OSU TriviaZone

#3 Florida State 31 - #12 Ohio State 14




The Florida State Seminoles, with as much overall speed as any team in college football, ran wild in demolishing OSU.

This game started out looking like it would be a tight contest with the Buckeyes holding a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter, thanks to two INT's by DB's Damon Moore and Ahmed Plummer. From that point on, FSU could do no wrong with a very explosive offensive attack led by QB Thad Busby (22-33-2 INT's for 334 yards and one TD) and WR E.G. Green (7-176 yards and one TD on a 27 yard catch and run from Busby). FB William McCray ran for two scores. Defensively, the Seminoles came at Ohio State with a heavy pass rush, forcing six sacks for a total of 40 yards in losses, and harassing both OSU QB's into throwing three INT's on only 16 of 36 passing.

With speed-burners on this unit too, FSU blitzed and pounded both Jackson and Germaine all night long with Jackson running for his life, as OSU's pass protection just wasn't up to the task. Except for the initial drive of the second half, the running game was also doing poorly due to lack of blocking.

Both teams tried to confuse the other. FSU went to their no huddle offense that was effective throughout the entire game. OSU tried their rotation of QB's, Stan and Joe, on successive plays instead of possessions, it still would not have mattered as Florida State's defense was absolutely dominating.

For the Buckeyes, it was a good season, but not a great season with three losses. The 10-3 record marks four out of the last five years the team has had 10 or more wins in a season (51-11-1).

Although this OSU squad was a good one, it wasn't a Top Five-Caliber team. The biggest, most glaring weakness was the O-Line. It just wasn't strong enough to get past the three Top Five teams. This unit allowed 47 sacks this year in 13 games. Changes will definitely need to be made going into spring practice.



Final AP Poll
1. Michigan
2. Nebraska
3. Florida State
12. Ohio State

Final ESPN & USA Today Coaches Poll
1. Nebraska
2. Michigan
3. Florida State
12. Ohio State


Note: Jon Erard, the TriviaZone Sports Author and Trivia Master, was correct in his prediction that the Bucks would go 10-3 for the 1997 Season. Not Bad!


Check out the pregame run-down, below.

#4 Florida State (0-1) vs. #9 Ohio State (10-2)
January 1st, 1998
Nokia Sugar Bowl (ABC-TV at 8:00 pm)




This page is dedicated to pregame commentary and predictions. You, too, can offer your comments on our ChatZone page, here.


OSU FSU
Wyoming 24-10 At USC 14-7
BGSU 44-13 Maryland 50-7
Arizona 28-20 At Clemson 35-28
At Missouri 31-10 Miami (Fla.) 47-0
Iowa 23-7 At Duke 51-27
At Penn State 27-31 Georgia Tech 38-0
Indiana 31-0 At Virginia 47-21
Northwestern (HC) 49-6 N.C. State 48-35
At Michigan State 37-13 At N. Carolina 20-3
At Minnesota 31-3 Wake Forest 58-7
Illinois 41-6 At Florida 29-32
At Michigan 14-20

Both teams feature highly-ranked defenses (OSU: 11.8 points a game, led the nation the majority of the season in defensive pass efficiency -- teams completed only 44.4% of their passes during the regular season; FSU: 15.1 points, run defense allows only 52 yards a game with four players having at least 10 Tackles-For-Loss this year, this unit has 59 sacks-about 5 1/2 a game, a truly remarkable total) in a game that has the potential to be the best of the 1997-98 Bowl Season. We all know what happened in last season's Rose Bowl, also picked by many to be the best post-season game of them all.

The Seminole offense is also powerful. QB Thad Busby (235-390-10 INTs - 3317 - 25 TDs) and WRs, E.G. Green (54 receptions - 1059 yards - 11 TDs) and Peter Warrick (53-884-9 TDs) lead the way with eye-popping stats for a group that averages almost 40 points a game (437 total points).

The individual leaders for Florida State on defense are: De Andre Wadsworth (16 sacks, 19 tackles-for-loss), CB Samari Rolle (7 INTs), and LB Sam Cowart (116 Tackles).

The Ohio State offense is decent, but this is a unit that sputters at times, due to lack of pass protection by the O-Line (gave up 41 sacks that totaled 277 yards in losses, last in the Big Ten), which is still trying to find the right mix.

The strength of the Buckeye offense is at the Wide Receiver position with two players still with a shot at 1,000 yards. David Boston (70-930-14 TDs) and Dee Miller (52-902, 17.3 yards per catch, and 5 TDs) are very talented and have pro-potential.

The alternating of players at the QB and TB positions worked out well the majority of the year. At QB, Joe Germaine (119-184-7 INTs for 1674 yards, and 15 TDs) and Stan Jackson (75-125-2-1021 yards, and 8 TDs, along with scrambling for 198 yards and two TDs) teamed up to complete 62.8% of their passes.

At TB, Pepe Pearson and Michael Wiley combined running the pigskin for 1388 yards, 16 TDs, and a 5.1 yards per carry average. Their problem wasn't rushing the football, it was holding onto it. Of OSU's 30 fumbles this season (17 lost), the majority of those were dropped by these two TBs.

The Seminoles appear to have the edge in coaching with the legend, Bobby Bowden, in control (overall recorded in 32 years, 280-83-4; 207-51-4 in 22 years at Florida State), but what many have to realize is, that Ohio State Head Coach, John Cooper, has beaten several top-notch teams in the 1990's, with the exception of Michigan. His 1996 Rose Bowl-winning team beat three top five teams during the season and ended up No. 2 in the polls.

Both Defenses will dictate the outcome. FSU is a 6 1/2 point favorite and, on paper, looks to be the better team. For OSU to pull off the upset, the defense will have to cause some turnovers and the special teams will have to be a big factor. Here's saying both will lead the Buckeyes to victory.

After their loss at UM, I wouldn't want to be Ohio State's next opponent!

Prediction: OSU 24 - 20.

HOME

Named Infoseek Select Site