Like last week, Ohio State played one good half and one poor half. Unlikelast week, OSU left Ohio Stadium with a win.
On the strength of 21 unanswered second half points, the Buckeyes (4-2,2-1 Big Ten) defeated San Diego State (2-5, 1-2 Mountain West) 27-12 today.
After jumping out to 6-3 lead on a Lydell Ross two-yard touchdown runnear the end of the first quarter, the Buckeyes offense turned sour in thesecond quarter, gaining only 65 yards, five first downs and zero points.
During the same quarter, San Diego State amassed 109 yards and nine points in its only two possessions.
The Aztecs went into the locker room leading 12-6 on Tommy Kirovski’s38-yard field goal with just under three minutes remaining in the half.
An inspired Buckeye squad returned to the field in the second half. FiveSDSU turnovers in the third quarter didn’t hurt the Buckeyes cause either.
The two teams traded punts to open the third quarter before the floodgates opened. SDSU quarterback Lon Sheriff committed the second of his five second half turnovers, fumbling at the SDSU 17-yard line midwaythrough the third quarter setting up OSU’s second touchdown drive of theday. The six play, 18-yard drive culminated in a Steve Bellisari four-yardtouchdown run on third down and goal.
From then on, the Buckeyes wouldn’t look back.
In the next four-and-a-half minutes, SDSU turned the ball over anadditional three times, from which the Buckeyes were able to score 14 points.
OSU linebacker Robert Reynolds and cornerback Derek Ross were the two main reasons behind SDSU’s inability to maintain possession.
Reynolds had an interception and forced a fumble. Ross had twointerceptions, one of which he returned 31 yards to the SDSU five-yard line.
OSU put the game away on Lydell Ross’s 51-yard TD run, the longest of his short OSU career, with 9:41 left in the game.
On only nine rushes, the freshman Ross netted 60 yards and the twoscores. Jonathan Wells chipped in with 60 yards of his own and one touchdown.
Steve Bellisari also had perhaps his finest day as a Buckeye this season,throwing for 198 yards and rushing for a touchdown.
His favorite target was wide receiver Chris Vance, who, among his fivereceptions, made several spectacular grabs, and ended up with 87 yardsreceiving on the day.
Two lesser-used parts of the OSU offensive game plan were also usedeffectively. Tight end Darnell Sanders had a season-high fourcatches for 38 yards and fullback Jamar Martin rushed for a season-high 23 yards.
The Buckeyes return to the field Saturday against Penn State in StateCollege, Pa. Kickoff is set for 12:10 p.m.
