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Waiting out the storm

After Miami debacle, Bucks wait two weeks for UCLA

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Posted: Tuesday September 07, 1999 03:03 PM

John Cooper: "After you get beat, you like to come back the next day and get it out of your system. It's been a long 10 days." AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- What nags at Ohio State coach John Cooper isn't the turnovers or the penalties. It's not even the fact that the Buckeyes were manhandled in a 23-12 loss to Miami in the Kickoff Classic Aug. 29.

"I'm disappointed in our football team -- not any one area," Cooper said Monday. "That's not like us to play like we did.

"We played almost like we didn't want to be there."

Through more than 11 seasons as the Ohio State head coach, Cooper has come to accept mistakes and expect shortcomings. But seldom if ever had he sent a team out that played as if it didn't care.

"We all came out flat," cornerback Nate Clements said.

Linebacker Na'il Diggs saw the same attitude -- or lack of one.

"There was definitely an emotional pitch that wasn't there," he said. "I definitely saw it when we came back and watched the film. It was not a couple of guys, it was everybody. We weren't running down the field. We weren't playing hard."

Asked why that was, Diggs said, "It was a lot of little things that threw us off. A lot of the guys just didn't want to be there. It was an away game, early in the season against a good team. It was a lot of little things that got to us."

The Miami game is now in the rearview mirror. Ahead lies No. 14 UCLA in Saturday's home opener.

But the 13th-ranked Buckeyes are showing signs that they'll be ready, based on how they played in practice last week.

"It was very intense," wide receiver Reggie Germany said. "It was like full go. Tempers were flaring. It got exciting."

The early loss -- Ohio State's first in a season opener in 12 years -- was a disaster. Miami dominated the Buckeyes, outgaining them 398-220. When the Hurricanes needed a big play, they got it. They had gains of 44, 50, 42, 67 and 23 yards to tilt momentum, field position and the scoreboard in their favor.

They also ground it out when necessary, eating up 7:39 of the fourth quarter on a 79-yard drive that included only nine passing yards.

UCLA opened its season Saturday with an easy 38-7 victory over Boise State and put on an offensive show. Six players scored, 10 carried the ball and 12 caught passes.

"They've got great offensive skills people," Cooper said. "They've got three or four of the best wide receivers we'll play against. And they've got a stable of running backs."

Cooper said it would be difficult to gauge how good the Bruins are based on their rout of Boise State. They led 38-0 through three quarters and piled up 401 yards before turning the game over to the substitutes.

But he said Miami's 49-45 upset of previously unbeaten and third-ranked UCLA last year gave him an indication.

"If you don't think they're good on offense, look at what they did last year against Miami," Cooper said. "They had 670 yards of offense against Miami -- a Miami team that kicked our butts up one side and down the other last week."

Ohio State will make few changes in personnel. Cooper said Austin Moherman will again start at quarterback, backed by Steve Bellisari. The faces will be the same; maybe the attitudes won't.

"We're not going to win just by showing up," Cooper warned. "We're anxious to play a game. After you get beat, you like to come back the next day and get it out of your system. It's been a long 10 days."

 

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