No. 17 Buckeyes Beat Miami (OH) 27-16 – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2000
Box Score| Quotes| Notes
COLUMBUS, Ohio–Ohio State’s Buckeyes kept their 2000 record unblemished Saturday afternoon by disposing of Miami University’s RedHawks 27-16 before an Ohio Stadium record crowd of 96,721
OSU improved to 3-0 and awaits its Big Ten opener in a week at home against Penn State (12:10 p.m. kickoff, ABC). Miami’s record dropped to 2-1.
It was the first meeting in 89 years between the two most successful programs in the state of Ohio. The Buckeyes have won all three games dating back to 1904. It was the first time a Miami team has posted points against Ohio State even though the Buckeyes stopped Miami’s string of scoring in 13-consecutive quarters by holding the RedHawks off the scoreboard in the first quarter.
Ohio State pounded out 467 total yards behind career-high efforts by Derek Combs, with a game-high 142 yards, and Jonathan Wells, who scored twice and rambled for 113 yards. Ken-Yon Rambo had six receptions for 100 yards and Chad Cacchio had a touchdown catch and a total of 54 yards on two receptions on the afternoon. Quarterback Steve Bellisari threw for 194 yards, completing 13 of 30 attempts with no interceptions.
It was the first time that Ohio State had two 100-yard rushers in a game since 1996 when Pepe Pearson and Joe Montgomery each eclipsed the century mark against Pittsburgh.
OSU’s defense again played a big part in keeping the RedHawks under wraps by picking off Miami’s Mike Bath three times. The senior quarterback hit on 21 of 48 attempts for 236 yards and two touchdowns.
Ohio State took the opening kickoff of the second half and scored on a 28-yard field goal by Dan Stultz to take the lead, 13-10. The drive went 45 yards on 10 plays and was aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the Miami kickoff team for hitting OSU’s Ken-Yon Rambo following his 30-yard return.
The Buckeye defense then forced a Miami punt before the OSU offense drove 58 yards on five plays to take a 20-10 lead with 8:42 to go in the third quarter. The score came on a 19-yard run up the middle by Wells.
Each team failed to score in its next possession before Miami’s Bath found Ty Buxton in the left corner of the endzone for a 23-yard touchdown with 2:43 to play in the quarter to close the gap to 20-16 in favor of the Buckeyes. Miami’s attempt at the extra point failed. The drive went 68 yards on five plays.
Ohio State was forced to punt on its next possession.
Bath, behind his own 40-yard run, guided the RedHawks deep in OSU territory setting up a 21-yard field goal attempt by Andy Brumbergs that he missed left, securing the Buckeyes’ four-point lead.
With 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Buckeye cornerback Nate Clements intercepted an overthrown Bath pass. A roughing the kicker penalty on a made field goal by OSU’s Stultz resulted in an automatic first down. The penalty gave the Buckeyes the ball on the 1-yard line, setting up a Wells touchdown run to give Ohio State a 27-16 advantage with 6:43 left in the game.
Ohio State opened the scoring on a seven-play, 49-yard drive highlighted by a career-long 46-yard run by Combs. Dan Stultz kicked a 49-yard field goal with 10:28 left in the first quarter to give the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead.
For Stultz, it was his second-longest field goal of his career (55-yarder vs Indiana, 1997) and the sixth-longest field goal in Ohio Stadium history. Stultz has kicked five career field goals of 45-yards or longer.
Miami tied the score at 3-all with a career-long 49-yard field goal by Andy Brumbergs with 14:49 to play in the second quarter. The RedHawks drove 58-yards on 15 plays to even the score.
The Buckeyes then drove to the Miami 25 before attempting a 35-yard field goal. Stultz’ attempt was blocked by Miami’s DeMarrio Jones to keep the game tied at 3-all. The blocked kick negated a 46-yard pass play from junior Steve Bellisari to senior receiver Ken-Yon Rambo.
The teams then exchanged punts before Miami drove 85 yards on eight plays to take a 10-3 lead on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Mike Bath to Sly Johnson with 2:26 remaining in the first half.
The Buckeyes came right back to even the score at 10-all on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Bellisari to senior Chad Cacchio with 1:47 to play before the half.
Cacchio, a former walkon, has now caught a TD pass in each of Ohio State’s first three games. He has nine-career receptions, four this season and three for touchdowns.
The last time an OSU receiver scored touchdowns in three-consecutive games was last season when Rambo found the endzone against UCLA, Ohio and Cincinnati.
