Sunday, September 12, 1999
OHIO STATE 42, UCLA 20
QB Bellisari leads Buckeyes turnaround
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
QB Steve Bellisari hoists WR Ken-Yon Rambo after a TD.
(AP photo)
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COLUMBUS — Ohio State may have found itself a quarterback, and what an impressive coming out party it was.
Steve Bellisari began Saturday night as the unproven backup with only a fumbled snap on his resume. But after a flashy, cocksure performance off the bench in Ohio State's 42-20 win over UCLA, Bellisari is now the strong front- runner in Ohio State's quarterback derby.
Bellisari completed 11 of 16 passes for 159 yards without an interception. Starter Austin Moherman hit 10 of 19 passes for 107 yards with one interception.
“There's no question Steve was the best quarterback on the field tonight,” OSU coach John Cooper said. “He's a great athlete, and he has the ability to make things happen. But we need them both. Austin did some nice things, too.”
Michael Wiley rushed for 119 yards.
(AP photo)
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Saturday night's win to open the home season probably didn't definitively answer the Buckeyes' quarterback question, but Bellisari — who had faltered so badly in his short audition in Ohio State's season-opening loss — made a huge leap to take the job, showing everything necessary to be a very good starter in the process: Poise, accuracy, a strong arm, athleticism and the ability to get the ball in the end zone.
In evening their record at 1-1 and avoiding their first 0-2 start in 13 years, the Buckeyes proved they have two quarterbacks capable of getting them in the end zone — even if it was against a weakened UCLA squad playing without five defensive starters suspended in the school's handicapped parking scandal.
Coming on in planned relief of starter Moherman in the second quarter, Bellisari directed two scoring drives just before the half, then three more in the second half as the Buckeyes rallied from a 10-0 deficit. Moherman led them to their first touchdown, but threw an interception when he returned to start the second half and was pulled. Moherman finished once the game was in hand.
The timing of Cooper's quarterback switch seemed odd at the time, but certainly worked to perfection.
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THEY SAID IT
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• UCLA coach Bob Toledo: “I thought Bellisari hurt us running the football and he threw a couple of deep balls that got us as well.”
• Cooper: “No question Stevie bailed us out. He made some big plays. And he really helped us running the football. ... He's a good athlete. You could see that last year when he played on defense and special teams.”
• Toledo: “No question not having our full team had an effect. Our guys got tired and worn down at the end and the youth and inexperience showed up in a lot of situations.”
- The Associated Press
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Just after Moherman directed an impressive, poised 81-yard scoring drive in the second quarter, Cooper pulled him with the Buckeyes still trailing by three.
But Bellisari promptly looked just as good in directing 60-yard and 58-yard scoring drives to give Ohio State a 21-10 lead going into halftime. Bellisari's 2-yard touchdown pass to Ken-Yon Rambo gave Ohio State a 14-10 lead, which tailback Michael Wiley extended just before halftime on a 5-yard TD run, his second score of the game.
Moherman started the second half, but threw an interception on his second series and was replaced. Bellisari came in and on his third series led the Buckeyes back to the end zone on Derek Combs' 3-yard touchdown run to make it 28-17 OSU.
Bellisari extended it to 35-17 in the fourth quarter, tossing an 8-yard TD pass to Rambo, and fourth-string tailback Jerry Westbrooks made it 42-20 with a TD run.
Bellisari showed a lot he hadn't gotten the chance to in the season opener. Because of Ohio State's bye last week, he had two weeks to contemplate life as the backup.
But Saturday Bellisari looked like a legitimate starter. He had soft touch, speed and accuracy on his passes, especially long bombs down the field and jump-ball tosses for speedy receiver Reggie Germany.
He also showed one facet of his game that could win him the job: Athleticism, scrambling nine yards for a first down that proved crucial to Ohio State's third-quarter scoring drive, and 30 yards on their fourth-quarter scoring push.
Moherman looked polished and confident on the first scoring drive, completing 3-of-5 passes, including a 29-yard strike down the middle to fullback Matt Keller and a scrambling 13-yard completion to Wiley, who later scored from three yards out to cut UCLA's lead to 10-7.
Cooper then put in Bellisari for the next drive. Bellisari lofted a perfect 39-yard pass down the left sideline to Germany, who outjumped UCLA defender Jason Bell to grab it and get OSU inside the 10-yard line. That set up Bellisari's scoring pass to Rambo two plays later to give OSU the lead.
Wiley did the brunt of the work on the next drive with Bellisari still at quarterback, including the 5-yard scoring run.
Ohio State's defense gave up yards and points, but the offense seemed to cure what ailed it in a depressing season-opening loss to Miami.
Except for two third-down blitzes they couldn't handle, the offensive line played well, opening huge holes for the tailback rotation of Wiley and Combs. And previously unproven receivers Rambo and Germany — they combined for just five catches in the opener, one by Rambo for one yard — asserted themselves strongly, getting open and allowing Bellisari and Moherman to stretch the field.
The fourth night game in Ohio Stadium's 78-year-history started with a bizarre bang when UCLA scored on a lucky 67-yard touchdown pass just two minutes in, putting the Buckeyes in a hole early.
The fourth play of the game started with UCLA quarterback Drew Bennett forcing a mid-range pass downfield into good Ohio State coverage; Ahmed Plummer appeared ready to intercept it. But the play ended with Bruins fullback Matt Stanley swooping in from nowhere, plucking the ball out of mid-air just before it hit the ground and beating the Buckeyes to the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
First Quarter
UCLA—Stanley 67 pass from Bennett (Griffith kick), 13:02
Second Quarter
UCLA—FG Griffith 35, 14:13
OSU—Wiley 3 run (Stultz kick), 10:58
OSU—Rambo 2 pass from Bellisari (Stultz kick), 6:54
OSU—Wiley 5 run (Stultz kick), :56
Third Quarter
UCLA—Foster 7 run (Griffith kick), 10:44
OSU—Martin 3 run (Stultz kick), :03
Fourth Quarter
OSU—Rambo 8 pass from Bellisari (Stultz kick), 11:41
UCLA—FG Griffith 33, 9:30
OSU—Westbrooks 8 run (Stultz kick), 6:37
A—93,283
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—UCLA, Foster 17-51, Mitchell 2-31, Bennett 5-19, Lewis 5-12, Stanley 5-11, McEwan 1-(minus 5), Paus 1-(minus 7). Ohio St., Wiley 22-119, Bellisari 3-50, Westbrooks 7-31, Martin 5-14, Rambo 1-12, Combs 14-12, Moherman 1-3.
PASSING—UCLA, Bennett 9-15-1-138, Paus 8-20-1-97, Mitchell 1-1-0-18, McEwan 0-1-0-0. Ohio St., Moherman 10-19-1-107, Bellisari 11-16-0-159.
RECEIVING—UCLA, Stanley 3-78, Farmer 3-56, Crecion 2-31, Poli-Dixon 2-21, Fletcher 2-11, Melsby 2-11, Bennett 1-18, Geitner 1-10, Foster 1-9, Seidman 1-8. Ohio St., Rambo 8-61, Germany 7-115, Keller 2-53, Wisniewski 1-22, Wiley 1-13, Martin 1-4, Cacchio 1-(minus 2).
UCLA Ohio St
First downs 18 27
Rushed-yards 36-112 53-241
Passing yards 253 266
Sacked-yards lost 3-15 0-0
Return yards 24 39
Passes 18-37-2 21-35-1
Punts 7-39.6 5-39.2
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 10-67 6-55
Time of possession 27:05 32:55
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