Ohio State to Face South Carolina in The Outback Bowl – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 15, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Buckeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks will meet for the first time ever on the football field at 11 a.m., Jan. 1, at the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
“We are excited to be playing in the Outback Bowl and looking forward to playing a quality team like South Carolina,” said Ohio State coach John Cooper. “I have known (South Carolina coach) Lou Holtz for a long time and I know he will have his team ready to play. This should be a great match-up between two good football teams.”
Ohio State finished the regular season with an 8-3 mark and was 5-3 in Big Ten play, narrowly missing out on a share of the conference title. The Buckeyes are ranked 18th in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll and are 19th in the most recent Associated Press rankings. South Carolina finished its season with a 7-4 record and was 5-3 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Buckeyes, who began bowl practice on Nov. 30, will break camp on Dec. 20 to go home for Christmas. They will resume practice in Tampa on Dec. 26 at the University of Tampa and are scheduled to practice daily through Dec. 30.
“We have had good practices so far,” Cooper said. ” This team has worked hard all year and our players want to play well on New Year’s Day and wind up the season on a positive note.”
Added OSU co-captain Joe Cooper, “We are taking this game very seriously, it’s much more than just a trip to Florida. We are playing a good team and we know we need to play our best game of the year.”
Cooper, a senior linebacker, is one of the mainstays of a defensive unit that led the Big Ten in rushing and scoring defense this past season, allowing averages of 91.6 yards and 18 points a game. The OSU defense also recorded 46 sacks (one shy of the school single-season record set in 1998), forced 28 turnovers and scored six touchdowns – three on interception returns and three on fumble recoveries. Safety Mike Doss, who scored two of those touchdowns, was the Buckeyes’ leading tackler with 89 total stops. Doss, only a sophomore, won all-Big Ten honors and was named to a first-team berth on the Sporting News All-America team. Other individual leaders include sophomore linebacker Matt Wilhelm (15 tackles for loss), senior defensive end Brent Johnson (9 sacks) and senior cornerback David Mitchell (5 interceptions).
Cooper earned all-Big Ten honors, as did junior cornerback Nate Clements. Both players were named to the Associated Press third-team All-America squad.
The OSU defense will face a South Carolina team that, uncharacteristically in Cooper’s view, likes to spread the field.
“The Lou Holtz that I knew was an I-formation coach,” noted the Buckeye coach. “But this team is much more wide open. It reminds me of the Purdue and Northwestern offenses. They have excellent skill players and are well coached. I have been particularly impressed with what I have seen of Derek Watson at running back. He runs hard.”
Watson, a 210-pound sophomore, leads the Gamecocks in rushing with 1066 yards and has scored 11 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Phil Petty, meanwhile, threw for 2110 yards and seven touchdowns and had three different receivers with 30 or more receptions. South Carolina averages 23.5 points a game.
The Ohio State offense, meanwhile, centers around quarterback Steve Bellisari and tailback Derek Combs. Bellisari, a junior who is in his second year as a starter, threw for 2,162 yards and 13 touchdowns. Despite being slowed by a sprained ankle the last half of the season, Combs ran for 863 yards and five touchdowns and was the Buckeyes’ Most Valuable Player.
“Derek is as healthy as he has been all year right now,” said Cooper of his speedy senior. “We need him in there. He’s our home run threat.”
Senior flanker Ken-Yon Rambo leads the Buckeyes in receptions with 51, good for 729 yards and an average of 14.3 yards per catch. Tight end Darnell Sanders, a first-year starter, has a team-high five touchdown receptions, one more than backup flanker Chad Cacchio.
The Buckeyes, who average 29.5 points a game, are led by kicker Dan Stultz, who set school records this year for single-season (19) and career (59) field goals made. Stultz, a consensus all-Big Ten pick, finished the season with 90 points and now has 341 career points, leaving him just seven shy of the school record of 348 (Pete Johnson 1973-76).
Cooper knows his team will need to be hitting on all cylinders against the Gamecocks’ defense.
“They are very sound defensively,” he said. “They fly around, are very athletic and play with a great deal of emotion. (Linebacker) Andre Offing and (defensive back) Rashad Faison are having very good years.
“The key for us offensively is to not turn the ball over. In a game like this, it usually boils down to turnovers and the kicking game.”
