Buckeye Rosters

Recap

Columbus, OH — A third-consecutive career afternoon for tailback Michael Wiley, a dominating performance by the Andy Katzenmoyer-led defense and a second half surge by the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes proved to be too much for the No. 21 Missouri Tigers. OSU won the contest, 35-14, in front of 93,269 fans.

The Buckeyes struck first off a Wiley 21-yard touchdown run to give OSU an early 7-0 lead, but the Tigers came to play and answered with a 10-yard touchdown scamper by quarterback Corby Jones.

OSU broke the tie on its next possession with Dan Stultz’s 27-yard field goal giving OSU a 10-7 lead. Missouri caught a break with 4:21 remaining when Carlos Posey scooped up a Joe Germaine fumble and returned the ball 65 yards for the score. Stultz gave OSU three more points on a 36-yard field goal to reduce the Missouri lead, 14-13.

The second half proved to be all Ohio State. With 6:01 remaining in the third quarter, the Buckeyes reclaimed the lead for good after tailback Joe Montgomery’s 6-yard touchdown run. The Buckeyes took the lead, 21-14. In the fourth quarter, OSU added on 14 insurance points off Wiley’s 11-yard and Derek Combs‘ nine-yard rushing touchdowns. The Wiley score was set up by the Buckeye defense. With 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter, safety Damon Moore stripped Jones of the ball and cornerback Ahmed Plummer pounced on it to give OSU possession. The touchdown for Combs, a sophomore, was the first of his career. For the third-consecutive week, Wiley finished the afternoon with a career-high rushing performance. He dominated the ground game with 209 yards off 24 carries and scored two touchdowns. He averaged 8.7 yards per carry on the day.

A parade of stars led the defense, with Katzenmoyer setting a personal career-high with 12 tackles, Na’il Diggs adding 10 and defensive backs Damon Moore and Antoine Winfield chipping in with nine tackles each.

NOTES: An 18-member Ohio State Sports Hall of Fame class was honored at halftime. This class included basketball players Jim Jackson and Tracey Hall Yarbrough, football player and coach Gene Fekete and football standouts Tim Fox, Dr. John Frank and Cornelius Green.

Michael Wiley was named the Big Ten Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week for his 209-yard, two-touchdown performance in the win over the nation’s 21st-ranked team. Wiley carried the football a career-high 24 times and he set a personal rushing best for the third-consecutive game.

Missouri came into the game ranked No. 1 nationally in rushing and tailback Devin West was the nation’s top rusher. The rankings did not hold up. OSU limited Missouri to 191 net yards and West to 86.