Sunday, September 26, 1999

Questionable penalty ends UC's chance at miracle

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Pass interference seals loss to OSU

BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ohio State's Gary Berry picks off a pass intended for UC's Jason Collins Baker in the fourth quarter Saturday. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        COLUMBUS — The football was handed to the Cincinnati Bearcats with a bit less than five minutes remaining in the game Saturday, and they held on to it far longer than they planned or wished.

        They needed 14 points to Ohio State, and they needed the first half of that quickly for it to matter. The Bearcats wound up with neither but still departed Ohio Stadium with a muted sense of accomplishment to go with their 34-20 loss to the Buckeyes.

        “Hopefully,” said center Doug Rosfeld, “it showed some people that despite our 2-2 record, we'll hang in with anybody we play.”

        UC generated 525 yards of offense Saturday afternoon against the Buckeyes defense and scored 26 points, although the last six were wiped away by a questionable offensive pass interference call.

        When coach Rick Minter was asked whether UC executed its offense proficiently in the closing minutes, he responded with a question of his own:

        “Did we score?”

        Did you?

        “Well, I thought we did,” Minter said. “We've come a long way in four weeks with our offense. We've still got a long way to go. But I was happy with the way our kids battled. They were exhausted when the game was over, so they played their hearts out but just came up a few plays short.”

        When the Bearcats began their final drive, there seemed to be little for them to accomplish, realistically, but still plenty to prove.

        After one period, they had extended their string of consecutive quarters with a lead on Top 25 teams to four. After two, they were in a 17-all tie with the nation's No.12-ranked team.

        The decision to go nearly full-time with the spread offense, employing four- and five-receiver sets, did not leave the Bearcats as vulnerable to blitzes as they feared. Deontey Kenner was not sacked. He completed 29-of-52 passes for 353 yards.

        “We're still young; we're still growing, implementing new strategies now. We're putting a lot on Deontey,” Minter said. “But I'm not after stats. I'm not after how many yards you put on the board. We had a good day offensively when it comes to yards, but we still got beat.”

        By the time they were nearing the end of the afternoon the Bearcats had surrendered too many big plays defensively to maintain an advantage on OSU.

        And they hadn't scored a touchdown in more than 40 minutes when UC cornerback Bobby Fuller grabbed on to a fumble by the Buckeyes' Derek Combs with 4:29 remaining. Scoring twice in the time remaining seemed unlikely.

        UC began at its 27. On first down, Kenner and freshman tailback P.J. Mays connected on a 40-yard pass-and-run play that carried the ball to the OSU 33.

        Two lays later, Kenner found wideout Jason Colins-Baker with a 13-yard slant. From the shotgun, Kenner hit Tim Walker for seven yards to the 13. On third-and-3, the Buckeyes were tricked by a draw play that Nathan Wize turned into a 10-yard gain to the 3.

        Then came the touchdown pass, or what looked like it, on an out pattern run by junior Tony Smikle. Nearly three minutes remained when Smikle landed with the ball, but an official said receiver LeDaris Vann had interfered with the defense when he drove a defender off the line before planting to make a cut.

        It was the second time UC had been called for offensive interference. The last time Minter had seen that call against the Bearcats? “Never.”

        After being set back to the 19, UC ran eight more plays and got to the 5, but Kenner's final pass to Mays was knocked down by safety Donnie Nickey.

        “It's tough. When you get something like that happen to your offense,” Rosfeld said, “it's tough to get back in the end zone. We came close. Up until the very last play, I was positive we were going to put the ball in the end zone.”

       

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