Sunday, September 17, 2000
Ohio State 27, Miami 16
RedHawks almost pull mother of all upsets
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLUMBUS — Miami coach Terry Hoeppner firedone finger up in the air on the sideline, meaning to go for one on the point after touchdown. Mike Bath thought he was in for a touchdown. So did most of the record crowd of 96,721 at Ohio Stadium.
But it was the touchdown that turned out not to be a touchdown, and the Miami-Ohio State game turned on that play Saturday.
The No.17 Buckeyes went on to win 27-16 in the first meeting of the Ohio schools in 89 years. Had the call gone the other way — and the referee had ruled Bath in — the game may have well gone the other way as well.
And Miami would have had the biggest upset in its rich football history. The RedHawks didn't much like theconsolation prize.
“I'm very disappointed we lost the game,” Hoeppner said. “We expected to win this game. But we made too many mistakes to win.”
OSU was relieved, despite the relatively close call. The Buckeyes have historically beaten in-state opponents by an average score of 34-7.
“We beat a quality, well-coached team. We played a sound game,” coach John Cooper said.
Hoeppner, citing dropped balls, overthrows and crucial penalties, thought his team didn't.
“This game hinged on a few plays like most games do,” Hoeppner said. “There are five or six plays that determine the game.”
Saturday, the one where Bath was ruled down or out at the 2 was the biggest.
The play came just before the end of the third quarter. Ohio State was leading 20-16. It was second-and-10 at the OSU 42. Bath went back to pass, then saw the whole right side of the field open up.
“I knew I could get the first down,” he said.
He got a lot more. He completely fooled Derek Ross with a fake at about the 15. Bath then headed toward end zone flag. He dived for it about the same time Ohio State safety Mike Doss tackled him. The ball hit the flag, but the referee either ruled Bath's knee was down or he was out of bounds at the 2.
Replays were inconclusive.
Said Bath, “I thought I was in, but the referee called me out, so I was out.”
“I threw up a finger to go for one,” Hoeppner said. “That's what I thought. But I had the worst angle on it.”
Still, Miami had a first-and-goal at the 2. A touchdown would have given the RedHawks the lead and a large dose of momentum. A field goal would have put them within one.
Instead, they got nothing.
Bath was sacked at the 8 on the first play. “We ran a bootleg,” Bath said. “I tried to stop on a dime and I fell on my butt.”
He threw an incompletion on second down and ran for four yards on third down.
“I thought we needed to get points out of it,” Hoeppner said.
So he sent in Andy Brumbergs to try a 21-yard field goal. He missed, wide left.
“It was a sharp angle,” Brumbergs said. “I overcom pensated too much.”
A whole quarter was left to play, but Miami never really recovered. Ohio State sealed it by going 52 yards in 12 plays to take a 27-16 lead with 6:43 to go.
Ohio State was the physically superior team. The Buckeyes out-rushed Miami 273 yards to 132. But Bath's big day — he hit 21-of-48 passes for 236 yards and two TDs and rushed for another 105 yards — kept the RedHawks in it.
When Bath hit Sly Johnson for 26 yards and a TD, Miami had a 10-3 lead with 2:25 to go in the half.
Suddenly, the upset didn't look so improbable.
“We had a lot of confidence,” Bath said. “We saw the film on them, we knew there were some things we could do.”
Miami's defense, which held OSU quarterback Steve Bellisari without a completion well into the second quarter, suddenly went soft. Ohio State went 65 yards in four plays and 35 seconds. Chad Cacchio caught a Bellisari pass for the final 35 yards and the TD. That tied it at 10-all at the half.
“We let them score too fast,” Hoeppner said.
Miami still had a good shot at the upset halfway through the fourth quarter.
The RedHawks forced Ohio State to settle for a field goal after the Buckeyes had a first-and-goal at the 4. Dan Stultz made the FG, but Miami's Milt Bowen was called for roughing the kicker.
Ohio State took the points off the board. Two plays later, Jonathan Wells ran it in from the 2. That made it 27-16 with 6:29 to go.
SULLIVAN: Buckeyes can't expect easy wins anymore
Miami WRs burn Buckeyes
Miami ....... 0 10 6 0—16
Ohio St. ....... 3 7 10 7—27
First Quarter
OSU—FG Stultz 49, 10:28
Second Quarter
Mia—FG Brumbergs 49, 14:49
Mia—Johnson 26 pass from Bath (Brumbergs kick), 2:25
OSU—Cacchio 35 pass from Bellisari (Stultz kick), 1:47
Third Quarter
OSU—FG Stultz 28, 11:47
OSU—Wells 19 run (Stultz kick), 8:42
Mia—Buxton 23 pass from Bath (kick failed), 2:43
Fourth Quarter
OSU—Wells 1 run (Stultz kick), 6:43
A—96,721
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Miami, Bath 11-105, Little 9-26, Goodman 2-1. Ohio St., Combs 21-142, Wells 17-113, Westbrooks 7-12, Bellisari 9-4, Kline 1-3, Martin 1-(minus 1).
PASSING—Miami, Bath 21-48-3-236. Ohio St., Bellisari 13-30-0-194.
RECEIVING—Miami, Tillitz 6-52, Buxton 5-47, Johnson 4-74, Sullivan 4-59, Little 1-6, Goodman 1-(minus 2). Ohio St., Rambo 6-100, Cacchio 2-54, Provitt 2-21, Sanders 2-11, Carter 1-8
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