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Ohio State
They're loaded with talent and play most of their tough
games
at home. Is this the season the beleaguered Buckeyes beat
Michigan and win their first title in 20 years? Yes, it
is
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After sharing the position the past two seasons, Germaine
gets to show what he can do in a full-time starting
role. (Reter Read
Miller) | You might
think Ohio State is consumed by the notion of closing the
gap between itself and Michigan, since coach John Cooper's
Buckeyes have beaten the Wolverines just once in 10 tries. Oh, the
indignity: Two years ago Michigan beat Ohio State and cost
the
Buckeyes a chance to play for No. 1; last year the Wolverines won
a share of the national championship themselves. Ohio
State, however, has set its sights elsewhere. It doesn't
merely want to catch up to
Michigan. It wants to catch up to Florida
State.
The Buckeyes came away from last season's 20-14 loss to the
Wolverines frustrated. They came away from their 31-14
Sugar Bowl loss to the Seminoles humiliated. "I can't
even watch that
game," says All-America guard Rob Murphy. "It's
sickening." The
biggest pain for Ohio State was a Florida State defense that
forced three
interceptions.
Joe Germaine, the Buckeyes' gentleman quarterback, speaks
in more polite terms. "That game was a wake-up
call," he says. "We were a little bit embarrassed. We don't
want anything like that to happen again. That was a good
team. That's the level we want
to be at all the
time."
And that's the level that deeply talented Ohio State will
reach this fall, provided that three key
players—Murphy, strong safety Damon Moore and, most
important,
All-America middle linebacker Andy
Katzenmoyer—pass their summer classes and retain their
eligibility. If they survive report card day on Sept. 4,
the Buckeyes will immediately have to pass another test on
Sept. 5: the attention-getting matchup in Saturday-night prime time
at West
Virginia. That, however, will be their last tough road trip. The
toughest games
en route to the
Fiesta Bowl—against
Missouri, Penn State, Michigan State and
Michigan—will be played at Ohio
Stadium.
In last season's Sugar Bowl, Florida State appeared deeper
and better conditioned than Ohio State. Cooper thinks that
was a function of geography. "I think Southern teams
have to substitute a lot to survive the
heat," Cooper, a Tennessee native, says.
"Consequently, they get more depth. Maybe I'm looking for an
alibi. Southern teams are a lot quicker than we are at that
time of season. And we're not a slow
team."
To bolster the Buckeyes' depth, Cooper had hoped to work
more players into the lineup during spring practice than he
has in the past. Injuries curtailed that plan, but heading
into the fall almost everyone had healed. "We've got
more good young players
than any team I've coached
here," Cooper says. "We're a young team. We had 10 seniors last
year. Only six of them started, and two of the six
alternated."
Those two were tailback Pepe Pearson, whose carries will be
absorbed by
junior Michael Wiley, and quarterback
Stanley Jackson, who tag-teamed with
Germaine to lead the Buckeyes to a 21-4 record over the last two
seasons. Germaine surely has set some sort
of record by throwing for more than 3,000 yards (and 31
touchdowns) with only one career start. He's admired by his
teammates for handling a difficult situation with grace.
Though he plays for John, he's more a disciple of the Gary
school of Coopers.
Germaine has both Gary's unflappability and his aw-shucks manner.
"Joe is one of the funniest guys I
know," Murphy
says. "He doesn't intentionally try to be funny. He came
into the huddle once and said, 'C'mon guys! Let's raise the
roof.' He did the hand motions. He said it in a real white
way."
Gosh darn, excitement spreads across Germaine's face when
he talks about the season to come. "That's why I came
here, to be a starting
quarterback," Germaine says. "I've proven I can do the job. In the
hotel lobby the day after the Sugar Bowl, I told
[quarterbacks] Coach [Tim] Salem I was ready to start full
time."
He'll operate behind an offensive line that learned on the
job last season. Defenses sacked Buckeyes quarterbacks 14
times in the first three games. Though the rate dwindled to
nearly half that over the remainder of the season, the
sacks took a toll—277
yards, to be precise—as did busted running plays. Ohio
State had 479 yards of negative rushing yardage. No other
team in the top 15 had more than
420.
That line has matured to the point that it should give
Germaine the time he needs to become the most prolific
passer in the Big Ten. He has the best group of receivers
in the league: All-Big Ten split end David Boston and
flanker Dee Miller combined
last season to catch 122 passes, 19 of them for TDs. Another
plus: Boston's nemesis, Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson, has
gone to the
NFL.
It all comes back to the Wolverines, doesn't
it? With Woodson gone, the best secondary
in the nation no longer wears maize and blue.
Buckeyes corner Antoine Winfield was an
All-America last year, and safeties Moore and Gary Berry made
big plays. In front of them
should be Katzenmoyer, the best linebacker in Ohio, as any
Cincinnati Bengals fan will
tell you. His return would be the signal that
this will be a season to remember for Ohio
State—as long as he and all the Buckeyes
remember Florida
State.
—Ivan
Maisel
Fast Facts
1997 record: 10-3 (6-2, tied for 2nd in Big Ten)
Final ranking: No. 12 AP, No. 12 coaches' poll
| 1997 Averages | Offense | Defense |
| Scoring | 31.7 | 11.6 |
| Rushing Yards | 167.9 | 124.3 |
| Passing Yards | 244.9 | 143.7 |
| Total Yards | 412.8 | 267.9 |
|
Lineup
Coach: John Cooper
11th year at Ohio State (86-32-4); career Div. I-A record: 168-72-6
| OFFENSE |
| WR | David Boston | Jr. | 70 rec., a team season record |
| LT | Tyson Walter | So. | Orlando Pace heir had 13 starts |
| LG | Rob Murphy | Jr. | Returns from right-knee injury |
| C | Kurt Murphy | Jr. | Started final 6 games |
| RG | Ben Gilbert | Jr. | Started all 13 games |
| RT | Brooks Burris | Sr. | Most games played on OL (32 ) |
| TE | John Lumpkin | Sr. | 6'8" with good hands (2 TDs) |
| WR | Dee Miller | Sr. | 52 rec., 902 yds., 5 TDs |
| QB | Joe Germaine | Sr. | Nation's third-most efficient QB |
| RB | Michael Wiley | Jr. | 579 rushing yds., 5.7 avg., 6 TDs |
| FB | Matt Keller | Jr. | 17 rec., third highest on team |
| K | Dan Stultz | So. | 13 of 21 FGs, 47 of 48 PATs |
| DEFENSE |
| LE | Rodney Bailey | So. | Only true frosh starter in '97 |
| LT | Clinton Wayne | So. | Scored on int. vs. Indiana |
| RT | Joe Brown | So. | 23 tackles, 1 sack |
| RE | James Cotton | Jr. | Made adjustment from LB |
| OLB | Na'il Diggs | So. | 4 sacks in final three games |
| MLB | Andy Katzenmoyer | Jr. | Butkus winner had 93 stops |
| OLB | Jerry Rudzinski | Sr. | Gained 20 yds. as RB |
| CB | Antoine Winfield | Sr. | 92 tackles, second best on team |
| SS | Damon Moore | Sr. | First-team All-Big Ten |
| FS | Gary Berry | Jr. | Two TDs vs. Michigan State |
| CB | Ahmed Plummer | Jr. | 4 int., 39 tackles |
| P | Brent Bartholomew | Sr. | 65 punts, 45.1-yd. avg. |
|
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are from 1997 season.
Pivotal Players
Junior
tailback Michael Wiley
averaged a team-leading 5.7 yards per carry last season
while sharing the position with
Pepe Pearson. Wiley should see his production increase this fall
behind an improved offensive
line.... Junior
David Boston
needs 63 catches and seven touchdown receptions to pass
Cris Carter as the Buckeyes' career leader in both
categories.... There's something about strong safety
Damon Moore and winning; after starting for three years on the
Fostoria (Ohio) High team that accumulated a 37-2 record,
he has played on three Ohio State teams that are 32-6
overall.... Good
news: Fourth-year starting punter
Brent Bartholomew
averaged
45.1 yards per punt last season and landed 20 of his 65 attempts
inside the 20. Bad
news: The Buckeyes allowed 11.5 yards per punt return last
season, including a 78-yard touchdown by Michigan's
Charles Woodson.
Key Games
Schedule strength: 2nd of
112
Sept. 5 at West Virginia
A salty opener against a veteran team whose loud fans are
sure to be roused to fever pitch for this Saturday-night
event. Cooper's Buckeyes are 9-2 against Big East
teams.
Oct. 3 vs. Penn State
In two Big Ten visits to Columbus, the Nittany Lions have
scored 13 points and no touchdowns against the Buckeyes'
first-team
defense.
Nov. 7 vs. Michigan State, Nov. 21 vs. Michigan
Each year that Ohio State has beaten its northern neighbors
in the Horseshoe, the Buckeyes have finished No. 1. The
last (and only)
time: 1968.
X Factor
When Ohio State gets to the brink of beating Michigan, will
the Buckeyes believe they can do
it? After so much heartbreak, that will be at least half the
battle.
Bottom Line
Cooper, who at age 61 says he doesn't see himself coaching
much more than another three years, may not get a better
chance to win it all than this
season.
Top 25 | The Master List | Conference Rankings | Lower Divisions
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