Drive-Thru: Two Thousand Zero Zero Party Over, Oops, Out of Time
…or, in this case, the stuff you try to forget.
So this morning we’re gonna party our way back to 1999. Yeah. Don’tcha wanna go. After all, we could all die any day… and deep down inside, with all your anxieties about our offensive line coach and breaking in a ton of new players, you know the 10 year anniversary of this wretched season has creeped into your thoughts. Don’t lie.
C’mon, it’ll be fun.
The 4th night game in Ohio Stadium history was scheduled for September 10th 1999 as the Buckeyes hosted the UCLA Bruins. As it turned out, this may have been the dumbest selection for a home night game in Ohio State history. Billed as an epic early season showdown between two of the inaugural BCS teams, it ended up being a 3 quarters of football for Ohio State and 3 quarters of suck for the Bruins. Worse yet, neither team justified the early season hype. The Buckeyes finished the season 6-6 and missed their first bowl game in 10 years. The Bruins finished with only 4 wins. If anyone remembers this season for the Bruins, you certainly remember the handicap decal-gate. With the litany of suspensions that ravaged the two-deep for Bob Toledo’s Bruins, UCLA was forced to use Freddie Mitchell and DeShaun Foster in 3rd down passing situations this game.
Still, he gets the game ball for this game. He came off the bench for an 11/16 passing performance for 159 yards and 2 TDs, using his legs to secure key first downs on 3rd and long (3 rushes, 50 yards). Moherman, on the other hand, basically had his Buckeye career cut short for his 10/19 107yd and 1 INT performance. He was consigned to mop-up duty for the rest of the season, ultimately transferring. It was an innocuous end for one of Cooper’s highly celebrated QB signings.
What, don’t look at me that way. 1999 happened; it can’t unhappen.
Miscellany
- Not to be outdone, Michael Wiley had a solid day carrying the rock. He finished with 119 yards and 2 TDs on 22 carries.
- Matt Keller was the only offensive player who was clicking in the first half. He and Wiley deserved better in their senior seasons.
- Reggie Germany — Mr. 0.0 himself — had 7 receptions for 115 yards. In fairness to Reggie Germany, he’s been making great strides to atone for his exit from Ohio State.
- UCLA FB Matt Stanley had the play of the game on UCLA’s first drive that bordered on Immaculate Reception-ish. A ball that should’ve been intercepted was swooped up 6 inches from the ground by Stanley, who then marched 67 yards for a touchdown. For what it’s worth, Matt Stanley was a huge Buckeye fan growing up. He was from Bexley HS, but opted to be a walk-on at UCLA, where his parents attended school.
- I also uploaded a university commercial and Big Ten commercial from this game. The university commercial was kind of meh; the Big Ten commercial was kinda lame.
Without further ado:
Oh, I also uploaded the 1997 Rose Bowl, but… enh… whatever.
Rob Kelly was a badass this game. We could use a safety like him again.
how could Bellisari be so good that game, and turn out to be so bad???? The O-line really blew people off the ball — wish we could do that now!
You are a saint among mere men for the great lengths you go to soothe the weary souls of Buckeyes in Diaspora. They shall write biblical verse hailing your efforts in the years to come.
Note: there are two Matt commenters on this website, although we both apparently share an affinity for BKAB. I am Matt, and he is Matt, so it should be easy to tell us apart. No way I’m giving up this name though; my mom gave it to me. Just kidding, I don’t have a mom. Me and my dad share yours. FACE.
Fantastic-thanks Vico…….I love the more obscure “Drive-Thru” games……..I was at this game- but like all of the 1999 season- have purposely forgotten it…………these are great!
just saying thanks for posting that game request hopefully nobody hates me too much for reliving the 1999 season me and my friends had a great time around this game
just a thought, i met Bellisari he is a good guy just never worked out as good as it could have.think if he was around a couple years later he would have been a spread option guy and dominated oh well it worked out for the Buckeyes anyways…
thanks again for the site
go Buckeyes
Oh God, this Bellisari experiment did more to put me on blood pressure medication than anything. I even took it to the point of sending Cooper an emailing imploring that he move the kid to his natural position, safety. As a Diasporian, it does do my soul good to see game clips of the days when OSU’s O-line actually knew how to be dominant.
Vico, these oldies-but-I-want-to-remember-goodies game posts are great. Thanks for taking the time to dig them up and post/comment on them.
Question for Matt @#2; just so I get these posts straight; is your name spelt, M-a-t-t or is it M-a-t-t?
I like the videos uploaded, and didn’t see them as things we forgot. The win over Iowa is one of the biggest in my lifetime, for example. The SI cover following the game was “Splish Splash, Iowa takes a bath”. Hardly forgotten. I also like the non confrence games, such as Colorado. Also the LSU game, I went to that game. It was announced as the second largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history. 88k and change.
We could use a little bit more of those unrelenting blitzes i spied in ’97
I played high school ball with Matt Stanley, and he was never much of a Buckeye fan. He was a tough, underrated football player though, and I was glad to see him play well in front of his family and friends, and still see the Buckeyes get the win!
My bad on the “chest bump” thing. I only read the title of your post and assumed that it was another Buckeye Blog post celebrating the passing of the 2000th day since a Michigan win. Needless to say, after 5 years of defeat, we are a little touchy up north.
….a little touchy up north is an understatement….