the game to a regional audience as the Big Ten Game of the Week. The game is the third of five-consecutive home games for the Buckeyes, who enter with a two-game winning streak and with a No. 12 Associated Press national ranking. Ohio State is coming off back-to-back 42-20 and 40-16 wins over No. 13 UCLA and Ohio, respectively, and enters the game with a 2-1 record. Cincinnati, under sixth-year coach Rick Minter, also is 2-1 and is coming off one of the biggest wins in the program’s history: a 17-12 win last week over No. 9 Wisconsin. The Bearcats opened the season with a 41-3 win over Kent followed by a disappointing 31-24 loss to Division I-AA Troy State. All three games were played at UC’s Nippert Stadium. %^$
%^$TV COVERAGE
%^$Almost 35-percent of the country, including most of the midwest, will see the game on more than 50 over-the-air and cable stations. It will be broadcast locally in Columbus by WBNS 10 TV. Announcing the game will be Wayne Larrivee, Randy Wright and Jim Barber. %^$
%^$RADIO COVERAGE
%^$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 team, provides sideline commentary.%^$
%^$BUCKS CRACK ONE TOP 10 POLL
%^$Ohio State has climbed into the ESPN/USA Today/ Top 25 Coaches Poll Top 10. The Buckeyes are ranked 10th by the coaches, moving up two spots from one week ago. %^$
%^$COOPER AFTER 100th WIN
%^$12th-year head coach John Cooper enters the Cincinnati game with 99 career wins as Ohio State head coach. Woody Hayes, with 205 wins during his 28-year coaching tenure between 1951-78, is the only Ohio State coach to have previously topped that mark. Cooper is 99-33-4 at Ohio State with three Big Ten championships and two national runner-up finishes. Hayes was 96-33-7 at this point of his career with four Big Ten titles and three national championships. Ohio State has had 21 head football coaches in its 110-year history.%^$
%^$OHIO STADIUM HISTORY
%^$Ohio State is playing its home games in grand Ohio Stadium, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, for the 78th season. The team has an all-time record of 323-95-30 at Ohio Stadium. The 1931 game between Cincinnati and Ohio State was played in Ohio Stadium with Ohio State a 67-6 winner in front of 15,000 fans.%^$
%^$BUCKEYES vs. BEARCATS HISTORY
%^$Ohio Sate and Cincinnati, schools separated by about 90 miles of Interstate 71, have met 11 times previously in football, but not since the 1931 season. Ohio State holds a 9-2 advantage in wins. OSU won the first three games in the series (32-0 Nov. 18, 1893 in Columbus, 6-4 Nov. 17, 1894 in Cincinnati, 4-0 Nov. 9, 1895 in Columbus). UC won the next two meetings, both in Cincinnati (8-6 Oct. 10, 1896, 24-0 Nov. 13, 1897). Ohio State has won the last six games in the series: 29-0 Oct. 13, 1900 in Cincinnati, and (all in Columbus) 23-0 Oct. 8, 1910, 11-6 Nov. 30, 1911, 47-7 Oct. 26, 1912, 46-0 Oct. 11, 1919, and 67-6 Oct. 3, 1931. The game this year is the first of four over the next eight years between the Buckeyes and the Bearcats. The two programs also will tangle on the gridiron in 2002, 2004 and 2006.%^$
%^$OSU vs. UC Game Notes. . .
%^$* The game is the first between Ohio State and a member school from the 4-year-old Conference USA.
%^$* Cincinnati is a charter member of Conference USA. Other members are Alabama-Birmingham, Army, East Carolina, Louisville, Southern Mississippi, Memphis, Houston and Tulane.
%^$* Conference USA, located in Chicago, has guaranteed bowl invitations to the Liberty, the Mobile Alabama and the Humanitarian bowls.
%^$* Ohio State is 12-2 all-time vs. Conference USA member schools (9-2 vs. Cincinnati, 2-0 vs. Louisville and 1-0 vs. Houston).
%^$* John Cooper is 2-1 coaching against Cincinnati with all three games coming during his tenure as Tulsa’s head coach between 1977-84.
%^$* Cooper is 7-3 coaching against schools from Conference USA. In addition to his record with UC, he is 3-2 vs. Louisville and 1-0 vs. East Carolina and Houston.
%^$* Cooper is 34-5 overall vs. non-conference opponents in regular season games and he is 31-4 in the month of September with 16-consecutive victories dating to a 25-16 loss at Washington Sept. 10, 1994.
%^$* Paul Keels, in his second year as voice of the Buckeyes, was the voice of the Bearcats for seven seasons before joining the Ohio State radio network staff.
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%^$IN-STATE RIVALRIES: PART V
%^$The game this week with Cincinnati is part of a 13-game series of games from 1992 to 2006 between Ohio State University and Division I football schools from the state of Ohio. When Ohio State played Bowling Green in 1992, it was the first time the Buckeyes had met an in-state opponent in 58 years, or since the 1934 season when OSU hosted and defeated Case Western Reserve, 76-0. The game this week with Cincinnati, coupled with last week’s game with Ohio University, marks the first time since 1929 that Ohio State will play two in-state schools in the same year. OSU met Wittenberg and Kenyon 70 years ago this season. Starting with the 1997 game against Bowling Green, Ohio State will play an Ohio school in football for 12-consecutive years. All the games, with the exception of the 2002 game with Cincinnati which will be played in Cincinnati, will be played at Ohio Stadium. %^$
%^$Ohio State vs. Ohio teams (1997-’06). . .
%^$Sept. 13, 1997 OSU 44, BGSU 13
%^$Sept. 12, 1998 OSU 49, Toledo 0
%^$Sept. 18, 1999 OSU 40 vs. Ohio 16
%^$Sept. 25, 1999 OSU vs. Cincinnati
%^$Sept. 16, 2000 OSU vs. Miami
%^$Sept. 8, 2001 OSU vs. Akron
%^$Sept. 7, 2002 OSU vs. Kent
%^$Sept. 21, 2002 OSU at Cincinnati
%^$Sept. 20, 2003 OSU vs. BGSU
%^$Sept. 4, 2004 OSU vs. Cincinnati
%^$Sept. 3, 2005 OSU vs. Miami
%^$Sept. 16, 2006 OSU vs. Cincinnati%^$
%^$BUCK’S CAPTAINS ARE FROM CINCINNATI
%^$Ohio State’s 1999 team captains are both from the Cincinnati area. Fifth-year seniors Matt Keller and Ahmed Plummer are from Mason and Wyoming, respectively. Keller is a graduate of Cincinnati Moeller and Plummer is from Wyoming High. %^$
%^$FOUR CINCINNATI STARTERS
%^$Ohio State has five student-athletes from the Cincinnati area and four are starters. In addition to Matt Keller and Ahmed Plummer, who are in their third year as starters at fullback and cornerback, respectively, left guard Mike Gurr (Hamilton) and middle linebacker Jason Ott (Cincinnati & Elder H.S.) are each in their first year as a starter. True freshman punter B.J. Sander (Cincinnati & Roger Bacon H.S.) saw his first action of the season last week after missing the first two games with a bruised left (kicking) foot. True freshman cornerback Kelton Lindsay grew up not far from Cincinnati – Lebanon, Ohio. %^$
%^$THE BUCKEYE OFFENSE
%^$Coordinator Mike Jacobs has seen his offensive attack produce to the tune of 478.0 yards and 41.0 points per game the last two games after opening with just 12 points and 220 yards against Miami. Central in this resurgence has been the passing game, which has amassed 266 and 269 yards consecutively with Steve Bellisari (23-of-37 for 358 yards and four touchdowns) and Ken-Yon Rambo (15 receptions for 142 yards and four touchdowns) in a zone of their own. Reggie Germany has 10 receptions for 148 yards. Quarterback Austin Moherman started the Miami and UCLA games but Bellisari, after performing extremely well against UCLA, started the Ohio game and is expected to remain the starter this week. Michael Wiley is the featured running back with 289 yards, four touchdowns and a 6.0 yards-per-carry average. Back-up Jonathan Wells is a bruiser with speed, but he has sat out the last two games with an ankle sprain. Juniors Derek Combs and Jerry Westbrooks have gained 54 and 30 yards, respectively, in Wells’s absence and both have scored touchdowns. The offensive line features three, three-year starters – RG Ben Gilbert, C Kurt Murphy and LT Tyson Walter – with LG Mike Gurr and RT Henry Fleming the new starters. The tight end tandem of seniors Steve Wisniewski and Kevin Houser has provided excellent play.%^$
%^$ON THE DEFENSIVE
%^$A physical, talented and deep front line is the foundation of Fred Pagac’s defense, and it is backed by linebacker and secondary units that feature three potential All-Americans in linebacker Na’il Diggs, cornerback Ahmed Plummer and free safety Gary Berry. The front four is led by hard-charging junior ends Rodney Bailey (11 tackles, 3 TFLs) and Brent Johnson (11 tackles, 1 TFL) and the sophomore tandem of tackles Mike Collins (15 tackles) and Ryan Pickett (8 tackles). Behind them are six talented performers – ends Matt LaVrar and James Cotton and tackles Joe Brown, Heath Queen, Clinton Wayne and Paris Long – who enter the game with their motors running hard. Diggs, a Preseason All-American who has 23 tackles and six for loss already this season, leads a young linebacking corps that includes first-year starters in sophomores Courtland Bullard (outside) and Jason Ott (inside). Tim Cheatwood, Joe Cooper and true freshman Fred Pagac all play in support. The secondary, always an Ohio State point of pride, has recorded four interceptions this season – two by Plummer and one each by Nate Clements and Donnie Nickey – and it also boasts three of the top four tacklers on the team. Berry leads the way with 34 total tackles. Clements is second with 26 and Nickey is fourth with 18. %^$
%^$HALFTIME PEP TALKS STIR BUCKEYES
%^$Vociferous pep talks by several coaches at halftime sunk in and helped sparked Ohio State to a 40-16 win over Ohio University last week before 93,222. The Buckeyes scored just before halftime to tie Ohio, 10-all, and moments later the OSU coaches let fly with verbs and adjectives that clearly got the Buckeyes’ attention because it took only a six-minute third-quarter stretch for the game to be over. After the wishbone running Bobcats were stopped on the first series of the second half, quarterback Steve Bellisari marched OSU 80 yards in seven plays for the go ahead touchdown, a Michael Wiley 1-yard run. Less than three minutes later and following an unsuccessful OU fake punt attempt, Wiley broke two tackles at the line and side-stepped a third on his way to a 15-yard touchdown run and a 24-10 Ohio State lead. The next time OSU got the ball back, it took one play – a 68-yard Bellisari to Ken-Yon Rambo scoring play – to boost OSU in front 31-10 and on the way to victory. %^$
%^$SOME DEFENSIVE STAND
%^$The defensive series of the game for Ohio State helped turn the game into the home team’s favor. It came on OU’s second possession of the second half, with OU trailing 17-10. Consecutive tackles-for-loss by ends Rodney Bailey and James Cotton left OU with a third-and-13 scenario. That’s when All-America candidate Na’il Diggs fought off two blockers and crushed fullback Joe Fondale, igniting the crowd. OU then attempted a fake punt which was read and smothered by the Buckeyes, with Tony Locke the first to reach punter Dave Zastudil. One offensive play later it was 24-10. %^$
%^$NOTABLE NUMBERS
%^$1 – Number of career starts for fullback Jamar Martin, who started against Ohio in place of Matt Keller, who sat out with an ankle sprain.%^$
%^$1 – Games that Keller has missed in his four seasons at Ohio State. He had played in 39-consecutive games since the 1996 opener, with 24 starts, before missing his first game last week. %^$
%^$2 – Streak of losses snapped by first-time starters at quarterback for Ohio State. Steve Bellisari guided the Buckeyes to their win over Ohio in his first start. Prior to that, Joe Germaine and Austin Moherman had lost in their starting debuts to Michigan (in 1997) and Miami, respectively.%^$
%^$7– Ohio State opponents that have animal mascots. The furry fun started with the Bruins and includes the Bobcats, Bearcats, Badgers, Nittany Lions, Golden Gophers and Wolverines. %^$
%^$19 – Consecutive Ohio State games televised live, including the Cincinnati game.%^$
%^$20 – Consecutive non-conference home wins for the Buckeyes. Ohio State has not lost a non-conference game in Ohio Stadium in nine years. USC pinned a 35-26 loss on Ohio State Sept. 22, 1990 in a game called with 2:36 left to play as an electrical storm passed over the area. OSU has won 34 of its last 35 non-conference home games dating to a 23-20 loss to Stanford in 1982. %^$
%^$78 – Years since Ohio State last lost to an in-state school. Oberlin was the last Ohio school to defeat Ohio State in football, accomplishing this Oct. 8, 1921 by the score of 7-6. %^$
%^$86 – Percent of Ohio State’s games televised live in the 1990s, either nationally, regionally or locally, but definitely “live.” The stats: 98 of the team’s 114 games in the 1990s have been televised. %^$
%^$713-278-53 – Ohio State’s all-time record %^$in its 110th year of intercollegiate football. Ohio State ranks seventh nationally in all-time victories.%^$
%^$CONSECUTIVE MULTI-TD GAMES
%^$On a Saturday when Miami’s Travis Prentice broke Ricky Williams’ NCAA record for multi-touchdown games with 22, OSU’s own Michael Wiley recorded the sixth such game of his career and Ken-Yon Rambo got his second. Wiley’s back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter boosted OSU in front of OU, 24-10. Wiley just missed his ninth career 100-yard game. He finished with 98 yards off 17 carries. Rambo’s two touchdowns, coming off a two-touchdown performance against UCLA, came off seven receptions for a career-high 181 yards. He had a long gainer of 68 yards.%^$
%^$BERRY KEEPS POPPING ‘EM
%^$Senior free safety Gary Berry was in on 10 tackles against Ohio for his fourth-consecutive double-figure tackling game. The last Buckeye to record four-in-a-row was linebacker Steve Tovar in 1992 (16 tackles vs. Wisconsin, 13 tackles vs. Illinois, 10 tackles vs. Northwestern, 13 tackles vs. Michigan State). Berry had 12 tackles in the Sugar Bowl vs. Texas A&M and has come back this season to record a career-high 14 vs. Miami and then get 10 more against UCLA and Ohio. He is fourth in the Big Ten Conference with 11.3 tackles per game. %^$
%^$DIFFICULT TO STOP
%^$Opposing teams are learning quickly the difficulties of containing OSU receivers Reggie Germany and Ken-Yon Rambo. In three games, the duo has combined for 70 percent OSU’s receiving yards (447) and 65 percent of the team’s receptions (30). Germany and Rambo, who stand 6-2 and 6-1 respectively, will be matched up against UC cornerbacks Jeff Burrow and Bobby Fuller, who stand 5-9 and 5-11 respectively. UC does not list a cornerback on its depth-chart over 5-11. Rambo ranks third and fourth in the Big Ten in receptions per game (5.33) and yards (81.0). Germany ranks fifth (4.67) and seventh (68.0), respectively.%^$
%^$OSU’S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
%^$No defensive players (or unit) of the week was awarded following the Ohio game. Dan Stultz earned special teams Player of the Week honors and Duane Crooks, who ran the OU option all week, was named scout team Player of the Week. Offensively, Tyson Walter and Ben Gilbert shared Lineman of the Week honors. Ken-Yon Rambo earned his first-ever OSU offensive Player of the Week award after his 7-catch, 181-yard, two touchdown game. Nick Mitchell earned defensive scout team honors. %^$
%^$ALREADY HONORS CANDIDATES
%^$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. He also is 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.%^$
%^$PLAYMAKERS
%^$Ohio State has 14 rushing and passing plays this season of 20 or more yards. Ken-Yon Rambo, Michael Wiley and Reggie Germany have three apiece. Rambo had all three of his – 24, 36 and 68-yard receptions – in the Ohio game.%^$
%^$SCARLET & GRAY GOOD STUFF. . .
%^$Blossoming superstar linebacker Na’il Diggs has moved into a sixth-place tie at Ohio State with 14 career quarterback sacks. He needs five to pass Andy Katzenmoyer and move into fifth-place. . .Steve Bellisari is second in the Big Ten Conference with a pass efficiency rating of 180.8. . .The defense allowed just 229 yards against Ohio. . .OSU’s offense has converted on 88-percent of its trips on or inside the 20 (15-of-17) with 6-of-7 efforts against both UCLA and Ohio. . .The defense, led by Diggs’s six tackles-for-loss, is averaging 12 TFLs per game. . .Derek Combs made the most of his extended playing time last week. The junior from Grove City finished with a career high 42 yards off eight carries. Included was a 15-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. . .OSU’s offensive line has allowed just one sack in the last two games. . .OSU’s first-drive field goal against Ohio was its first first-drive score this season. . .Bellisari’s 50 rushing yards against UCLA was the most by an OSU quarterback since Stanley Jackson rushed for 75 against Wyoming in the 1997 opener. %^$
%^$MISCELLANEOUS STATS
%^$Third Downs: The Buckeyes have converted on 17-of-41 third down conversions this season (41-percent), while their opponents have converted on 14-of-45 (31-percent). Inside the 20: The Buckeyes have scored on 15 of 17 trips inside of the 20 this season (88-percent) with 11 touchdowns and four field goals. Opponents have converted on 75-percent of their trips inside the OSU 20 with four touchdowns and two field goals in eight tries. Points off turnovers: Ohio State has scored 16 points off eight opponent turnovers. Opponents have scored 14 points off nine Ohio State turnovers.%^$
%^$THE OHIO STADIUM RENOVATION
%^$Ohio Stadium is in the midst of a four-year, $187 million renovation that will improve aisle widths, seating for the disabled, escalator and elevator services, as well as increase seating capacity to about 97,000 fans. This project, which will be completed in time for the 2001 football season, is the first extensive renovation of Ohio Stadium since it was built in 1922. Last summer construction crews removed the track that surrounded the field for 77 years and completed one of the most crucial aspects of the project: the building of a slurry wall of impermeable concrete around the field, two-to-three feet wide and from ground level to bedrock (approximately 40 feet). East and west side foundations also were built this summer, about 40 feet from the outer wall of the stadium, and demolition began inside of the west side. %^$
%^$LOTS TO REPLACE FROM 1998
%^$The 1999 Buckeyes will be chasing a fifth-consecutive 10-win-or-more season and the sixth in the last seven years. 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, Butkus Award winner Andy Katzenmoyer and punter Brent Bartholomew.%^$
%^$BEACATS FIRST TIME AWAY FROM THE QUEEN CITY
%^$The University of Cincinnati will play its first road game of the season this weekend when it travels to Columbus to meet Ohio State. The Bearcats, fresh off an upset win over Wisconsin last weekend, are attempting to replace 17 starters that were lost from the 2-9 team last year.%^$
%^$CINCINNATI’S UPSET SATURDAY
%^$The goalposts came tumbling down at UC’s Nippert Stadium last weekend when the Bearcats shocked the then No. 9-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, 17-12. Cincinnati allowed Ron Dayne to rumble for 231 yards, but took advantage of three Wisconsin turnovers – two in the fourth quarter – to hang on for the win. UC running back Robert Cooper rushed 20 times for 143 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown run. The win was Cincinnati’s first over a ranked opponent since the Bearcats’ 14-3 win over Penn State in 1983.%^$
%^$EVER CHANGING BEARCAT OFFENSE
%^$After being known for their predominantly ground-based attack in the mid 1990’s, Cincinnati transformed its scheme last season and now boasts a more balanced offense. UC averages 199 passing yards per game and 175 rushing yards per contest. Cooper headlines a deep Bearcat backfield and averages 6.3 yards per carry. Freshman P.J. Mays ranks second on the team in rushing yards and is versatile enough to play both fullback and tailback. Junior quarterback Deontey Kenner, who last year became the first UC underclassman ever to throw for 2,000 yards, has thrown for five touchdowns and 582 yards through three games this season.%^$
%^$NEW DEFENSE, TOO
%^$After ranking in the bottom four nationally in the five major defensive statistical categories last season, head coach Rick Minter has abandoned his old defensive scheme in favor of a more traditional 4-3 set-up. Through three games this year, opponents are averaging only 15 points per game against UC and gaining only 106 yards per game through the air. The Bearcats seem more vulnerable to the run, and are surrendering 225 rushing yards per game. Strong safety Tinker Keck was a preseason Conference USA selection in 1999, while cornerback Blue Adams was a freshman All-American last year according to The Sporting News. The Bearcats lost all four starting defensive linemen and all three linebackers from the squad last year.%^$
%^$BUCKEYES DEFEAT BOBCATS, 40-16
%^$COLUMBUS – The Ohio State Buckeyes used a dominating second-half performance to outdistance the Ohio Bobcats 40-16 in front of 93,222 at Ohio Stadium. The game marked the first meeting between the two schools since 1902.%^$ After a field goal by both teams, the Bobcats took their only lead of the game with 4:26 remaining in the first half on Chad Brinker’s 3-yard touchdown run. %^$ Down 10-3, the OSU offense began to show some life. Starting quarterback Steve Bellisari led the offense on an eight-play, 55-yard drive that culminated into a 15-yard touchdown reception by Ken-Yon Rambo. The two teams went into the half tied at 10. %^$ But in the second half, OSU immediately proved who the better football team was from the state of Ohio. On their first possession, the Buckeyes marched 80 yards on seven plays to take the lead on a Michael Wiley 2-yard touchdown rush. %^$ On Ohio’s next possession, the Buckeye defense flexed its collective muscle. On first down, defensive end Rodney Bailey stopped Bobcat quarterback Dontrell Jackson for a 2-yard loss. On second down, defensive end James Cotton stuffed fullback Chad Brinker for another 2-yard loss. On third down, linebacker Na’il Diggs bulldozed running back Joe Fondale after he caught a swing pass out of the backfield. On fourth down, the Bobcats attempted a fake punt that was foiled by OSU’s Tony Locke for a 9- yard loss, putting the ball on the Bobcats 15 yard line. %^$ On OSU’s first play from scrimmage, Wiley scampered for a 15-yard touchdown rush and increased his team’s lead, 24-10.%^$ On the Buckeyes’ next possession, Bellisari and Rambo connected again for a 68-yard touchdown reception. The play marked the longest completion and reception in their respective careers. Bellisari finished the game with a career high 243-yards passing. Rambo finished the game with career highs in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (181). %^$ OSU’s Dan Stultz added a 31-yard field goal to increase the lead to 34-10. %^$ The Bobcats reached the scoreboard a final time with 8:31 remaining in the game. Jamel Patterson scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to cut the OSU lead 34-16. Ohio failed on its two-point conversion attempt. %^$ Ohio State added its final points on Derek Combs’ 15-yard touchdown rush. The score was Combs’ first of the season. OSU then failed on its two-point conversion attempt. %^$
%^$THE BATTLE OF OHIO%^$The Buckeyes improved to 5-0 all-time against the Bobcats. In the first four meetings, OSU outscored Ohio, 95-0. Kevin Kerr’s 44-yard field goal in the second quarter marked the first ever points for the Bobcats in the series. %^$
%^$THE HOME RUN HITTER%^$Michael Wiley continues to find the endzone. This two touchdown performance was his sixth-career multiple-touchdown game (fifth career rushing) and his second-consecutive this season. %^$
%^$A “FULL HOUSE” IN THE SHOE
%^$In the third quarter, the Buckeyes went with a “full house” backfield featuring tailback Michael Wiley, fullback Jamar Martin and lineman LeCharles Bentley. The formation led to a 1-yard Wiley touchdown and was Bentley’s debut as a running back. %^$
%^$CAREER FIRSTS
%^$Sophomores Steve Bellisari and Jamar Martin made their first career starts at quarterback and fullback, respectively. Freshman punter B.J. Sander made his OSU debut in the first quarter. Fellow freshman Nate Stead caught his first career reception in the fourth quarter. %^$
-GO BUCKS!-%^$
