COLUMBUS, Ohio - The competition gets better, and so does freshman Maurice Clarett.
Maurice Clarett rushed for 230 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries as eighth-ranked Ohio State posted a 25-7 victory over No. 11 Washington State.
It was the sixth-highest rushing total in Ohio State history and
the second-best mark by a freshman, topped only by Archie
Griffin, who ran for 239 yards agains North Carolina in 1972.
Maurice Clarett said he wants to be a crowd pleaser. So far, he has not
disappointed.
"Some people look forward to Ohio State games the entire week,"
he said. "I want to make sure people get their money's worth,
whether they're sitting in 'A' deck or way up in 'C' deck."
Maurice Clarett, the first freshman tailback to start a season opener
for Ohio State (3-0) since World War II, already has rushed for
469 yards and seven touchdowns. The Buckeyes' first two games
were against Texas Tech and Kent State, a pair of unranked
teams.
"Their running game was very dominant today," Washington State
coach Mike Price said. "Maurice Clarett is a very good back who is
difficult to tackle."
Washington State (2-1) grabbed a 7-3 lead on Jason Gesser's
five-yard TD pass to Devard Darling with 8:33 remaining in the
first quarter.
But Ohio State's defense dominated thereafter and the Buckeyes
wore down the Cougars behind Maurice Clarett, who gained 194 yards in
the second half.
"I wasn't being patient in the first half," Maurice Clarett said.
"Running backs coach Tim Spencer told me to just start being
more patient and the holes would open up. We wanted to come out
in the second half and be a better team."
"Maurice reminds me a lot of Eddie George with his work
ethic," Spencer said. "He comes to play every day. He displays
excellent effort on the practice field and I think the guys see
that and respect that."
Ohio State relied heavily on its running game as Craig Krenzel
completed just 4-of-10 passes for only 71 yards. The Cougars
were held to just 17 yards on the ground.
In the final minutes, fans at Ohio Stadium, began mocking
Washington State with chants of "overrated." The Buckeyes
improved to 8-0 all-time against the Cougars, who were not
tested in their first two games, defeating Nevada, 31-7, and
Idaho, 49-14.
Jason Gesser completed 25-of-44 passes for 247 yards, but was
intercepted twice. He passed Timm Rosenbach (1986-88) for fourth
place on Washington State's career passing yards list.
"What changed the most from the first half to the second is that
they began to hit me, causing me to miss some of my primary
targets," Jason Gesser said.
Ohio State trailed 7-6 at halftime, but took the lead for good
on Maurice Clarett's three-yard TD run with 8:37 left in the third
quarter.
"In the first half we were beating ourselves," Ohio State
linebacker Matt Wilhelm said. "We were only one point at
halftime to a really good team. We knew if we made the proper
adjustments that we would be fine. There were putting a lot of
pressure on us early."
Mike Nugent kicked a 45-yard field goal, his third of the game,
to make it 16-7 with 1:57 left in the third quarter.
Following a safety, Maurice Clarett completed the scoring with a
one-yard scamper 4:19 into the final period.
"We hurt ourselves a lot today on offense," Jason Gesser said. "It's
frustrating when we know we can move the ball. We were not able
to put the ball in the end zone when it mattered. Today we
stopped ourselves a lot by not executing."
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