Rose Bowl Had Plenty of Heroes to Go Around

If I were writing a screenplay about Ohio State’s victory over Arizona State Wednesday, there’s no question my protagonist would be Buckeye quarterback Joe Germaine.

The quarterback from Mesa, Ariz., is recruited as a defensive back by the local school, takes his arm to the Midwest, comes off the bench to lead his team to a thrilling, last-minute victory in the Rose Bowl and deprive the local team of an undefeated season and a possible national championship.

That’s a wrap. Call it “The Mighty Bucks.”

In choosing the Rose Bowl most valuable player, however, there were at least three Buckeyes who had better games. But quarterbacks get too much credit when they win and too much blame when they lose. At least that’s what quarterbacks say when they lose. This was a case of the former.

Ohio State’s MVP was middle linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer, who seemed to be in the middle of every Arizona State offensive play whether it was a run or a pass with seven tackles, three sacks and an interception.

Imagine this guy with some experience.

“He playing as good a middle linebacker in the country right now even as a freshman,” Ohio State Coach John Cooper said.

Cornerback Shawn Springs was almost as valuable, even if his name was seldom called over the public address system. Arizona State threw five passes in his direction, which is more than twice as many as most opponents dare, and completed none.

Asked the secret of his success against receivers, he humbly explained: “That’s easy. I’m me, and they’re them.”

Then, as always, there was the Buckeyes’ unmovable offensive left tackle, 6-foot-6, 320-pound Orlando Pace.

Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder hoped that his All-Pacific 10 defensive end, Derrick Rodgers, might use his quickness to slip past Pace. But Rodgers was outweighed by 98 pounds and quickly received new orders from the Sun Devil coaching staff, searching, futilely as it turned out, for a path of lesser resistance.

The Sun Devils could have sent the Jolly Green Giant in at right end and had no more success against the man Cooper calls “the best offensive lineman ever to play the game.”

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How could anyone expect a team called Sun Devils to win on a day like Wednesday? . . .

Snyder shouldn’t be blamed for not recruiting Germaine as a quarterback. The Sun Devils did have this guy named Jake “The Snake” Plummer who was going to be around for a couple more years. . . .

Cooper, who coached the Sun Devils to victory the last time they played in the Rose Bowl game, visited their locker room after the game and told Plummer, “You’ve the most unbelievable guy I’ve ever coached against.” . . .

Plummer might not be as physically gifted as a quarterback like Peyton Manning, but the team that drafts him shouldn’t have to apologize any more than the San Francisco 49ers did when they selected Joe Montana. . . .

Except for Plummer, most of the other Arizona State stars were as obscured as the stars in the sky after the game. . . .

Juan Roque, considered the nation’s second best offensive left tackle behind Pace, said he had his best game of the season but still had trouble keeping Buckeyes off Plummer’s backside. Four of Ohio State’s six sacks came from his side. . . .

Rodgers confessed he didn’t play well, displaying his speed primarily in pursuit after being knocked off the line of scrimmage. One spectacular example came when he chased down Pepe Pearson. Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, Rodgers didn’t catch him until the end of a 62-yard gain. . . .

Keith Poole caught one pass for 13 yards; Terry Battle ran 18 times for 43 yards. . . .

The Sun Devils said Ohio State’s defense was better than Nebraska’s. No kidding. . . .

Pace, a junior, is likely to announce within the next few days that he’s turning pro. Look for him to go first or second in the draft. . . .

Cooper complains that the media remembers him only for his losses to Michigan, but he’s the one who usually brings it up first at press conferences. . . .

Snyder didn’t agree with the two pass interference calls against the Sun Devils on Ohio State’s winning drive, but his team benefited most from a bad call on its first touchdown. Ricky Boyer, from Compton, trapped the ball in the end zone.

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We’re a little quieter out here on the West Coast about the Big Ten vs. the Pac-10 than we were a few years ago, but has anyone else noticed that the Big Ten has won four of the last five Rose Bowl games?

Starting in 1970, the Pac-10 won a remarkable 16 of 18 games. Of the last 10 games, though, the Big Ten has won six. There is more than one reason, but the clearest is that the Big Ten, after years of domination by Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler, discovered the forward pass. Fun, isn’t it?