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  Saturday, Sep. 11 8:00pm ET
Bellisari helps Ohio State blow past UCLA
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- There won't be a quarterback controversy at Ohio State this week.

Steve Bellisari came off the bench to throw two touchdown passes and was on the field for five of Ohio State's six touchdowns as the 13th-ranked Buckeyes bounced back for a 42-20 victory over No. 14 UCLA on Saturday night.

Bellisari was also the Buckeyes' second-leading rusher with 50 yards on three third-down scrambles.

 Michael Wiley
Ohio State Michael Wiley, who rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns, trying to avoid UCLA defenders Joey Strycula, left, and Jason Bell.

"No question he was the best quarterback on the field tonight," Ohio State coach John Cooper said. "I would imagine he'll be the starting quarterback after we look at the films."

Austin Moherman started for the Buckeyes (1-1) and played well, but Bellisari -- plain awful in Ohio State's 23-12 loss to Miami two weeks ago -- stole the show.

"I thought Bellisari hurt us running the football and he threw a couple of deep balls that got us as well," UCLA coach Bob Toledo said.

Bellisari wasn't Ohio State's only weapon. Michael Wiley rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns and Ken-Yon Rambo caught two TD passes -- both from Bellisari.

Bellisari was 11-of-16 for 159 yards without an interception, while Moherman was 10-of-19 for 107 yards with one interception.

"No question Stevie bailed us out," Cooper said. "He made some big plays. And he really helped us running the football. ... He's a good athlete. You could see that last year when he played on defense and special teams."

It was the first time in 27 games that UCLA (1-1) had not scored at least 24 points.

Ohio State (1-1) won its 21st straight home opener before a crowd of 93,283 in only the fourth night game in Ohio Stadium's 78 seasons.

UCLA was playing without nine starters and four backups who received two-game suspensions for illegally obtaining and using handicapped-parking placards.

"No question not having our full team had an effect," Toledo said. "Our guys got tired and worn down at the end and the youth and inexperience showed up in a lot of situations."

Less than 2 minutes after the opening kickoff, UCLA quieted the crowd with a quirky touchdown pass that appeared to be intercepted twice.

Drew Bennett's pass in the left flat for Brad Melsby slipped through the hands of Ohio State safety Percy King and squirted to cornerback Ahmed Plummer. But Plummer ran into linebacker Courtland Bullard and the ball popped loose. It was plucked off Melsby's back by UCLA's Matt Stanley who lumbered the rest of the way to complete the 67-yard touchdown play.

"You know how long it took us to practice that thing?" Toledo said. "It was an unbelievable play."

Both teams experimented with a quarterback platoon. Ohio State's worked and UCLA's didn't.

Moherman led the Buckeyes into Bruins territory on three straight possessions. He completed three of five passes -- one was dropped -- for 51 yards on an 81-yard drive capped by Wiley's 3-yard sprint around right end.

After a UCLA punt, Cooper inserted Bellisari and he connected on three consecutive passes for 44 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown toss to Rambo.

Wiley went the last 5 yards to finish a 58-yard scoring drive to make it 21-10.

Meanwhile, UCLA's offense sputtered after its quick start.

Toledo pulled Bennett after he went 7-of-8 for 117 yards and UCLA had built a 10-0 lead on Chris Griffith's 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Bennett's replacement, Cory Paus, misfired on four of his six attempts as the Bruins were forced to punt on their next two possessions.

"We sat down with Drew and Cory before the game and they knew what the plan was," Toledo said. "Our plan was to do that in the first half and then see what happened at halftime and make the decision from there."

Bennett was reinserted and led UCLA to a TD at the outset of the third quarter with Freddie Mitchell going 33 yards on an end-around to set up DeShaun Foster's 7-yard scoring run.

Ohio State scored twice in the span of 3½ minutes to pull away.

Bennett fumbled without getting hit, Jason Ott recovering for the Buckeyes at the UCLA 30. Bellisari tossed a 22-yard pass to tight end Steve Wisniewski that set up Jamar Martin's 3-yard touchdown run.

Nate Clements' 18-yard punt return on UCLA's ensuing possession gave Ohio State the ball at the 48. After Wiley picked up 21 yards on first down, Rambo gained 8 yards on an end-around -- Bellisari adding a jarring blindside block, then jumping in the air to celebrate. Then Bellisari flipped an 8-yard TD pass to Rambo to make it 35-17.

Jerry Westbrooks' 8-yard run closed the scoring for Ohio State, which totaled 507 yards of offense after mustering just 220 in its opening loss.

 


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AUDIO/VIDEO
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 Micheal Wiley tip-toes in for the touchdown
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 Matt Stanley rumbles to the endzone.
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