OSU TriviaZone

Penn State (5-0) 31 -- Ohio State (5-1) 27




The Nittany Lions, down by ten points late in the third quarter, rallied to beat the Buckeyes in one of the best games of the year in college football.

What a great game it was! The Bucks didn't go down without a fight. They had their chances to win, but in the end, poor tackling was the reason for the devastating loss. We did mention earlier in our pre-game rundown that the defense would be the key to an OSU victory.

After Ohio State jumped out to a 27-17 lead, PSU ran wild. Curtis Enis (23 carries for 211 yards) and Aaron Harris (12-96) did the damage. Harris broke four tackles on his 51 yard TD run at the end of the third quarter.

This game was filled with several outstanding individual performances on offense including Enis' 211 yards rushing and the game-deciding TD on a 26 yard run in the fourth quarter. OSU QB, Joe Germaine, was 29-43 passing with 2 interceptions for 378 yards and 2 TD's on passes of one and 35 yards to David Boston and Dee Miller.

His 378 yards passing is the second highest total in OSU history. Buckeye WR's, Dee Miller and David Boston, had career highs of 8 and 14 catches, respectively, for 149 and 153 yards. David Boston broke an OSU record with his 14 receptions.

Buckeye coach, John Cooper, stopped his rotation of quarterbacks, Stanley Jackson and Joe Germaine, once Germaine got the "hot hand." It was the right decision. Germaine looked like he should start the rest of the season, but the best way for Ohio State to be effective is to play both.

PSU played pretty good defense in the fourth quarter, as Joe Germaine's accuracy slipped. The Lions put a little more pressure on him. A Penn State interception by Shawn Lee midway through the final quarter hurt OSU's chances to come away with the victory.

Penn State is now No. 1 in the nation in the AP Poll, because the Florida Gators lost at LSU, 28-21. Ohio State falls to No. 11 from No. 7. This game could have gone either way, so a drop of four spots seems a bit much! We should still be in the top ten.

Legendary Nittany Lion coach, Joe Paterno, rated this game as one of the best he's ever been involved with during his career at Penn State.

A Buckeye win on the road at Michigan near the end of the season would ease the pain of this defeat tremendously.



Statistical Highlights
StatsOSUPSU
First Downs2626
Rushes (yards)33-10641-316
Passing459129
Comp Att Int32-48-214-30-0
Return Yards64115
Punts,Avg4-457-41.1
Fumbles Lost1-11-1
Penalties (yards)6-654-21
Time of Possession33:0426:56


Trivia in the Making
In the OSU -vs- Penn State game of 1997, what Buckeye player caught a school record of 14 passes for 153 yards?
Answer below.


Check out our game preview, below.



Pre-Game
Ohio State (5-0) at Penn State (4-0)
3:30 P.M. Saturday on ABC




OSU PSU
Wyoming 24-10 (W) Pitt. 34-17 (W)
BGSU 44-13 (W) Temple 52-10
Arizona 28-20 (W) At Louisville 57-21 (W)
At Missouri 31-10(W) At Illinois 41-6 (W)
Iowa 23-7

The Buckeyes will have their hands full going into a very hostile environment in State College, Pa. PSU is ranked number 2 and OSU is ranked number 7 in a battle of two top ten teams that is being mentioned as one of the top games in the 1997 college football season.

These two teams have developed a huge rivalry. Since the Nittany Lions entered the Big Ten, the Bucks own a 3-1 advantage, thus angering the faithful in "Happy Valley." And boy, do they hate us there! It's because we consistently beat their tails off on a regular basis.

Penn State's schedule this year has been soft. They have smashed every opponent in their way by an average score of 46-14.

Heisman Trophy candidate TB, Curtis Enis, is the most talented player on offense for PSU (5.5 yard average on 64 carries for 354 yard and 8 TD's). QB, Mike McQueary has proven to be a capable replacement for last year's QB, Wally Richardson. His stats are excellent (1009 yards passing on 54 of 94, 10 TD's and 1 interception). His favorite target is WR, Joe Jurevicius, who has 417 yards on only 17 receptions along with 7 TD's for a 24.5 yard average per catch.

The defense is led by the linebacking trio of MLB, Branton Short, and OLB's, Jim Nelson and Aaron Collins, with Nelson, leading the way with 34 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks. Collins has 3 interceptions so far this season. Short, who moved over from defensive end this year, led the team in tackles for loss last season with 12. He is definitely a major talent.

Like Iowa, the Nittany Lions have a dangerous kick returner, Chris Eberly. He is a threat - to go all the way every time he touches the ball. If PK, Dan Stultz, and P, Brent Bartholomew, Ohio State's two fine kickers, can boom their kicks away from Eberly, the Bucks should get good field position. Last week OSU held the Hawkeyes to no return yards, as every kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback and every punt had enough hang time that none were returnable.

Three Things To Remember:

1. Lion TB (and Ohio Native), Curtis Enis is only averaging 16 carries a game due to the big blowout wins his team has accomplished. He is ready for that breakout game where handling the pigskin 35 to 40 times with a large amount of yards would be ideal to his team's success. This is that game. He will want to improve on that 11-34 disaster at Ohio Stadium last fall when OSU won 38-7.
2. Defense will be the key in this game for OSU. They have to take the pressure off the up and down offense. Katzenmoyer and his gang of supporters: LB's, Kevin Johnson and Jerry Rudzinski, and DB's, Antoine Winfield and Damon Moore will have to remember how they stuffed Iowa's talented offensive trio a week earlier.
3. Penn State wants this game bad. They will be coming after us. This you can count on. The Lions have had Ohio State on their minds for a long time. The winner will, not only contend for a conference title, but a national title, too.

Penn State is very powerful and can pound anybody, but "The Big Kat" and his gang of defenders will find a way to block out the crowd noise (rowdy fans and that cat growling over the loud speaker) and lead the Bucks to victory in a very intimidating stadium.

Prediction: OSU 24 - 23.




[TriviaZone Home- With Frames]
[TriviaZone Home- No Frames]

Named Infoseek Select Site



"Today's Trivia in the Making" answer: David Boston