Similarities End On Scoreboard – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 12, 2000
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – There was an eerie similarity between No. 18 Ohio State and Arizona before the Buckeyes’ beat the Wildcats.
Both teams finished 1998 by winning bowl games, skidded to 6-6 records last year and were struggling to get things right after winning openers dominated by defense. Even the coaches – John Cooper and Dick Tomey – had a common bond after spending six years together as assistants at Kansas.
But similar doesn’t always mean equal. The Buckeyes (2-0) had more of everything – defense, offense and will to win – in a 27-17 victory Saturday night.
“It’s about maturity,” defensive end Rodney Bailey said after the Buckeyes held Arizona to 194 yards, forced the Wildcats to punt 12 times and sacked Ortege Jenkins eight times. “This team has grown a lot today,”
Some of the growth came at quarterback. Steve Bellisari threw for two touchdowns, led a second-half comeback and showed a penchant for big plays against a team known for stingy defense.
“They hit hard and fly to the ball,” said Bellisari, 12-of-20 for 240 yards and one interception. “We came out and started the game really conservative. We weren’t executing, and we were shooting ourselves in the foot with mistakes. We were determined to make it better.”
Cooper opened up the offensive scheme at halftime, and Bellisari threw two of his three completions of 40 yards or better on consecutive drives that took Ohio State from a 17-10 deficit to a 24-17 lead in the third quarter.
He hit Chad Cacchio with a 60-yard bomb to tie the score, and set up a 1-yard scoring run by Jonathan Wells with a 46-yard completion to Reggie Germany on the next possession.
Bellisari set up his team’s first TD – a 1-yard pass to Tim Cheatwood with a 44-yard strike to Vanness Provitt. The catches by Provitt and Cacchio were career-long plays, and Germany came within one yard of his career-best.
Dan Stultz provided the only scoring of the fourth quarter with his second field goal, and the defense shut out the Wildcats in the second half.
“They made the better adjustments in the second half,” said Arizona defensive end Joe Tafoya. “We seemed to lose our intensity.”
Ohio State defenders scored four times in an opening rout of Fresno State. But they played perhaps an even stronger game against Arizona (1-1), keeping the dangerous Jenkins off balance from the start.
Jenkins finished 11-of-23 for 137 yards after missing his first five attempts and was held to 4 yards rushing despite scoring the game’s first points on a 10-yard run.
The Wildcats’ big play was Jenkins’ 60-yard TD pass to Bobby Wade, but the distance was deceiving – Wade turned a short throw to the flat into a score by cutting back across the grain and outrunning the pursuit.
“We need to go back to the drawing board,” said Wade, who had an 85-yard punt return called back.
