Rose Bowl Flashback 6-Pack: 1997 – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Take a look back at Ohio State’s six Rose Bowl wins. Today: 1997 OSU 20, Arizona State 17.
1997 Rose Bowl
No. 4 Arizona State 17
No. 2 Ohio State 20
Jan. 1, 1997, Rose Bowl (100,635)
PASADENA, Calif. – The Buckeyes snapped a four-game losing streak in the grandaddy of all bowl games with a dramatic, come-from-behind win over Arizona State.
The win propelled the fourth-ranked Buckeyes to an 11-1 record and the No. 2 spot in both major polls.
Reserve quarterback Joe Germaine came off the bench to lead the Buckeyes to the victory and was named as the game’s Most Outstanding Player.
OSU took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 9-yard pass from Stanley Jackson to David Boston. ASU scored early in the second period on a 25-yard pass from Jake Plummer to Ricky Boyer and the two teams were deadlocked at halftime.
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 10-7 lead on their first possession of the second half on a 37-yard field goal by Robert Nycz. The Buckeyes recaptured the lead moments later when Germaine and senior flanker Dimitrious Stanley hooked up on a 72-yard score, the longest TD pass in OSU bowl annals.
Plummer, on a third-and-11, somehow snaked his way into the end zone to give ASU a 17-14 lead with 1:40 to play. Earlier, Plummer had kept the drive alive with a 29-yard completion on fourth down.
Germaine’s responded by calmly marching the Buckeyes 65 yards in 12 plays, hitting Boston from 5 yards out with the game winner.
