Buckeyes Turn Back Bearcats – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/25/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Notes and Quotes
%^$ Game Stats
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%^$By RUSTY MILLER
%^$AP Sports Writer
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio State is having lots of problems. Ken-Yon Rambo%^$isn’t one of them.%^$
Rambo caught two long bombs from Steve Bellisari – one for a 59-yard%^$touchdown and another to set up a score – as 12th-ranked Ohio State overcame%^$yet another rocky start to hold off Cincinnati 34-20 Saturday.%^$
The Buckeyes continue to play awful for a half and great for another, but%^$the one constant has been the play of wide receivers Rambo and Reggie Germany.%^$
“Me and Reggie are the dudes,” Rambo said after pulling in three%^$receptions for 164 yards. “We’re the playmakers and we’re trying to make big%^$plays out there. We did this time.”%^$
Germany added six catches for 90 yards. Ohio State needed every single one%^$of their nine receptions.%^$
In the first meeting of the teams in 68 years, the Bearcats (2-2) played as%^$if last week’s 17-12 upset of then-No. 9 Wisconsin – the school’s first victory%^$ever over a ranked opponent – was no fluke.%^$
The Bearcats built a 17-3 second-quarter lead that muzzled a crowd of 93,407%^$at Ohio Stadium. Even though Ohio State (3-1) took command by scoring 31%^$straight points, Cincinnati – a 32-point underdog – still finished with the%^$upper hand in first downs (26-19) and yards (525-496) and had an 11 1/2-minute%^$advantage in time of possession.%^$
“It was exciting being up 17-3, but we believed we could play with them%^$from the start,” Cincinnati strong safety Tinker Keck said.%^$
Ohio State coach John Cooper said, “I don’t know if I have been in a%^$tougher game.”%^$
The Buckeyes continued to have problems in the opening half. In their last%^$two games – both at home – the Buckeyes trailed 10-0 to UCLA and 10-3 to Ohio.%^$
Rambo had 181 receiving yards in the 40-16 victory over Ohio, proving he can%^$save the day for a faltering offense.%^$
“I’m glad Ken-Yon’s on our side,” Cooper said.%^$
The victory was Cooper’s 100th at Ohio State.%^$
“I’m happy and proud to win 100 games,” said Cooper, 100-33-4 in 12%^$seasons. “But it’s like I told the team, they’re making an old man out of%^$me.”%^$
The Buckeyes’ 34-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter wasn’t even that%^$secure. Cincinnati added a field goal and had a touchdown pass called back that%^$would have cut the lead to seven points with 2:49 remaining.%^$
“Great teams overcome adversity: they did and we didn’t,” Cincinnati coach%^$Rick Minter said. “They got behind early through the good play of the%^$Bearcats. But good teams, they put the throttle down and regain their composure%^$and they did that.”%^$
The Bearcats’ Deontey Kenner completed 39-of-55 passes for 343 yards with%^$two interceptions and added 64 yards on eight rushes. Robert Cooper added 100%^$yards on 22 carries before leaving the game with a sprained knee. Jason%^$Collins-Baker had 11 catches for 87 yards and LaDaris Vann had five receptions%^$for 106 yards.%^$
“Even though we won the football game, we’ve got a long way to go,” Ohio%^$State’s Cooper said.%^$
Vann’s 75-yard TD reception from Kenner, and Kenner’s 35-yard run up the%^$middle on a quarterback draw put Cincinnati ahead 17-3. The Bearcats then%^$intercepted a pass off backup quarterback Austin Moherman on Ohio State’s next%^$possession and drove to a first down at the Buckeyes 17 before things started%^$to turn around.%^$
Two Cooper runs and an incompletion forced the Bearcats to settle for a%^$field goal attempt, but Jon Ruffin’s 33-yard attempt sailed wide right.%^$
Four plays later, Bellisari froze the defense with a play-action fake and%^$threw deep for Rambo for the 59-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 17-10.%^$
Late in the second quarter, Ohio State took over at its 31 after a punt.%^$
Bellisari kept for 11 yards around right end. Bellisari avoided an onrushing%^$defender and lobbed a long pass that Rambo pulled down between defenders Jeff%^$Burrow and Keck for a 55-yard gain. Michael Wiley then pounded the right side%^$and reached the ball over the goal line for the tying score with less than a%^$minute left in the half.%^$
Derek Combs, spelling Wiley, came in to set up his own 5-yard touchdown run%^$with a 39-yard gain on a draw play early in the third quarter. Bellisari added%^$an insurance score with an 11-yard run.%^$
Bellisari was just 8-of-22 for 197 yards, and four of his passes went%^$through the hands of defenders.%^$
“Their defensive backs dropped more passes than their wide receivers did,”%^$Ohio State’s Cooper said.%^$
Two weeks removed from a loss to Troy State, the young Bearcats proved to be%^$on the fast track of the learning curve.%^$
“One of the big positives today is that we proved you’ve got to play the%^$’Cats for 60 minutes,” Kenner said.
