Sunday, November 21, 1999
Michigan 24, Ohio State 17
Buckeyes show spark, but fizzle in 4th quarter
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In passion and effort, it was the kind of game Ohio State wished it had played all season. In execution and mistakes, it was just more of the same.
What mattered Saturday at Michigan Stadium was not that the Buckeyes played inspired football for the first time in an unspiring season, not that they hit with a ferocity and ran with an urgency that had been lacking in 11 previous games. A rival like Michigan will bring that out.
What mattered was that in the end, the mistakes of a young and less-talented team — costly penalties, two key interceptions, a bone-rattling fumble, a bad snap on a field goal, a failed scoring chance that would prove haunting — were too lethal.
Michigan, experienced and poised, drove in the fourth quarter to a 24-17 victory to end the misery of Ohio State's 1999 season at 6-6, its worst record in 11 years.
The loss means no bowl for the Buckeyes for the first time since 1988, John Cooper's first year as coach. The Wolverines (9-2) beat the Buckeyes for the ninth time in Cooper's 12 years at Ohio State.
“We did everything we could to stop Michigan for 90, 95 percent of the game,” said junior linebacker Na'il Diggs, who had a big first-half sack but also blew his coverage on a key third-down pass on the Wolverines' decisive scoring drive. “We just made too many mistakes when it was crucial. It's kind of mind-boggling because we don't really understand what went wrong.”
Ohio State led 14-7 when it began to fray three minutes into the second half, starting with sophomore quarterback Steve Bellisari's interception that led to a Michigan field goal. When OSU had fully unravelled with 5:01 to play, the result was an 11-yard scoring pass from Michigan's senior quarterback, Tom Brady, to Marquise Walker that put the Wolverines ahead for the first time — and for good — at 24-17.
In between were several moments of Buckeye brilliance: a 53-yard Ken-Yon Rambo kick return, a 76-yard run by tailback Jonathan Wells to get inside the 6-yard line, a blitz-and-strip move on a sack by freshman safety Michael Doss to force a fumble, big stops by the defense to keep Michigan down.
But there proved to be too many flashes of self-destruction. Rambo's kick return resulted in only a field goal to make it 17-10. Gary Berry's interception deep in Michigan territory was called back on a defensive holding penalty.
“There was a momentum change there,” Berry said.
Wells rammed his shoulder into a defender, then spun down the sideline for his big run, but got caught from behind.
The Bucks had four chances from the six, but couldn't score. Bellisari was sacked and fumbled on third down, and after tight end/long snapper Kevin Houser recovered the loose ball, he fired a high snap on the extra point. Bellisari, in turn, planted a bad hold, and kicker Dan Stultz missed a 30-yard field goal.
“When we get inside the 10-yard line, we have to score,” Rambo said. “We can't do that.”
That proved to the the key momentum swing. Ohio State still led 17-10, but on its next series, Bellisari launched another interception deep in Buckeye territory, and Michigan tied it one play later on an 8-yard Brady TD pass.
Ohio State was falling apart as the fourth quarter began. A nice Bellisari-to-Vanness Provitt pass for 11 yards was interrupted by Michigan's James Whitley, who drilled Provitt and popped the ball in the air. The Wolverines recovered, and 10 plays later marched in for the winning drive.
The Bucks had one more chance, but that died when Bellisari's fourth-down pass was too low and wide for a diving Reggie Germany.
Bellisari finished the game 8-for-20 for 84 yards and two touchdowns.
“The loss hurts because we had our chances but made too many mistakes,” Bellisari said.
The second-half mishaps marred a first half in which Ohio State took a seven-point lead into the locker room. Defensive players were hitting hard — safety Percy King leveled a punt returner, Doss unloaded for several big hits, lineman James Cotton ran down Brady in the backfield, cornerbacks Ahmed Plummer and Nate Clements locked their men down in the passing game. The offense moved Michigan off the line of scrimmage far enough to end the game with a total 263 yards rushing.
Why that fire wasn't there the 11 previous Saturdays remained a mystery to many Buckeyes. But the reason it showed this day was simple.
“It's Michigan,” Diggs said.
“It comes from your heart,” said Plummer, the senior cornerback from Wyoming. “Everybody knows this is a big-time game. Everybody in the country watches this game. We believed we could win this game. Guys were up. We wanted to make a play.”
That made the one-day appearance of zeal that more maddening. “That's the kind of team I thought we'd have all year,” Jacobs said.
The passion remained in the second half. But so did the mistakes.
“Unfortunately, we didn't give that kind of effort all season long,” Cooper said. “Hopefully, none of us at Ohio State will have to go through another season like this.”
Season of perspective for OSU fans
Ohio St. ....... 7 7 3 0—17
Michigan ....... 0 7 10 7—24
First Quarter
OSU—Houser 6 pass from Bellisari (Stultz kick), 5:33.
Second Quarter
Mich—Thomas 1 run (Epstein kick), 7:45.
OSU—Martin 1 pass from Bellisari (Stultz kick) 3:34.
Third Quarter
Mich—FG Epstein 42, 11:22.
OSU—FG Stultz 27, 8:13.
Mich—Thompson 8 pass from Brady (Epstein kick), :37.
Fourth Quarter
Mich—Walker 10 pass from Brady (Epstein kick) 5:01.
A—111,575.
OSU Mich
First downs ....... 16 19
Rushes-yards ....... 48-263 39-102
Passing ....... 105 150
Comp-Att-Int ....... 9-21-2 17-27-0
Return Yards ....... 7 49
Punts-Avg. ....... 4-40.3 6-35.7
Fumbles-Lost ....... 4-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards ....... 13-115 1-7
Time of Possession ....... 29:58 30:02
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Ohio St., Wiley 22-92, Wells 3-85, Martin 2-35, Bellisari 13-27, Keller 8-24. Michigan, Thomas 31-111, Team 1-(minus 1), Brady 7-(minus 8).
PASSING—Ohio St., Bellisari 8-20-2-84, Wiley 1-1-0-21. Michigan, Brady 17-27-0-150.
RECEIVING—Ohio St., Rambo 2-37, Provitt 2-30, Germany 2-23, Wiley 1-8, Houser 1-6, Martin 1-1. Michigan, Thomas 5-51, Thompson 3-37, Walker 3-26, Terrell 2-15, Johnson 2-14, Shea 2-7.
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