Big Ten Roundup : Ohio State Comes Up With Eight Turnovers, Routs West Virginia

After 84 years of waiting, 86 seconds virtually decided the first meeting between Ohio State and West Virginia since 1903.

In the first 86 seconds of Saturday’s game, No. 5-ranked Ohio State forced two West Virginia fumbles, turned them into 10 points, and with the way the Buckeye defense played, that was more than enough for a 24-3 rout of the Mountaineers at Columbus, Ohio.

Those were just two of eight turnovers the Buckeyes forced, which included six interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries.

“Everything I talked about before the game showed today,” said Ohio State Coach Earle Bruce, who stated that his defense would have to carry the early load. “I can’t believe they forced that many turnovers. The defense gave us good field position in the first quarter.”

Cornerback William White and linebacker Chris Spielman, a pair of four-year starters, were the Buckeyes’ defensive leaders.

White equaled a school record with three interceptions, the last of which he returned 29 yards for a touchdown.

Spielman picked off two passes, forced a fumble and had a game-high 19 tackles.

“That first quarter was a nightmare,” West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen said. “It was so bad it was ridiculous. I’d rather get the hell beat out of me than to give it away. The combination of fumbles and missed passes made our offense rather futile.”

Ohio State needed 29 seconds to score after the Mountaineers’ John Talley fumbled the opening kickoff and kicker Pat O’Morrow recovered it on the West Virginia 37-yard line. Matt Frantz kicked a 47-yard field goal.

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, tailback A.J. Brown fumbled, and Ohio State’s David Brown recovered on the West Virginia 22. Tom Tupa completed a 13-yard pass to split end Everett Ross to the seven, and tailback Jim Bryant scored on the next play to forge a 10-0 lead.

Following an exchange of punts, the Buckeyes put together their only long drive of the game, going 67 yards in eight plays with Tupa finding Ross on a 23-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-0 with 5:32 remaining in the first quarter.

Ohio State finished with 213 total yards, including 63 rushing yards. West Virginia ran for 122 yards and had 75 yards passing.

The loss dropped West Virginia to 1-1.

Wisconsin 28, Hawaii 7--At Madison, Wis., junior tailback Marvin Artley rushed for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns as Wisconsin defeated Hawaii in Don Morton’s debut as the Badgers’ head coach.

Artley ran one yard for the go-ahead touchdown in the second quarter, and then tacked on a nine-yard scoring run in the final period.

While Hawaii’s All-American defensive tackle, Al Noga, made 12 tackles, Wisconsin’s defense shut out the Rainbow Warriors (1-1) after they had taken an early 7-0 lead.

On its next possession, Wisconsin moved 64 yards and Todd Gregoire kicked a 31-yard field goal to make it 7-3. Gregoire also had a 43-yard field goal.

Wisconsin led, 13-7, at the half and went 79 yards on a gamble-filled 17-play drive in the third quarter.

The Badgers gambled on a fourth and one at their 31, and quarterback Bud Keyes sneaked for a first down. Artley ran 25 yards, and Wisconsin moved to the three. But after a fourth-down offside penalty on Noga, Morton pulled his field-goal team off the field, and tailback Fred Owens ran one yard for a touchdown.

Indiana 35, Rice 13--Quarterback Dave Schnell ran for a touchdown and passed for 224 yards and 2 other touchdowns at Bloomington, Ind., in the Hoosiers’ season opener.

The loss dropped Rice to 1-1.

Indiana sophomore tailback Anthony Thompson ran for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns to push his streak of 100 yards or more rushing to six games, every game he has started in his college career.

Duke 31, Northwestern 16--At Durham, N.C., sophomore tailback Roger Boone rushed for 112 yards, and Steve Slayden passed for more than 200 yards for the 12th time in his career as the Blue Devils (2-0) remained unbeaten under first-year Coach Steve Spurrier.

Slayden wound up completing 18 of 35 passes for 269 yards.

Minnesota 24, Northern Iowa 7--Darrell Thompson, who led the Big Ten in rushing last season as a freshman, quashed any thought of a sophomore jinx by rushing for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns at Minneapolis.

Quarterback Alan Holt successfully directed Minnesota’s option offense in place of Rickey Foggie, who was suspended for the first two games for accepting a loan from an assistant coach and not being candid with NCAA investigators when asked about the violation.