NCAA Football Preview (Ohio St-West Virginia)
Posted: Tues September 1, 1998 at 1:02 p.m. EDT
Ohio St (0-0) at West Virginia (0-0)
Saturday, 8 pm EDT
For the first time in 18 years, Ohio State enters the season as
the nation's top team. But that elite status could be
short-lived as the Buckeyes play perhaps the toughest opener in
school history, a trip to West Virginia -- and they
might have to do it without linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer.
Ohio State, which has not won the national title since 1968, was
ranked at the beginning of the 1980 season but finished
9-3. Thanks in large part to Katzenmoyer, the Buckeyes are back
on top in the two major preseason polls.
On Friday, Katzenmoyer will learn if he is academically eligible
for the season when he receives his grades from summer school.
Without the Butkus Award winner, the Buckeyes figure to have a
terrific time stopping one of the nation's top running backs in
Amos Zereoue.
"This is the toughest opener by far since I've been here as a
coach," said John Cooper, who is 10-0 in opening games at Ohio
State. "And if we were playing at home it would still be the
toughest opener. Amos Zereoue does everything. He breaks
tackles, he has speed, durablity. He'll carry the ball a lot."
The Buckeyes, who are an incredible 93-11-4 in season openers,
will begin on an opponent's field for just the seventh time in
school history. They last played a road opener in 1975 -- a win
at Michigan State -- and are 6-4 in season-opening "away" games,
a record that includes three appearances on neutral fields.
West Virginia enters with the highest preseason ranking in
school history and will play host to a team at
Mountaineer Field for just the second time. The last time the
team came to Morgantown was in 1986, when Miami of
Florida made itself at home with a 58-14 destruction of West
Virginia.
Ohio State holds a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series and
enters riding a four-game winning streak. The teams have not
met since 1987 at Ohio Stadium, a 24-3 Buckeyes victory.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
|
