Buckeye Rosters

Recap

Columbus, OH — The fourth night game in Ohio Stadium history brought more electricity than expected as the No. 13 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the No. 14 UCLA Bruins, 42-20.

Down 10-7 with 8:58 left in the second quarter, head coach John Cooper brought his second quarterback into the game to give the UCLA defense a different look. Sophomore Steve Bellisari did not disappoint as he electrified the sellout crowd of 93,283 with his accurate passing and hard running. He punctuated the evening with a decleating block late in the game.

On his first drive of the game, Bellisari led OSU on a five-play, 60-yard march that resulted in a Ken-Yon Rambo touchdown reception. Two plays prior to the touchdown, Bellisari found a leaping Reggie Germany streaking down the left sideline for a 39-yard reception to put the Buckeyes at the UCLA 7-yard line. Germany finished the contest with seven catches for 115 yards. Derek Combs scampered 5 yards to bring the ball to the UCLA 2, which set the stage for the Bellisari to Rambo connection.

On the Buckeyes next possession, Bellisari marched OSU on an 11-play, 58-yard drive. The key play of the drive happened on third and eight at the UCLA 28-yard line. On a quarterback draw, Bellisari juked his way for an 11-yard gain. Three plays later, Michael Wiley rushed in from 5 yards to score his second touchdown of the evening and give OSU a 21-10 lead going into halftime.

The Bruins scored on their opening drive of the third quarter. DeShaun Foster capped off a seven-play, 73-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run to cut the OSU lead to 21-17.

But the OSU defense responded the remainder of the game as the Foster run became UCLA’s last touchdown of the contest.

With 1:11 left in the third, linebacker Jason Ott flushed UCLA quarterback Drew Bennett out of the pocket. Bennett lost control of the ball and Ott pounced on it at the UCLA 30-yard line. Three plays later, sophomore Jamar Martin rumbled in for a 3-yard touchdown rush to extend the OSU lead to 28-17.

The highlight of the evening came on the third play of OSU’s ensuing drive. Rambo took a reverse from Wiley and rushed for a 12-yard gain. On the reverse, Bellisari leveled UCLA defensive end Rusty Williams bringing the sellout crowd to its feet.

UCLA added a field goal with 9:30 remaining and OSU’s Jerry Westbrooks scored his first rushing touchdown, an 8-yard run, to bring the score to 42-20.