College Football

Bye-Bye, Buckeyes
Ohio State fell to Michigan to conclude its worst season of the 1990s

The questions in the Ohio State interview room last Saturday had less to do with how the Buckeyes lost 24-17 at Michigan than with where they had been hiding. Ohio State ran the ball for a season-high 263 yards and limited the Wolverines to 252 yards of offense, 146 yards lower than their season's average. Most important, the Buckeyes showed heart. "We played harder than we had all season," tailback Michael Wiley said. If they'd played this way from the beginning of the year, he added, "who knows what could have happened?"

For one thing, Ohio State would have earned an invitation to a bowl game. Because at 6-6 it doesn't have a winning record, its 10-year postseason streak is over. For another, sophomore quarterback Steve Bellisari might not have finished the year with a completion rate of 45.1% (101 of 224). That's the worst for a Buckeyes quarterback since another sophomore, Cornelius Greene, went 20 for 46 in 1973 for coach Woody Hayes, whose loathing of the forward pass is well documented. Unfortunately for Bellisari, these days passing is an integral part of the Ohio State attack.

After he completed 5 of 8 passes, two of them for touchdowns, in the first half against Michigan, Bellisari's inexperience reappeared. In the second half he threw two interceptions that the Wolverines converted into 10 points. With the Buckeyes leading 17-10 in the third quarter, Bellisari mishandled a field goal snap, thereby laying waste to Jonathan Wells's 76-yard run to the Michigan six. Then on fourth-and-nine with 2:10 to play and Ohio State trying to tie the game, Bellisari missed a wide-open Reggie Germany near midfield.

Bellisari won the Buckeyes' starting job from fellow sophomore Austin Moherman after two games, but he hasn't proved he can consistently read defenses or make accurate throws. "It was definitely a good year," Bellisari said after the loss, proving that he really does need to learn more about the game. "I learned a lot. I'm still going to learn. For us to be better, I have to keep learning."

Bellisari wasn't solely responsible for Ohio State's descent into mediocrity. Eight Buckeyes were drafted by the NFL last spring. Four upperclassmen, including All-Big Ten guard Rob Murphy, either flunked out or became academically ineligible. The leadership void left behind was never filled. Ohio State's loss to Miami in this year's Kickoff Classic stunned the Buckeyes, who had won 43 games in four seasons and took contending for the Big Ten title for granted. "We're not handling adversity well," coach John Cooper said before last week's game. "We'll fumble or give up a big play, and the roof caves in on us."

With a 17-6 lead over Wisconsin on Oct. 2, Cooper watched Wiley fumble the second-half kickoff. The Badgers recovered and went on to win 42-17. On Nov. 6 at Michigan State, Buckeyes flanker Ken-Yon Rambo twice dropped crucial passes that Bellisari had laid right into his hands. The Spartans cruised to a 23-7 win.

Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger said on Saturday that the Buckeyes have been offered the opportunity to host the 2001 Pigskin Classic. Even if Ohio Stadium's renovation is completed on schedule for that season, Geiger isn't sure he'll take the game. But then, mediocre teams are more careful of whom they play, aren't they?

TCU Back Sets Record
Look, Ma, 406 Yards!

Texas Christian junior running back LaDainian Tomlinson has an image of his mother, Loreane Chappell, tattooed on his left biceps and is accustomed to seeing her at Horned Frogs home games. But on Saturday, as he set a major college rushing record of 406 yards on 43 carries in TCU's 52-24 victory over Texas-El Paso, Chappell was watching Tomlinson's younger brother, LaVar, play in a Texas high school playoff game.