Ohio State loses No. 1 ranking after falling to Michigan State

Monday, November 9, 1998

Ohio State loses No. 1 ranking after falling to Michigan
State

RECAP: Unranked Spartans dash national championship dreams of
Buckeyes, 28-21

By Dave Denicke

Daily Bruin Contributor

And then there were three.

Well before the Bruins shut the door on Oregon State, another
OSU was fighting for its survival.

The Ohio State Buckeyes, ranked No. 1 in virtually every poll
known to man, watched a 24-9 lead slip further and further
away.

By the time the clouds lifted over Columbus, the Michigan State
Spartans proved to be the better team, using an interception by
cornerback Renaldo Hill on the goal line to stop the Buckeyes
28-24.

"I had to throw earlier than I wanted to, so I put some air
under it, just to try to let him run under it,"Ohio State
quarterback Joe Germaine said. "I guess their feet got tangled up
just a little bit and he made the play on it. That’s how the game
goes."

Along with that interception, the Buckeyes lost four fumbles,
including two by Germaine. The Michigan State defense tenaciously
blitzed the top team in the nation, and held an offense that was
averaging over 500 yards a game to only 353.

After yielding 17 points in the first quarter, the only scoring
OSU could muster on the Spartans was a defensive touchdown, as
Damon Moore sprinted 73 yards on an interception return, which gave
Ohio State a 24-9 lead with 9:51 to play in the third quarter.

"We came in here with the attitude that we were the squirts in
the neighborhood who had to pick a fight with the bully," Michigan
State coach Nick Saban said.

Julian Peterson sparked the Spartan defense when he replaced
injured defensive star Robaire Smith in the first quarter. Peterson
caused two fumbles, both of which resulted in Michigan State
scores.

The defense came up big again with 3:33 remaining in the fourth
quarter. T.J. Turner, Sorie Kanu and Josh Thornhill stopped Ohio
State’s Joe Montgomery for no gain on a crucial fourth-and-one at
the Spartans’ 26, forcing a turnover on downs.

Offensively, quarterback Bill Burke paced MSU, throwing 46 times
for 326 yards. Unable to run the ball effectively, the
four-touchdown underdogs went to the air, especially to wideout
Plaxico Burress, who traveled 125 yards on just four
receptions.

Kicker Paul Edinger added five field goals for the Spartans, a
Michigan State record.

"It’s the kind of thing you’ll never forget," said Burke. "It’s
a game you like to play in, that you dream about as a kid."

With the win, Michigan State became only the second unranked
team this decade to defeat a No. 1. The last time came in 1990,
when the Spartans defeated Michigan 28-27.

As a result, Ohio State has fallen out of the top spot in the
polls. Both the AP and the ESPN coaches poll plummeted the Buckeyes
down to number 7.

"This hurts a lot," receiver Dee Miller said. "Every time we’d
break (a huddle) we did it by saying, ‘national champs.’ Today,
after the game we just said, ‘hard work.’ It hurts."

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