No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Minnesota – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 2000
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Depth Chart
%^$ Top 25 Polls%^$ Weekly Release in .PDF format%^$Coach Cooper’s Press Conference%^$ Football Quotes%^$
%^$This Week
%^$Ohio State returns home to host Minnesota. The game Saturday will be televised nationally by ESPN2 and will kickoff at 12:10 p.m., EDT, in sold out Ohio Stadium (capacity 95,346). It is Homecoming weekend, with a variety of events scheduled around the game, including reunions of the 1950 and 1975 football teams and the annual Captains’ Breakfast. The Buckeyes, now officially the “surprise team” of the 2000 college football season, are 5-0 on the year and 2-0 in the Big Ten. Minnesota is 4-2 for all games and 2-1 in conference play. In addition to the ESPN2 coverage, WBNS Radio, the flagship station for the 78-station Ohio State network, also will carry the game, with programming starting four hours before kickoff.%^$
%^$Ohio State Last Week
%^$The Buckeyes passed their biggest test of the season with flying colors, thoroughly dominating Wisconsin, 23-7, in Madison. OSU recorded 17 tackles for loss and 11 sacks and held Michael Bennett, the nation’s leading rusher entering the game, to 106 yards on 20 carries. Bennett, who had been averaging 209.3 yards per game, had 57 of his yards on two carries. Ten different players recorded tackles-for-loss for the Buckeyes and junior cornerback Nate Clements turned in an All-America performance with five tackles, an acrobatic interception and four passes broken up. The Ohio State offense, meanwhile, scored the first two times it had the ball and rolled up 392 yards against one of the nation’s most respected defenses. Tailback Derek Combs scored on runs of 80 and 21 yards and finished the day with 122 yards on just 11 carries. Except for Bennett’s 35-yard TD run on fourth down, Wisconsin, ranked 22nd entering the game and considered, along with Michigan, as the preseason conference favorite, never crossed the OSU 20-yard line.%^$
%^$Minnesota Last Week
%^$The Gophers downed Penn State, 25-16, in Minneapolis, their first-ever win over the Nittany Lions in the Metrodome. Ron Johnson caught two touchdown passes and Dan Nystrom kicked four field goals to lead the Gophers, who out-gained the Nittany Lions 348-287 in total offense. Minnesota has won two in a row, downing Illinois, 44-10, two weeks ago in Minneapolis.%^$
%^$A Look At The Polls
%^$Ohio State continues to leapfrog its way up in the national polls. The Buckeyes moved up two more spots in both the polls this week and are now No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 6 in the Associated Press poll. Ohio State began the season ranked 15th by ESPN/USA Today and 16th by the Associated Press. With the win over the 22nd-ranked Badgers, OSU is 1-0 against ranked teams this year.%^$
%^$Series Notes
%^$Ohio State leads the overall series, 35-6, and has won 18 of the 20 games played in Columbus. The Buckeyes have won 28 of the last 29, including 16 in a row. Minnesota’s last win came in 1981, a 35-13 triumph in Minneapolis. The Gophers’ two victories in Columbus were in 1940 (13-7) and 1949 (27-0). Ohio State has won the last 15 games played in Columbus, including a 45-15 verdict in 1998. The Buckeyes pulled out a 20-17 win last year in Minneapolis, thanks to a pair of 4th quarter field goals by Dan Stultz, whose 40-yard game winner came with 1:15 to play. In the 1981 loss in Minneapolis, the Gophers were coached by Joe Salem, whose son, Tim, currently is an assistant coach at Ohio State. Minnesota’s defensive coordinator is David Gibbs. His father, Alex, was the Buckeyes’ offensive line coach from 1975 to 1978. The Gophers’ co-offensive coordinator is Mitch Browning, a graduate assistant with the Buckeyes in 1982.%^$
%^$Ohio State’s John Cooper
%^$Now in his 24th season as a head coach on the collegiate level, John Cooper is in his 13th year at the helm of the Buckeyes. Cooper has a lifetime mark of 190-79-6 and ranks sixth among active Division I coaches in terms of victories. Cooper’s record at Ohio State is 108-39-4 and includes two Big Ten championships and 10 bowl appearances. His 1996 and 1998 teams came within an eyelash of winning national championships, each notching 11-1 records and finishing second in the polls. Cooper is the second winningest coach in Ohio State history, trailing only the legendary Woody Hayes (205 victories in 28 years). Only Hayes (1951-78) and John W. Wilce (1913-28) have enjoyed longer coaching tenures at OSU. While at Ohio State, Cooper has compiled a Big Ten record of 67-27-4, including a 10-0 mark against Minnesota. Prior to coming to Ohio State, Cooper spent three years at Arizona State, where he was National Coach of the Year in 1986. His three-year record of 25-9-2 with the Sun Devils included a 10-1-1 mark and the school’s first ever Rose Bowl appearance in 1986 (he is the only person to coach a team from both the Pac 10 and the Big Ten to victories in the Rose Bowl). The 63-year-old Cooper also spent eight seasons as head coach at Tulsa, compiling a 57-31 record between 1977 and 1984. Cooper is a 1962 graduate of Tulsa, where he was team captain and MVP as a senior.%^$
%^$Minnesota’s Glen Mason
%^$Glen Mason is in his fourth season at Minnesota, where his teams have compiled an overall record of 20-21, including an 8-4 mark last year when the Gophers played in the Sun Bowl. Mason is in his 15th year as a head coach and owns a lifetime mark of 79-85-1. Prior to Minnesota, he also served as head coach at Kansas (1988-96) and Kent State (1986-87). Mason is a 1972 graduate of Ohio State. He played for Woody Hayes and was on Hayes’ staff in 1978. He also spent seven years on Earle Bruce’s Ohio State staff (1979-85), first as offensive line coach and later as offensive coordinator.%^$
%^$Recapping Wisconsin
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%^$The Buckeyes continue to show improvement and haveplayed their best two games the past two weeks.%^$
%^$At Wisconsin, the offense took charge early, Derek Combs jetted 80 yards on the second play from scrimmage for a quick 7-0 lead that clearly shook the host Badgers. When the Buckeyes also scored on their next possession, it was too much for Wisconsin to overcome. Combs turned in his second 100-yard day of the year, finishing with 122 on 11 carries. Backup tailback Jonathan Wells added 75 yards on 17 carries and quarterback Steve Bellisari kept the Badgers off balance by hitting 8 of 13 passes for 143 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown toss to tight end Darnell Sanders that took Wisconsin completely by surprise. Flanker Ken-Yon Rambo had his best game of the year, grabbing five passes for 97 yards. Up front, the offensive line provided time for Bellisari to find his receivers and created holes for Combs and Wells to run through. The Buckeyes had 306 yards at halftime and OSU led 20-0.%^$
%^$The defense was equally dominating. The Buckeyes never allowed tailback Michael Bennett to get into a groove and kept quarterback Brooks Bollinger on his heels all day long. In addition to the 17 tackles-for-loss and 11 sacks, OSU had six passes broken up, an interception and a fumble recovery. Free safety Donnie Nickey had a game-high nine tackles, while strong safety Mike Doss was in on six tackles, including three tackles-for-loss. The D-line had eight tackles-for-loss, the linebackers six and the secondary three in a superb all-around performance.%^$
%^$Ohio State appeared to come out of the game without any serious injuries and should be a full strength against Minnesota.%^$
%^$An All-America Showdown
%^$Wisconsin’s Jamar Fletcher and Ohio State’s Nate Clements are generally regarded as two of the best cover corners in college football. In the showdown Saturday in Madison, Fletcher had three tackles, an interception and a pass broken up. Clements’ totals were five tackles, an intercpetion and four passes broken up. He also set up OSU’s third touchdown by alertly pouncing on a blocked field goal attempt and returning it 25 yards.%^$
%^$Combs Steps Out
%^$Wisconsin cornerback Mike Echols had Derek Combs in his grasp, or so he thought, on the Buckeyes’ second play from scrimmage last Saturday. But to Echols’ surprise, when he looked up, Combs had wriggled free and was on his way to an 80-yard touchdown that would stake OSU to an early 7-0 lead. All the disconcerted Echols had to show for his trouble was Combs right shoe. Officially, the run will go down in the records book as the fifth longest in Ohio State history and the longest since the 1998 season. Unofficially, it is the longest “shoeless” run in Ohio State history, surpassing Keith Byars’ 67-yard run against Illinois in 1984, when Byars threw his left shoe on the way to the end zone. The OSU record for longest run belongs to All-America Gene Fekete, who had an 89-yard run against Pittsburgh in 1942.%^$
%^$Taking The Offensive
%^$Through five games, the Ohio State offense is averaging 397.2 yards and 33 points per game. The Buckeyes also are averaging 69.4 plays per game and 5.8 yards per play. OSU has turned the ball over just seven times — four fumbles and three interceptions. The Buckeyes are averaging 200.8 yards per game rushing and 196.4 passing. Ohio State has scored in 19 of the 20 quarters in the first five games, failing to do so only in the fourth quarter of the Wisconsin game. Led by Derek Combs and Jonathan Wells with three each, the Buckeyes have rushed for nine touchdowns. Steve Bellisari has thrown for six of the Buckeyes’ seven passing touchdowns, three of those going to Chad Cachcio and two to Darnell Sanders. Kicker Dan Stultz continues to lead OSU in scoring with 39 points, hitting 18 of 20 PATs and seven of eight field goals.%^$
%^$Effective In The Red Zone
%^$On the heels of a perfect six-for-six against Penn State, the OSU offense was two-for-two in the red zone at Wisconsin and is now 16 of 18 inside the 20-yard line, scoring 10 touchdowns and six field goals.%^$
%^$Silver Bullets On Target
%^$Ohio State’s 2000 Silver Bullets defense is putting up numbers reminiscent of the 1996 and ’98 championship teams. After five games, the Buckeyes have allowed just 56 total points for an average of 11.2 points per game and have given up just seven points in the fourth quarter. OSU is allowing 95.6 yards per game rushing and 197.4 through the air. The Buckeyes have forced 15 turnovers and have scored on five of those.%^$
%^$Big Plays for the Offense
%^$The OSU offense has totaled 23 plays of 20 or more yards so far this year. Senior flanker Chad Cacchio is the pace setter with six, including three that have gone for touchdowns. Ken-Yon Rambo has four to his credit%^$
%^$Defense Not So Generous
%^$The OSU defense, on the other hand, has given up 17 plays of 20 or more yards — six runs and 11 pass plays.%^$
%^$Cooper on Wisconsin
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%^$”I am very, very proud of the way our team played. Thatwas a crucial game for us. Offensively, we had a good game plan.The thing we wanted to do was get out to an early lead, and we did.We probably got a little conservative in the third quarter, butthat was my fault. I wanted to eat some clock and the wind was inour face, so I didn’t want to do anything that would give themmomentum. Defensively, we kept pressure on them all day long, justkept getting after them. Michael Bennet is a very talented runnerand I have a lot of respect for (quarterback) Brooks Bollinger, butthey never really could get anything going against us.”%^$
%^$Cooper on This Week
%^$”Every game you play is the most important game of the season. That’s the way it is this week for us. We have to have a good week of practice and get ready to play a good Minnesota team. This team (Ohio State) has worked very hard to get where it is, and I think we have gotten better every week. But there is an awful lot of balance in this league, so you can’t afford to ever let up. Minnesota is coming off two good wins and playing with a lot of confidence. We have to stay focused and continue to concentrate on doing the things that make us better.”%^$
%^$Wisconsin Honorees
%^$Junior tight end Tim Cheatwood was named Special Team Player of the Week following the Wisconsin game. Cheatwood’s blocked field goal in the second quarter helped set up Ohio State’s third touchdown. Senior defensive end Rodney Bailey was honored for the “Big Hit” of the game. Bailey sacked Wisconsin quarterback Brooks Bollinger in the first quarter, a 5-yard loss on third-and-five. Offensive Player of the Game honors went to senior tailback Derek Combs, who scored two touchdowns and rushed for 122 yards on 11 carries. The entire offensive line, including the tight end, shared Offensive Lineman of the Week laurels, and the entire defense was named Defensive Player of the Week.%^$
%^$Injury Report
%^$Linebackers Jason Ott and Jack Tucker and offensive tackle Tyson Walter are not expected to play again this week. Ott, who started all 12 games a year ago and was in on 79 tackles, tore a muscle in his right shoulder Aug. 15 and underwent surgery the next day. Tucker suffered a fractured left clavicle Aug. 22. Both are being evaluated on a weekly basis. Walter, who started 37-consecutive games the past three years, has not seen any action this year because of an infection in his lower back.%^$
%^$Stultz Nears FG Mark
%^$Senior Dan Stultz continues to zero in on the school record for made field goals. Stultz connected from 24-yards out in the third quarter of the Wisconsin game and now has seven on the year and 47 during his OSU career. The OSU career record of 49 belongs to Tim Williams (1990-93).%^$
%^$Janowicz’ No. 31 Retired
%^$Vic Janowicz’ No. 31 was retired at halftime of the Penn State game and is now permanently on display in Ohio Stadium. Janowicz, who lettered for the Buckeyes from 1949 to 1951, won the Heisman Trophy in 1950 as a junior. A native of Elyria, Ohio, Janowicz is considered by many historians to be the finest all-around athlete ever to play for Ohio State. Janowicz, who died in February of 1996, is just the second football player and third Ohio State athlete to have a number retired. Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin had his number (45) retired last fall (the Iowa game), and three-time basketball All-America and two time National Player of the Year Jerry Lucas had his number (11) retired this past winter.%^$
%^$Record Crowds Fill The Shoe
%^$Ohio Stadium is three-for-three this year in terms of record attendance. Coming into this year, the single-game attendance record was 95,537, set in 1995 against Notre Dame. With seating capacity this year expanded to 95,346 as part of a three-year renovation project, the Notre Dame mark fell in the season opener against Fresno State (96,583). That record has since been broken twice — against Miami (96,721) and then against Penn State (98,144). With Homecoming this week, it could be four-for-four.%^$
%^$OSU In The Big Ten
%^$The Buckeyes now have an all-time Big Ten record of 394-172-28 since beginning Big Ten play in 1913. Over the years, Ohio State has won 28 Big Ten championships, and is tied for the league lead with 15 outright titles. Between 1992 and 1998 the Buckeyes finished either first or second every year, winning titles in 1993, ’96 and ’98. The Buckeyes are 73-18-1 since Penn State entered the league in 1993. That represents the best mark in the conference in that time period.%^$
%^$Ohio State All-Time
%^$This is the 111th season of football for the Buckeyes, who began play in 1890. The victory at Wisconsin improves OSU’s all-time record to 722-283-53. Over the years the Buckeyes have experienced just 11 losing seasons, with six of those coming prior to 1925.%^$
%^$Up Next
%^$Ohio State travels to Iowa next week. Kickoff in Kinnick Stadium (70,397) is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on ESPN Plus. It is the first of two consecutive road games for the Buckeyes, who are at Purdue Oct. 28. Television plans for that game have not yet been announced.%^$
