Ohio State (6-1, 2-1) 31 - Indiana (1-6, 0-4) 0
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It was a day ESPN 2 labeled "Letdown Saturday." LSU lost to Mississippi 36-21, after upsetting number 1, Florida, last weekend. Penn State had to rally to hold off Minnesota 16-15, a week after beating OSU, 31-27, in certainly one of the great games of the 90's in college football.
For a while, it looked like this would be a letdown day for the Bucks, until Michael Wiley scored OSU's first TD on an 18 yard run late in the first quarter. After that, Ohio State cruised to an easy 31-0 win that was dominated by the defense. Indiana only had 179 yards of total offense, 35 rushing. The highlights of the victory for the Buckeyes were a 55 yard FG by Dan Stultz (4 off the OSU record of 59 by Tom Sklandany) and a 38 yard INT return for a TD by DE Clinton Wayne, a dream for a lineman. At times, the Hoosiers played good defense with 16 tackles for loss and five sacks. Damien Gregory had 7 tackles, one sack, and one blocked field goal for the team's lone individual bright spot. This game was definitely a confidence booster for starting QB, Stanley Jackson. It was his day to shine, he completed 13 of 15 passes for 189 yards. He had yet to throw an interception this season. The OSU ground game was better today with 188 yards (Pepe Pearson 13-71, Michael Wiley 5-57 and 1 TD, and Joe Montgomery 5-47 leading the way). It was nice to see Montgomery out there competing. He blew out his knee last season in the Minnesota game, and re-injured it slightly this year. More passes were directed to the tight ends, as Steve Wisniewski caught 3-23 and one TD on an 8 yard pass from Wiley, and John Lumpkin had 3 receptions for 79 yards and one TD on a 10 yard pass from Joe Germaine. Germaine had a subpar day (4-10-2 interceptions-36 yards and 1 TD) after his career afternoon last week at Happy Valley (Crappy Valley, if you're a Buckeye Fan). The touchdown pass from TB, Wiley, to Wisniewski is a play that is becoming too popular and can't be used all that much against the likes of such rivals as Indiana. The play will be needed down the road in the big games. With this victory, OSU head coach, John Cooper, moved into second place on the all-time coaching win list at Ohio State with 82, one more than Earle Bruce. His OSU record is 81-26-1. |
| Statistical Highlights | ||
| Stats | Indiana | Ohio State |
| First Downs | 10 | 22 |
| Rushes (yards) | 32-35 | 44-188 |
| Passing (yards) | 144 | 244 |
| Stacked Yards Lost | 3-27 | 5-32 |
| Return Yards | 61 | 176 |
| Passes | 13-28-3 | 19-29-2 |
| Punts | 9-44.3 | 3-55.0 |
| Penalties (yards) | 2-9 | 6-35 |
| Time of Possession | 27:54 | 32:06 |
  During the 1997 OSU -vs- Indiana game, who kicked a career-best 55-yard field goal, which was the longest field goal by a Buckeye at Ohio Stadium and tied for the second longest in school history?Answer below. |
Indiana (1-5) at No. 11 OSU (5-1)
ESPN 2, 12:30 PM, Saturday
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| Indiana | OSU |
| At N. Carolina 6-23 | Wyoming 24-10 |
| Ball State 33-6 | BGSU 44-13 |
| Kentuckey 7-49 | Arizona 28-20 |
| At Wysconsin 26-27 | At Missouri 31-10 |
| Michigan 0-37 | Iowa 23-7 |
| Michigan St. 6-38 | At Penn State 27-31 |
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This game gives OSU a chance to get back on track after a tough loss at Penn State. Home is where the healing begins. This should be an easy victory for OSU, since the Hoosiers are struggling in their first year under new head coach, Cam Cameron. Last season's game was a dog fight with the score tied at 10 midway through the fourth quarter in Bloomington, when Matt Finkes grabbed Andy Katzenmoyer's forced fumble of QB, Jay Rodgers and raced 45 yards for the touchdown in a 27 - 17 win. That exciting victory put the Bucks back into the Rose Bowl. IU was fiercely motivated in their battle with the Buckeyes in that game. Long time head coach, Bill Mallory, was fired the week of that game, but was allowed to finish the season. Obviously, the team didn't want OSU winning a trip to Pasadena in their house. A new era has begun at Indiana. It will take time for Cameron to build a competitive team. QB, Jay Rodgers, leads an offense that averages only 13 points a game. He is quick and can run the ball if needed (4 TD's last season). He is still learning and needs more game experience this year to improve (10 INT's, 1 TD passing in 1996; 111-178-6 INT's - 5 TD's - 1253 yards). A 62% completion percentage shows he is doing just that. Recently, true freshman TB, D'Wayne Hogan, (73-244 yards - 3 TD's in 1997) has replaced an ineffective Jason Spear (59-226 yards - 4 TD's in 1996, but only a 3.0 yards per carry average so far this season). It looks like the two will be alternating because Hogan isn't exactly running wild, either. The Hoosiers are struggling at this position, which is why Alex Smith, the team's star tailback the last three years, should have stayed for his senior season. He left early for the NFL then was not picked in the Draft last spring. FB, Chris Gall, is doing his part in trying to help out the backfield with 34 receptions and 2 TD's. The IU defense needs to improve, this unit is giving up 30 points a game. Eight starters return, who held the Bucks tough in last years game. SS, Aaron Warnecke, is the top returning tackler (96 in 1996), but has dropped to second string in favor of Curtis Randle EL (27 tackles, 2 sacks). MLB, Jabar Robinson, (57 tackles, 5 sacks) DE, Adewalye Ogunleye, (8.5 sacks last year) and FS, Kywin Supernaw, (50 tackles) are talented players and can be a difficult bunch to contain. Three Things To Remember: 1. The Bucks will be ready for the Hoosiers, as they are angry that victory slipped away from them last week at Happy Valley. 2. Indiana always seems to play hard ball with OSU. There have been several close games in the past decade. Look for a little trickery from Cameron. They have noting to loose. 3. OSU won the trip to the Rose Bowl in their house last season. Their team, especially the defense, will be pumped to take out their frustrations on our team. The Hoosiers want to improve every game to show their fans that the new coaching staff is dedicated at putting a winner on the field. But that won't matter right now, because there are too many outstanding questions surrounding all the important positions for Indiana to compete against OSU successfully. Prediction: OSU 40 - 14. |
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Named Infoseek Select SiteAnswer: "Today's Trivia in the Making": Dan Stultz