The Buckeyes hope they don't tackle themselves

Sporting News, The, Oct 14, 1996 by Ivan Maisel

There will be time to talk of Florida and Florida State and maybe even of Miami (Fla.). Alabama will get a look-see, and perhaps West Virginia, while Nebraska must depend on the typically unhinged Pac-10 to do evil unto Arizona State.

But there is only one team that can stop. Ohio State, only one team that has both the talent and opportunity to prevent the Buckeyes from gaining their first Rose Bowl appearance since the 1984 season and first national championship since the 1968 campaign. That team is the one the Buckeyes see in the mirror every day. The good news is they understand that. One year after another seemingly indestructible Buckeyes team fell apart at Michigan, Ohio State doesn't think past today.

"I guess we control our own destiny now," fullback Matt Keller said after the Buckeyes thrashed Penn State, 38-7. "We've got to play week by week."

There is no one else. As long as Ohio State plays at the level it reached over the last two weeks in winning at Notre Dame, 29-16, and giving Penn State its worst loss in 12 years none of the Buckeyes' remaining seven opponents can beat them. Wisconsin, which plays at Columbus Saturday, doesn't have the speed. Michigan, which goes to Columbus November 23, doesn't have the passing game and, if it plays as it did against Northwestern, the heart.

Ohio State didn't push around one of your Indianas or Purdues last Saturday. This was JoePa's team, complete with the coach's thick glasses and "ugly" uniforms. Those uniforms matched Penn State's play vs. OSU. It may not have been the worst beating Paterno has received in 359 games over 31 seasons. A fourth-quarter touchdown by the Nittany Lions reserves against the Buckeyes reserves prevented Penn State from matching 38-point losses in 1966 and 1983. But that shouldn't diminish Ohio State's performance. "It's not like I could say we should have done this or we should have done that," Paterno says. "There's not much else we could do."

To beat Ohio State, it will take a team that can throw well enough to neutralize cornerbacks Shawn Springs, Ty Howard and Antoine Winfield. They are so talented it allows coordinator Fred Pagac to choose from nine players to stop the run. Springs clamped down on Penn State quarterback Wally Richardson's favorite target, Joe Jurevicius. He made one catch for 12 yards. "Coach Pagac makes my job simple " Springs says. "He says, `Hey, you check him.' That's it. They can cross the corners out on the board. They write up the rest of the defense."

Paterno knew what to expect He played freshman tackle John Thick (6-6, 336) a lot in an attempt to increase Penn State's size on the offensive line. But neither Thick nor anyone else could handle defensive ends Matt Finkes and Mike Vrabel. Penn State tailback Curtis Enis never found any room. After rushing for 13 yards on the Nittany Lions' first snap, the sophomore gained 21 yards on his next 10 carries.

It is up to Ohio State. If Northwestern runs the table again, the Buckeyes lead the Wildcats on two tiebreakers. The kind of teams that can best challenge the Buckeyes are off-limits. Florida and Florida State can't play in the Rose Bowl. Arizona State, which has a tremendous passing game, may be in Pasadena, but the Sun Devils have yet to display the necessary defense to beat a team as potent as Ohio State.

The Buckeyes have heard this kind of praise before. They heard it last year, until Michigan tailback Tim Biakabutuka trashed them 313 yards rushing. "He needs to send the Ohio State defense a check for putting him in the NFL," Springs said after the Penn State game. "Tell Timmy to send me a check."

Now Ohio State is hearing it from everyone, with good reason. "I thought last year when we played them, they should have been No. 1," Paterno says. "I don't know what it takes to get somebody outside of the state of Florida. That's an awful good team that compares to some of the best I've seen in eight or 10 years."

Heat of the moment

The shocking collapse of Temple in the fourth quarter against Pittsburgh led to the even more shocking resignation of Owls coach Ron Dickerson. He decided that after his team lost, 53-52, to Pitt by blowing a 52-33 lead in the fourth quarter, he couldn't be of service anymore after this season.

We agree calling a fake punt near midfield while trying to hold a 52-47 lead with 2:44 to play wasn't a wise move. But resign? Thankfully, Dickerson reconsidered Sunday.

"For the first time in my professional career, I let my emotions do the talking," says Dickerson. "After giving further and careful consideration to the situation, I know that I am as committed as ever to the success of our players, and to a winning Temple University football program.

"I want to make it perfectly clear that I have never been a quitter, and I'm not going to start now."

Dickerson has done a better job at Temple than anyone else could have over the last three-plus seasons. He took over a program in 1993 that barely had a pulse. He has better players than he inherited. He has better-conditioned players than he inherited. The Owls, however are 5-33 under Dickerson and the cumulative weight of those losses may have made something snap Saturday.