He led the Buckeyes on a remarkable last-minute drive. With just over a minute remaining, Plummer scrambled for eleven yards and a touchdown on third-and-goal, and ASU took the lead, 17–14. The key play was a fourth down conversion when Plummer hit wideout Lenzie Jackson for a big gain. Jake Plummer, who had built a reputation over his college career for leading late comeback drives, did just that.
The Sun Devils, however, had the ball with less than five minutes to play. ASU Defensive end Derrick Rodgers took what appeared to be a lateral and ran the ball into the end zone, but the play was called back: Rodgers had taken an illegal forward lateral. That was not to be, as ASU’s Brent Burnstein blocked the kick. However, the drive stalled only three plays later, and OSU had to settle for a Josh Jackson field goal attempt. Pepe Pearson broke a long run, leading the Buckeyes from inside their own five yard line deep into ASU territory. Late in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes looked to put the game away. No more scoring ensued in the third, and the teams went to the fourth quarter with the game very much up for grabs. 72 yards and an extra point later, the Buckeyes were back on top with a 14–10 lead. ASU corner Jason Simmons slipped and fell on the turf, and Stanley was off to the races. The Buckeyes countered only two plays later, when Joe Germaine hit Dimitrious Stanley on a post pattern. Neither team could manage any more points before halftime, and the game went to the break, still tied at 7–7.Īfter halftime, the Sun Devils would add a 37 yard field goal by Nycz to take a 10-7 lead on the opening drive of the second half. Replays seemed to show that Boyer had trapped the ball against the end zone turf, but the touchdown stood. Shortly before halftime, the Sun Devils finally answered via a 25 yard pass play from Jake Plummer to Ricky Boyer, tying the game after Robert Nycz’s extra point. No other scoring ensued in the period, and the Buckeyes led after one, 7–0. Josh Jackson’s PAT was good, making it 7–0 in favor of the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes scored first midway through the opening period when quarterback Stanley Jackson threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to true freshman wideout David Boston, capping a drive that saw Jackson scramble for some twenty yards on a third down. Perhaps ASU’s most impressive regular-season victory came against Nebraska, when ASU’s defense held the ’Huskers scoreless Arizona State won by a score of 19–0. Leading the way for ASU were senior quarterback Jake Plummer, tailback Terry Battle, and a stingy defense led by end Derrick Rodgers and linebacker Pat Tillman. The Sun Devils, meanwhile, were undefeated, ranked #2 in the nation, and had hopes of capturing the school’s first national championship in football. See also: 1996 Arizona State Sun Devils football team Joe Germaine was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game.
The game resulted in a dramatic 20–17 victory for the Buckeyes when Joe Germaine led a last-minute touchdown drive. The 1997 Rose Bowl Game was a postseason college football bowl game between the Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pacific-10 Conference and the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference, held on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
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