Ohio Knocks Off Minnesota, 23-17
Box Score
Post-Game Notes
MINNEAPOLIS, Mn (September 8, 2000) -- (AP) Chad Brinker gave new meaning to the term triple option.
The Ohio halfback had a touchdown catch, threw a scoring pass and also ran for a touchdown on Sept. 9 in Ohio's 23-17 upset over Minnesota as the Bobcats rushed for 363 yards and gained 453 yards of total offense.
Ohio coach Jim Grobe said Brinker's performance, in which he had 122 yards rushing, 50 receiving and 35 passing -- all with a bruised left hand that had to be X-rayed at halftime -- could cause a small problem next week in practice
"I think what he wants to do now is be our quarterback," Grobe said. "But that's probably not going to happen."
Brinker's third touchdown, a 6-yard run up the middle at the start of the fourth quarter, gave the Bobcats (1-1) a 23-14 lead with 14:42 left.
"Against the Minnesota defense, it may be a little surprising, but that was in our game plan," Brinker said. "If it's throwing the ball, catching the ball, or running the ball, I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes."
After Dan Nystrom kicked a 47-yard field goal for Minnesota (1-1) with 4:54 left, Ohio ran out the clock.
Ohio is the third MAC team to beat a Big Ten school in the past two weeks. Toledo shocked Penn State 24-6 last week and Western Michigan upset Iowa 27-21 on Saturday. Ohio last beat a Big Ten team in 1973, beating Northwestern 14-12. The Bobcats are 5-28-1 against the Big Ten.
"The main thing is, they underestimated us," said Ohio quarterback Dontrell Jackson, who returned to the scene of his first collegiate start last year when he was just a 17-year-old freshman. Minnesota won that game, 33-7.
Minnesota coach Glen Mason, who said all week he had tremendous respect for the MAC, dating from when he coached Kent State in 1986 and '87, disputed that his Gophers were looking past the Bobcats.
"From start to finish, we were outplayed," Mason said. "It's been coming. I wasn't real pleased in our performance last week and I sure wasn't pleased with the way that we prepared. Some guys say that all the time. I don't; I call it like I see it. Ohio University had my attention because I've watched the job they have done down there."
Keland Logan, a 270-pound backup fullback, rumbled for a 67-yard run that set up Brinker's final touchdown.
"That was the exclamation point. That broke our backs," Minnesota defensive end Karon Riley said.
For the Gophers, Abdul-Khaliq threw two touchdown passes to Ron Johnson in a 4:03 stretch of the third quarter. A 65-yard TD pass was the second play of the second half and a 61-yarder came on the second play of Minnesota's second scoring drive.
But Abdul-Khaliq, knocked out of last week's game with a concussion, was inconsistent, missing receivers long and short, and also appearing flustered with Ohio's pass rush in just his second collegiate start.
He completed 10-of-28 passes for 223 yards, including 6-of-16 for 74 yards in the first half.
"A lot of things didn't go my way today. It was my fault," Abdul-Khaliq said. "I was trying to throw too hard. I was trying to be pinpoint with my passes. It got me in trouble."
Johnson, who had four catches for 144 yards, has caught two touchdowns in each of his last three games, a TD reception in seven games in a row and at least one reception in his last 25 straight games.
The Gophers last lost a nonconference home game in 1997, a 45-43 loss to Houston.
It was the first time the Bobcats beat the Gophers in nine tries, dating back to the teams' first meeting in 1969.
Tailback Thomas Tapeh made his collegiate debut for the Gophers in the second quarter after being academically ineligible last season and sitting out the season opener while recovering from a foot injury. He gained 30 yards on four carries.
