Playing arguably the toughest opponent in a season opener in the John Cooper era, OSU struggled throughout the game behind new starting QB Austin Moherman.

Nothing seemed to go right on this day for the Buckeyes. Losing 11 players to the NFL draft (including great players: QB Joe Germaine, MLB Andy Katzenmoyer, WR David Boston and DB Antoine Winfield) was too much to overcome.

An inefficient Buckeye offense (Moherman was 10-22-2INT's for 107 yards and one TD pass on a six yard strike to Steve Wisniewski; 220 yards of total offense; four turnovers and five trips inside the 10 yard line only to generate 12 points-it wasn't pretty), a combination of big plays and ball-control on offense for Miami (four plays over 40 yards, including a 44yard TD run by TB James Jackson on the second offensive play of the game for the Hurricanes , and a 67 yard Hail Mary touchdown pass from QB Kenny Kelly to WR Santana Moss in the final seconds of the first half), and a stifling Hurricane defense (constant pressure on both OSU QB's, Moherman and Steve Bellasari; three sacks; two INT's and most important of all, keeping Ohio State's quick-strike offense off the field) was the difference in the game.

Perhaps the only positive aspect to come out of this upset loss (a mild one, we might add) is the fact the defense improved and did not allow a point in the second half. This unit will need to improve even more before the high-flying aerial attack of UCLA (OSU's next game) comes to town on Saturday, Sept. 11th.