CBS SportsLine wire reports
Sept. 19, 1998
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In the end, there really was no option against No. 1 Ohio State.
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"That was a good old rock 'em, sock 'em football game," coach John Cooper said after his Buckeyes beat No. 21 Missouri 35-14 and held the Tigers' option attack to a measly 211 yards on Saturday. "Our defensive team played a great game."
The offense wasn't bad, either. Michael Wiley ran for a career-best 209 yards and two touchdowns and Ohio State rolled up 531 yards. It's just that some of the Buckeyes had a hard time holding on to the football.
FIRST-HALF FUMBLES BY quarterback Joe Germaine and wide receiver David Boston set up both Missouri touchdowns, but Ohio State rebounded from a 14-13 deficit to shut out the Tigers in the second half.
"We were our own worst enemy early in the ballgame," Cooper said. "We need to secure the football. We'll work on that."
The Buckeyes (3-0) also worked out a second-half strategy to stop Jones, the 6-foot-1, 222-pounder who ended up with 21 carries for 90 yards -- just 32 on 13 carries in the second half. The passing game was no factor -- Jones was 6-of-11 for 20 yards. And Devin West, who had a school-record 319 yards last week, had 86 yards on 21 carries.
"When Corby was coming down the line, he was going to get hit," Cooper said of the changes.
Jones questioned the decision to stick with the run.
"WE RAN THE BALL WELL, BUT you can't expect the guys up front to pound for 70 plays against one of the best teams in the country," he said. "I think we would have done better if we would have mixed it up. We would have had a better chance to win."
Last year, Jones took a punishing hit from Butkus Award-winning linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer and the tackle turned the momentum in Ohio State's favor. This time, the Big Kat was satisfied with a team-leading 12 tackles.
"Jones was the key to their offense and it was very frustrating at times to catch him," Katzenmoyer said. "You have to play assignment football against him, but this game was to my liking."
Missouri coach Larry Smith saw it differently.
"We played hard and determined, but we were looking for more than just effort," Smith said. "It wasn't enough. It was a loss.''
For the third consecutive game, Wiley, a 6-foot, 198-pound junior, produced a career-best effort as he carried 24 times and scored on runs of 21 yards in the first quarter and 12 yards in the fourth quarter. The last Ohio State player to run for 200 yards was Eddie George, who had 314 yards against Illinois in 1995.
"With the holes they were opening, I could have gone inside or outside," Wiley said.
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Ohio State didn't give Corby Jones any room to run.
(AP)
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The Buckeyes, though, were sloppy and sluggish through three quarters against the Tigers (2-1), who are 0-8 against No. 1 teams.
BOSTON, WHO CAUGHT NINE passes for 112 yards, fumbled the ball away after a 42-yard reception and it led to Jones' 10-yard TD run that tied the game 7-7 early in the second period before a crowd of 93,269.
With the Buckeyes ahead 10-7, the Tigers took the lead when Germaine, who was 19-of-25 for 211 yards, fumbled and cornerback Carlos Posey scooped up the ball and ran 65 yards for a TD. It put the Tigers ahead 14-10 with 4:21 left in the half.
"I saw the ball come out and saw it on the ground," Posey said. ``If you know my history of missing fumbles, you know I had to slow down, pick it up and take it to the house. It was a good feeling."
Early in the second half, Wiley ran 29 yards to the Missouri 29, and Joe Montgomery finished the drive with a 6-yard run, putting the Buckeyes ahead for good 21-14 after a successful 2-point conversion.
The Tigers then wilted under the Buckeyes' defensive pressure. Jones brought his team to the Ohio State 32, but after running for a first down on fourth-and-1, he fumbled and the ball was recovered by cornerback Ahmed Plummer.
Germaine directed a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended in Wiley's 12-yard run and Derek Combs added a 9-yard scoring run with 3:54 left.
The Tigers came into the game as 25-point underdogs but full of confidence. They felt even better at halftime.
OHIO STATE'S OPENING DRIVE ended with Wiley's 21-yard TD run, and the Buckeyes were on the move again when Germaine hit Boston for 42 yards to the Missouri 38. But Posey stripped the ball from Boston, free safety Harold Piersey picked it up and ran 20 yards to the Ohio State 48.
Jones scrambled 27 yards and capped the drive with a 10-yard run, outrunning linebacker Jerry Rudzinski and leaping the final five yards into the end zone, where he ended up on his back.
Wiley ran 59 yards to the Missouri 30 one the first play after the kickoff to set up Dan Stultz's 27-yard field goal with 12:20 left in the half.
Germaine took off running on a first-and-10 from the Missouri 42. Instead of sliding to avoid two defenders, he took them on and linebacker Barry Odom knocked the ball loose with a ferocious hit. Posey grabbed the ball and ran 65 yards to put the Tigers ahead.