Rose Bowl
1997
Ohio State 20
Arizona State 17
PASADENA, Calif. - The Rose Bowl shook with screams and groans,
100,000 fans on a wild ride. Ohio State ahead one moment, Arizona State
the next. And as the seconds ticked down, the long-suffering Buckeyes
back on top for good.
In the blur of all that action and emotion, with the Rose Bowl enveloped
in an ethereal mist, Arizona State's shot at a national title vanished.
The No. 4 Buckeyes spoiled all the fun over who will be No. 1, beating
the No. 2 Sun Devils 20-17 and leaving the national championship almost
certainly to the winner of tonight's Sugar Bowl between top-ranked
Florida State and No. 3 Florida.
All through its perfect season, Arizona State played as if it had a
monopoly on thrilling comebacks. Then along came Ohio State. The
Buckeyes' Plan B quarterback, sophomore Joe Germaine - and not Arizona
State's Joe Montana imitator, Jake ''The Snake'' Plummer, provided the
winning points, driving his team 65 yards in the final 90 seconds of the
Rose Bowl (video).
''You could look in Joe's eyes, and the eyes of everybody on the team,
and you could tell that they had the determination and knew we were
going to win the game,'' said Orlando Pace, Ohio State's two-time
Lombardi Trophy winner.
The whole team picked up on Germaine's poise.
''We had the state of mind to go out there and do the job,'' said
Germaine, whose 5-yard TD pass to David Boston with 19 seconds left
bailed out the Buckeyes (11-1) at the end of a 12-play drive. ''There
was really nothing to say. We knew what we had to do. You knew just by
looking into everybody's eyes that we could do it.''
Maybe they knew, but few in the huge crowd were so sure.
They had just seen Plummer snake his way into the end zone on an 11-yard
scramble that gave the Sun Devils a 17-14 lead with 1:40 to go. Arizona
State (11-1) had overcome fourth-quarter deficits twice this season,
broke another tie in the last period with a field goal in the final
seconds, and seemed destined to go out in similar fashion.
The mood swings in the Rose Bowl were tumultuous in the closing minutes,
first Ohio State fans screaming in anticipation of victory, then Arizona
State fans screaming even louder. When Plummer scored, and Ohio State
started out on its 35, the cheers on both sides were tinged with
nervousness.
Germaine calmly came back into the game for starter Stanley Jackson and
gave his teammates the look they needed. It bespoke quiet confidence as
Germaine went to work. After two incompletions, Germaine hit Dimitrious
Stanley for an 11-yarder to Ohio State's 46. Two more passes to Stanley
for 13 and 12 yards brought the Buckeyes to the Sun Devils' 29. With
time fading, the prospect of a last-minute, game-tying field goal loomed
much larger than an outright victory.
But Germaine wasn't finished. He lofted a pass to Stanley near the goal
line, and Jason Simmons was called for pass interference, giving Ohio
State the ball on the 19. After two incomplete passes, Germaine went for
the end zone again to Boston, and this time Marcus Soward got called for
interference with 24 seconds left.
Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder disputed the calls.
''I know this is sensitive to officials,'' said Snyder, ''but you really
want to make sure. From my point of view, it was kids battling for the
ball.''
But Ohio State coach John Cooper said it was about time the Buckeyes got
a break.
''We finally got a call,'' Cooper said. ''We debated running the ball.
We figured if we didn't make it, we'd take a timeout and kick a field
goal and go to overtime. But if we can protect, Joe can throw the ball,
and David and the others can sure catch it.''
Boston lined up right against a redshirt freshman cornerback, Courtney
Jackson. Boston ducked left as if to slant, juking Jackson and finding
himself open on the ''out'' route.
''David just beat his man, and he was wide open,'' Germaine said.
Arizona State (11-1) could not manage another miracle, getting back only
as far as its 48 before time ran out.
Cooper coached Arizona State to a Rose Bowl victory over Michigan
exactly 10 years ago. But since then he's taken a lot of abuse from fans
at Ohio State for his record in bowl games and against the Wolverines.
''That victory was for Columbus,'' Cooper told the crowd of 100,645
after the Buckeyes won their first Rose Bowl since 1974. "I've been
coaching for 35 years. Greatest victory in history."
Cooper's teams failed in six of his previous seven bowl games at Ohio
State, and Ohio State was unbeaten when it lost the season finale to
archrival Michigan.
Ohio State struck first with 5:04 left in the first period. Starting
quarterback Jackson rolled right under pressure and drilled a touchdown
pass to Boston, who caught the ball a foot past the goal line and a
fraction from the sideline before falling.
Jackson set up the TD with his 19-yard run to the ASU 26 and a 22-yard
screen pass to fullback and Moeller High product Matt Keller to the 4.
On third-and-goal at the 9, Jackson scrambled out of the pocket to find
Boston for the TD.
ASU, limited to 11 yards in the opening period and only one first down,
tied the game on a dazzling, diving 25-yard catch by Rick Boyer with
10:04 left in the half.
Plummer, who drove the Sun Devils 80 yards in 13 plays, pump-faked
before throwing a soft, high-arcing pass that Boyer snared while leaping
past cornerback Antoine Winfield. Television replays showed Boyer had
the ball in his hands in the air, and one foot touched the turf just
before the ball bounced on the ground as he landed on his belly.
Arizona State, which prided itself on taking charge in the second half
all season, scored on its first possession in the third quarter as
Robert Nycz kicked a 37-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead.
That advantage lasted only 49 seconds. Germaine hit Stanley over the
middle and watched him sprint untouched for a 72-yard touchdown, the
Buckeyes' longest pass play in a bowl game and the longest ever against
the Sun Devils.
ASU, which escaped from seemingly impossible situations several times
this season, appeared in deep trouble again when Ohio State's Pepe
Pearson bolted up the middle for 62 yards to set up a 37-yard field goal
attempt by Josh Jackson.
But Brent Burnstein blocked the kick, the fourth time this season he's
batted down a field goal attempt, and Derek Smith picked it up. Smith
charged downfield, got caught and flipped the ball to Derrick Rodgers,
who sprinted away and tumbled into the end zone. But the lateral was a
forward pass, and the ball was brought back to the Arizona State 42 with
5:36 left.
Plummer then lofted a 29-yard pass to Lenzie Jackson, and three plays
later scrambled in for what appeared to be the winning touchdown with
1:40 to go.
As it turned out, that was plenty of time for Germaine to bring the
Buckeyes back.
Pat Tillman pursues Germaine
Attendance: 100,645
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
OSU- Boston 9 pass from S.Jackson (J. Jackson kick)
Second Quarter
ASU- Boyer 25 pass from Plummer (Nycz kick)
Third Quarter
ASU- FG Nycz 37
OSU- Stanley 72 pass from Germaine (Jackson kick)
Fourth Quarter
ASU- Plummer 11 run (Nycz kick)
OSU- Boston 5 pass from Germaine (kick blocked)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
OSU- Pearson 13-111, Wiley 7-32
ASU- Battle 18-34, Redmond 8-26
Passing
OSU- Germaine 9-17-131, S.Jackson 6-14-59
ASU- Plummer 19-35-201
Receiving
OSU- Stanley 5-124, Boston 4-20, Keller 3-24
ASU- Jackson 5-71, T.Battle 5-30, Busch 3-41, R.Boyer 3-39
