NCAA Football Recap (Ohio St-West Virginia)
Posted: Sun September 6, 1998 at 2:05 a.m EDT
Michael Wiley ran for 140 yards and a touchdown, Joe Germaine
threw for 301 yards and a pair of scores and Ohio
State shut down Amos Zereoue en route to a 34-17 defeat of
West Virginia in both schools' season opener.
The Buckeyes lived up to their preseason billing as the nation's
top team with a balanced attack on offense and a defense -- led
by linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer -- that prevented Zereoue from
becoming a factor on his home turf. Zereoue became the school's
all-time leading rusher, but finished with 77 yards on 20
carries.
"I'm a happy football coach," said Ohio State's John Cooper. "We
walked into a great, hostile crowd and won the game. The
important thing was we walked away without any injuries,
especially being on Astroturf. Zereoue is a great football
player. We did a great job of stopping him in the second half.
We took away his cutback runs and took away his great vision."
The Mountaineers broke out to a 3-0 edge on Jay Taylor's 47-yard
field goal exactly four minutes into the game, but it was their
only lead. They allowed Ohio State 549 yards of total offense,
248 on the ground, and gained 310.
"I was a little disappointed with our offense," West Virginia
coach Don Nehlen said. "We had some breakdowns form-wise. We
made some mistakes I didn't expect us to make. We weren't able
to sustain anything. We needed to run more than we could. Their
secondary is about as good as any I've ever seen. When the ball
is snapped, 11 of those guys can run."
Dan Stultz converted from 35 yards just under four minutes later
and the Buckeyes defense forced a three-and-out. David Boston
returned a punt 20 yards to the Ohio State 45 and Wiley followed
with runs of 37 and then 18 for the score that gave the Buckeyes
a 10-3 edge with 5:23 left in the opening quarter.
"Michael Wiley had a great game," Cooper said. "He made some
fantastic catches."
Germaine, now the full-time starter with Stanley Jackson gone,
connected on a 14-yard scoring pass to Dee Miller with 10:49
left in the first half to increase the advantage to 17-3. The
score was set up by Germaine's 42-yard pass to Miller that
brought the ball to the 33.
Stultz booted a 36-yarder 93 seconds later to make it a 17-point
game as Ohio State took advantage of a big mistake by West
Virginia. On the kickoff following Miller's touchdown, Joe
Cooper stripped the ball from returner Jay Porter and Tim
Cheatwood recovered at the 29.
"We got lucky on fumbles and a lot of things worked for us
tonight," Cooper observed. "I told the guys that I was proud of
them. They played well, but we have to play better."
Making his second career start, Germaine completed 18 of 32
passes and was not intercepted. Boston caught seven passes for
129 yards and Miller grabbed six for 110.
The Mountaineers pulled within 20-10 at halftime when Marc
Bulger threw a six-yard TD pass to Shawn Foreman with 20 seconds
left, capping an 81-yard drive that took 1:45.
The Ohio State defense tightened in the third quarter, making
Germaine's 36-yard scoring pass to Boston midway through the
period loom even larger. The West Virginia defense could not
hold Ohio State from the 96-yard drive that stayed alive when
Germaine connected with Boston on a 29-yard pass on 3rd-and-5 to
the Ohio State 38.
Jonathan Wells ran seven yards for a score with 3:14 remaining
in the game to build Ohio State's cushion to 34-10 and
extinguish any hopes of a West Virginia comeback. This time the
Buckeyes devoured the clock, taking 6:31 off for the 14-play,
74-yard march.
"They're a handful," Nehlen said of the opposition. "They'll be
a handful for anyone, not just us. I can't be down on my
players. I think they played their hearts out."
Bulger threw a three-yard scoring pass to Foreman with 13
seconds left to make the final score respectable. Bulger went
23-for-37 for 232 yards and was intercepted on the game's final
play after the Mountaineers recovered an onside kick.
Foreman had six catches for 42 yards and David Saunders added
seven for 63.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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