He Almost Let It Slip Away : Katzenmoyer Has Plummer Slither Past Him on Go-Ahead Touchdown Run, but Victory Doesn’t Pass By Ohio State

An afternoon of singular brilliance slipped away briefly from Ohio State freshman middle linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer in the rain when Arizona State quarterback Jake Plummer scampered out of his grasp and ran 11 yards for a touchdown to put the Sun Devils ahead by three points with 1:40 remaining in Wednesday’s Rose Bowl.

A morose Katzenmoyer stood on the sideline and watched. And waited. And hoped.

“I thought the game was actually over,” he said. “I was just praying to God that we’d put something together and at least get a field goal or hopefully get a touchdown.”

What hurt him the most was that he had a shot at another sack, which would have been his fourth of the day. On the third-down play, Katzenmoyer came flying over the middle--a customary sight all afternoon--and got one hand on Plummer but lost his grip.

“I got my hands on him and he slipped out,” Katzenmoyer said. “The next thing I know, he was running in for a touchdown.”

Did he slip on the wet field?

“Nope, but my gloves were wet from the play before,” Katzenmoyer said.

All was forgotten and forgiven, however, when Buckeye quarterback Joe Germaine took over in the final minute and a half and led Ohio State to its first Rose Bowl victory since 1974, beating Arizona State, 20-17.

And so, the Ohio State legacy of No. 45 remains intact.

The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Katzenmoyer, wearing the same number of Buckeye legend Archie Griffin, was the same kind of forceful presence--but on the other side of the ball. Against the highly regarded Sun Devil offense, he had three sacks, seven tackles, assisted on another, and five of his tackles were for losses.

Additionally, the 19-year-old from Westerville, Ohio had the game’s only interception, grabbing Plummer’s pass over the middle late in the third quarter and returning it 18 yards.

Maybe Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner in 1974 and 1975, knew Katzenmoyer was something special when he tried to quell a mini-controversy over the wearing of No. 45 by saying earlier in the season that maybe the freshman would make people forget who wore it before.

Wednesday’s performance by Katzenmoyer, while not drawing yawns from him teammates, was routine as far as they are concerned.

To them, it’s no big deal that he was the first freshman to start every game at linebacker for the Buckeyes. To them, he earned his place in the lineup in the first week of practice, showing that being the first defensive player to be named Mr. Football in Ohio was not some high-powered, high school publicity.

“He’s been doing that all season,” said senior linebacker Greg Bellisari, who was able to move back to the outside this season to make room for Katzenmoyer.

Said senior nose guard Luke Fickell: “Everybody is going to know who he is. He plays like that all the time. There’s always that freshman hype, but he is the real thing.”

Playing against Plummer hardly fazed Katzenmoyer. And he more than held his own against Sun Devil left tackle Juan Roque, wrestling him to the ground at one point in the first half despite giving up about 60 pounds.

Katzenmoyer’s exceptional speed for his size and agility allowed him to get to Plummer right away, as he sacked him for a loss of seven yards on the Sun Devils’ first series.

“Yeah, I feel we were definitely in his [Plummer’s] head,” Katzenmoyer said. “We tried to come at a lot of angles. We blitzed a lot this game, probably more than usual. . . . We just tried to pressure him and come at him from a lot of angles and keep him on his toes.”

What got Katzenmoyer more riled than usual--though you certainly could not tell afterward--was the perceived trash-talk from Arizona State.

“You should never count a Buckeye out,” he said. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world. I’m just ecstatic. I almost got to pinch myself. Being from Columbus, everyone knows who you are. It’s a great feeling. This is the granddaddy of all of them.”

Already, Katzenmoyer was thinking about enhancing his Buckeye legacy--even minutes after the Rose Bowl victory.

“I still have a lot of things to improve upon,” he said. “I set goals for myself every day. My main goal is to reach the NFL, and hopefully I can do that. The goal was to reach the Rose Bowl, win the Rose Bowl and win the national championship.”