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Inside College Football
Posted: Tuesday November 23, 1999 01:20 PM Bye-Bye, BuckeyesOhio State fell to Michigan to conclude its worst season of the 1990s By Ivan Maisel
The questions in the Ohio State interview room last Saturday had less to do with how the Buckeyes lost 24-17 at Michigan than with where they had been hiding. Ohio State ran the ball for a season-high 263 yards and limited the Wolverines to 252 yards of offense, 146 yards lower than their season's average. Most important, the Buckeyes showed heart. "We played harder than we had all season," tailback Michael Wiley said. If they'd played this way from the beginning of the year, he added, "who knows what could have happened?"
After he completed 5 of 8 passes, two of them for touchdowns, in the first half against Michigan, Bellisari's inexperience reappeared. In the second half he threw two interceptions that the Wolverines converted into 10 points. With the Buckeyes leading 17-10 in the third quarter, Bellisari mishandled a field goal snap, thereby laying waste to Jonathan Wells's 76-yard run to the Michigan six. Then on fourth-and-nine with 2:10 to play and Ohio State trying to tie the game, Bellisari missed a wide-open Reggie Germany near midfield. Bellisari won the Buckeyes' starting job from fellow sophomore Austin Moherman after two games, but he hasn't proved he can consistently read defenses or make accurate throws. "It was definitely a good year," Bellisari said after the loss, proving that he really does need to learn more about the game. "I learned a lot. I'm still going to learn. For us to be better, I have to keep learning." Bellisari wasn't solely responsible for Ohio State's descent into mediocrity. Eight Buckeyes were drafted by the NFL last spring. Four upperclassmen, including All-Big Ten guard Rob Murphy, either flunked out or became academically ineligible. The leadership void left behind was never filled. Ohio State's loss to Miami in this year's Kickoff Classic stunned the Buckeyes, who had won 43 games in four seasons and took contending for the Big Ten title for granted. "We're not handling adversity well," coach John Cooper said before last week's game. "We'll fumble or give up a big play, and the roof caves in on us." With a 17-6 lead over Wisconsin on Oct. 2, Cooper watched Wiley fumble the second-half kickoff. The Badgers recovered and went on to win 42-17. On Nov. 6 at Michigan State, Buckeyes flanker Ken-Yon Rambo twice dropped crucial passes that Bellisari had laid right into his hands. The Spartans cruised to a 23-7 win. Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger said on Saturday that the Buckeyes have been offered the opportunity to host the 2001 Pigskin Classic. Even if Ohio Stadium's renovation is completed on schedule for that season, Geiger isn't sure he'll take the game. But then, mediocre teams are more careful of whom they play, aren't they? Issue date: November 29, 1999
For more Inside College Football, see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, November 24. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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