Sunday, September 10, 2000
Ohio State 27, Arizona 17
By MEL REISNER
The Associated Press
Derek Combs ran 13 times for 54 yards.
(AP photo)
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TUCSON, Ariz. — There won't be any talk about a defense-offense imbalance this week at Ohio State practices.
Steve Bellisari saw to that as he passed for two touchdowns, including a 60-yarder to Chad Cacchio, and the 18th-ranked Buckeyes rallied to beat Arizona 27-17 on Saturday night.
Nate Clements set up another score with a 47-yard punt return late in the third quarter, and Dan Stultz kicked two field goals as the Buckeyes (2-0) went up 3-1 in the series in their first visit to Arizona Stadium.
“Anytime you can win a game in (Arizona coach) Dick Tomey's backyard, it's an accomplishment,” Buckeyes coach John Cooper said. “You have to be grateful for it, especially when you made as many mistakes as we did.”
Ortege Jenkins ran for one TD and passed to Bobby Wade for another as Arizona (1-1) took a 17-10 halftime lead.
But Ohio State's defense, which scored four times in a rout of Fresno State the week before, was virtually impenetrable again, sacking Jenkins eight times for 55 yards, holding the Wildcats to 194 yards and forcing them to punt 12 times.
“It's a great feat, and that's the type of pressure we want to bring,” defensive end Rodney Bailey said about the sacks. “Our defensive front went to battle.”
The outcome swung on back-to-back possessions by the Buckeyes in the third quarter.
They were having difficulty moving until Bellisari took to the air, hitting Ken-Yon Rambo for 8- and 11-yard completions to the 40. On the next play, he went downfield to Cacchio, who ran under the ball at the 8 and cruised into the end zone, tying the score at 17 midway through the third quarter.
Ohio State held, and Bellisari, who had a 1-yard scoring throw to Tim Cheatwood in the second quarter, set up a 1-yard scoring run by Jonathan Wells with a 46-yard pass to Reggie Germany to the Arizona 2.
“It was going to take some big plays in the second half for us to come out on top,” Bellisari said. “We did that, and it feels good.”
Bellisari was 12-of-20 for 240 yards, throwing one interception.
Most of the action in the second quarter revolved around Wade.
The sophomore hurt his left knee fielding a punt 4:39 into the period, and was on the grass for minutes before finally limping off.
But he was back to return the next punt 85 yards for a score that was wiped out by a holding call against the Wildcats.
After two plays gained 3 yards, Jenkins passed to Wade in the left flat. Wade stepped upfield to dodge a tackler, ran across the field to evade another six Buckeyes who were within arm's length and raced down the right side to complete a 60-yard scoring play.
Jenkins ran in a 2-point conversion, giving Arizona 10 points in 11/2 minutes and a 17-10 lead with 6:11 left in the half.
The Buckeyes led 10-7 until Bellisari's pitch went past an unsuspecting Derek Combs, who had to outrun Arizona defenders to cover it in the end zone for a safety with 7:29 to play.
But Jenkins started 0-for-6 and then completed 11-of-17 for 137 yards. But he was held to 4 yards on 19 carries and was under continual pressure.
“The blame should be placed on the offensive line,” center Bruce Wiggins said. “The offensive line could not protect OJ, could not run the ball, could not protect the ball, could not get first downs.”
Each team got its first score after a muffed punt.
Malosi Leonard was waiting when Ohio State's Nate Clements dropped a punt. Leonard recovered on the 9-yard line, and Jenkins scored from the 10 on the second snap, rolling left and splitting a seam with 6:41 left in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes scored on a 26-yard field goal by Stultz 3:32 later after Wade muffed a punt and Curtis Crosby recovered, and went ahead at 10-7 after a 74-yard drive late in the quarter.
Bellisari capped the drive with a 1-yard flip to Cheatwood 49 seconds into the second quarter. But the key plays in the 74-yard march were his 13-yard pass to Rambo and a 44-yard grab by Vanness Provitt, who reached behind cornerback David Hinton to pull in the ball as both sprawled to the field at the 8.
“Both teams became better, and the best team won,” Tomey said.
Ohio St. 3 7 14 3—27
Arizona 7 10 0 0—17
First Quarter
Ari—Jenkins 10 run (Keel kick), 6:41.
OSU—FG Stultz 26, 3:09.
Second Quarter
OSU—Cheatwood 1 pass from Bellisari (Stultz kick), 14:11.
Ari—Safety, Bellisari tackled in end zone by Combs, 7:29.
Ari—Wade 60 pass from Jenkins (Jenkins run), 6:11.
Third Quarter
OSU—Cacchio 60 pass from Bellisari (Stultz kick), 7:53.
OSU—Wells 1 run (Stultz kick), 2:44.
Fourth Quarter
OSU—FG Stultz 20, 12:52.
A—57,367.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Ohio St., Combs 13-54, Wells 9-34, Bellisari 11-11, Westbrooks 2-5, Rambo 2-(minus 1), Martin 3-(minus 2). Arizona, Croom 10-32, Mills 9-27, Jenkins 19-4, Love 1-(minus 6).
PASSING—Ohio St., Bellisari 12-20-1-240. Arizona, Jenkins 11-23-0-137.
RECEIVING—Ohio St., Rambo 5-51, Germany 2-58, Sanders 2-26, Cacchio 1-60, Provitt 1-44, Cheatwood 1-1. Arizona, Wade 4-93, Marshall 3-27, Thurman 3-22, Mills 1-(minus 5).
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