No. 7 Ohio State Shows Missouri How It’s Done

Ohio State’s relief pitcher had another huge game.

Joe Germaine, a backup good enough to be the Rose Bowl most valuable player in January, threw two touchdown passes to David Boston and directed a third touchdown drive as the No. 7 Buckeyes overcame a sluggish start to defeat Missouri, 31-10, Saturday in a nonconference game at Columbia, Mo.

Germaine, a junior, doesn’t like coming off the bench. But he didn’t show it, completing his first six passes for 144 yards and finishing eight for 12 for 186 yards.

“You try to pay as much attention on the sidelines as possible, and when you get in the ballgame, just do what you’re supposed to to,” Germaine said. “That’s all I’ve been doing.”

Stanley Jackson, a senior, is 15-0 as the starter but he’s recuperating from a knee injury and lacking mobility. Missouri was crowding the line of scrimmage with a nine-man front to stop the run when Cooper went to Germaine in the second quarter.

Germaine completed a 45-yard pass to Boston on his first snap. His next pass was a five-yard touchdown to Boston that gave Ohio State (4-0) a 14-10 lead with 6:09 left in the first half.

Germaine and Boston also hooked up on a 28-yard touchdown with 11:22 to go in the third quarter. Germaine also was at the controls when Michael Wiley scored on a one-yard run late in the third.

When Jackson came back in the fourth quarter, it was 28-10.

Cooper said Jackson will start again next week against Iowa, and Germaine isn’t complaining.

“I’m really not in position to say anything,” Germaine said. “I’d like to be in there as much as possible, but Stan does a great job of leading this team and getting it ready to play. As long as we win, that’s all that matters.”

To Missouri Coach Larry Smith, it didn’t matter who was in the game.

“It wasn’t necessarily who was throwing it, but more the people that were catching it,” Smith said. “Their receivers kept making plays, and that was the difference.”

Ohio State, which benefited from great field position all day, is 9-1-1 against Missouri, although this was their first meeting since 1976. The Buckeyes have won 13 consecutive nonconference games and Coach John Cooper is 26-4 in September.

A crowd of 58,882, largest at Missouri in 12 years, watched the Tigers lose for the 18th consecutive time to a Top 25 team.

Brock Olivo became the career rushing leader at Missouri (2-2) with 44 yards in 10 carries, boosting his yardage total to 2,616. Olivo, a starter since midway through his freshman season, passed Darrell Wallace, who had 2,572 from 1984-87.

Pepe Pearson ran for 84 yards in 14 carries and a touchdown in the first half for Ohio State. But he had consecutive fumbles late in the half deep in Missouri territory and sat out the third quarter, finishing with 101 yards in 18 carries.

Pearson’s first fumble, at the Missouri five, was recovered by Ohio State. He fumbled the next one into the Missouri end zone and the Tigers’ Carlos Posey recovered.

Pearson accounted for all of the yardage on Ohio State’s opening drive, catching two passes for 28 yards and carrying six times for 44 yards, capping it with a three-yard run with 11:42 to go.

Corby Jones came close to matching him on Missouri’s first drive, running for 38 yards in six carries and completing one pass before scoring on an eight-yard rollout.

Jones had 81 yards in 12 carries in the first half, but didn’t seem the same after a jarring tackle by Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer midway through the second quarter. Katzenmoyer stopped Jones a yard short of a first down and Jones required attention on the sideline.

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Katzenmoyer said. “He didn’t see me coming.”

After the game, Jones had X-rays on his right forearm, which showed a deep bruise, and he also had a bruised chin. He finished with 95 yards in 18 carries and was nine for 25 for 140 yards with three interceptions.

“It’s OK,” Jones said. “But it hindered me later in the game. I couldn’t grip the ball very well and it was hard to throw deep crossing routes, anything that I had to put some zip on.”

NO. 11 IOWA 38, ILLINOIS 10

Tavian Banks got the Hawkeyes rolling with a weaving, juking 76-yard run and Iowa had four other big plays in beating the Fighting Illini at Iowa City.

Iowa (4-0, 1-0) scored 17 points in the final 8:08 of the first half to pull away and leave the Illini (0-4, 0-1) and new Coach Ron Turner searching for their first victory.

Banks carried 25 times for 191 yards. The Illini’s Robert Holcombe carried 32 times for 157 yards as Illinois finished with 135 yards on the ground, the first team in seven games to rush for more than 100 against Iowa.

PURDUE 21, NORTHWESTERN 9

Billy Dicken threw two touchdown passes and Mike Rose tied a Ross-Ade Stadium record with three interceptions as the Boilermakers won their third consecutive game for the first time since 1984.

Kendall Matthews contributed a career-high 152 yards in 22 carries to a Purdue offense that accumulated a season-high 488 yards, the fourth consecutive 400-yard game for the Boilermakers.

Purdue (3-1 overall, 1-0 in the Big Ten) took the lead for good over Northwestern (2-3, 0-1) in the first quarter, moving 69 yards in 11 plays to score on Winston’s reception.

Northwestern’s Adrian Autry had 130 yards in 24 carries, although he missed much of the second quarter because of an injury before returning in the third quarter.

WISCONSIN 27, INDIANA 26

Matt Davenport made up for all of Wisconsin’s troubles when he kicked a 43-yard field goal with six seconds remaining to lift the Badgers past Indiana at Madison, Wis.

Freshman Andy Payne had given the Hoosiers (1-3, 0-1) a 26-24 lead with a 43-yard field goal with 53 seconds left.

Ron Dayne carried 34 times for 202 yards and two touchdowns as the Badgers (4-1, 1-0) spoiled the Big Ten coaching debut of Cam Cameron and won their fourth consecutive game.