Sunday, September 26, 1999BEARCATS NOTEBOOK
OSU's big plays kill Bearcats upset bid
BY MIKE DECOURCY
The Cincinnati EnquirerCOLUMBUS — Of all the elements of the Cincinnati Bearcats' game plan against Ohio State, none was more important than the admonishment by coach Rick Minter to allow the Buckeyes no big plays.
That didn't go so well. The Bearcats gave up pass plays of 59, 55 and 50 yards on OSU scoring drives, all of them to wideout Ken-Yon Rambo.
UC was playing zone defense on two of those long balls, both in the first half, which cut wiped out a 17-3 UC lead and allowed the Buckeyes to tie it at the half. Free safety DeJuan Gossett was leaning to the inside on the first and strong safety Tinker Keck got caught playing too short on the second.
“I should have been a little deeper,” Keck said.
Minter said there also should be blame on the defensive front, which gave quarterback Steve Bellisari time to throw. UC played without defensive tackle Mario Monds, one of the stars of the Wisconsin victory, who did not make the trip because of a sprained knee.
“When you give up big plays on defense, you generally have trouble,” Minter said.
HEAD'S UP: One of the turning points of the game was a missed 33-yard field goal attempt by UC freshman Jonathon Ruffin in the second quarter. He earlier hit from 46 yards and clinched last week's Wisconsin victory with a 41-yarder, so Minter was confident upon sending him in for a second try against the Buckeyes.
Ruffin was, as well. He was too confident.
“I always kick bad when I'm relaxed,” Ruffin said. “I was too relaxed. I didn't take it as important as it was.”
TOO HAPPY: The Bearcats were flagged for excessive celebration following quarterback Deontey Kenner's 35-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw that put them ahead 17-3 in the second quarter.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno, trying to dissuade such penalties, tells his players to “act like you've been there before.” But when has UC ever been two touchdowns up on a team like Ohio State?
“Maybe we shouldn't have celebrated as much as we did, but how do you contain 11 Bearcats who just scored on Ohio State?” center Doug Rosfeld said. “We were celebrating with our fans. We didn't have any problem with that. It didn't affect our team at all.”
SHORT STUFF: UC quarterback Deontay Kenner's 29 completions were a career high and the No. 4 total in school history. He now has 3,056 passing yards, ranking 10th on the school's career list.
• Tailback Robert Cooper's 100-yard game was his second in a row and fifth of his career. Three of those have been against Big Ten Conference opponents.
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